Ironman World Championships – Kona Race Report

It’s been a few weeks since the race and I finally had time to gather my thoughts. Throughout race week, I’ve been soaking up as much of the atmosphere as I can. From the Aloha coffee boat swim, to riding the lava fields on the Queen K Highway and pounding the hot tarmac of the Energy Lab. The parade of nations and underpants run. Everything I’ve been following for years in the coverage through Slowtwitch, Tri Mag, 220 Tri of this pinnacle event, I finally get to experience it for myself.

Race morning finally came and surprisingly I had a decent night’s sleep (even though we didn’t have a/c in our bedroom, only in the living room). We stayed a convenient 800m from the race site, so only a short stroll. We were greeted by the loud noises of volunteers cheering, clapping, high fiving as we walked through transition. I’ve never experienced this before! I had my water bottle in the cage and bike shoes already clipped in overnight. And with gear bags checked in the day before, all I had to do was to turn on my bike computer.

I munched on my breakfast (2 bananas, 4 slices of bread with peanut butter and Nutella, 1 Clif bar) as I made my way to the portable toilets. The queues were much longer, just due to the volume of athletes. I finally had my turn and made it just in time to line up for my swim start.

We were released in waves according to age groups. Mine started at 7.10am. It was a deep water start and I stayed at the back, being conscious that this is the world championships. The horn went off and the usual scuffling ensued, nothing I couldn’t manage. It settled down a bit after a few hundred meters. But there were plenty of athletes around me throughout the course, which helped as it reduces the frequency to look up and sight. The course is rectangular shaped in clockwise direction. With a turn at the far end around a yacht as the landmark. It felt like there was some tide assistance on the way back as my splits were significantly faster. I clocked 1:08:15, a couple minutes slower than I hoped. But historically, this swim course has been slow and a bit long. My Garmin measured 3803m and it usually understates the distance.

The 500m or so run through transition didn’t feel as long as it was as on TV. I took the time to wipe the sand off my feet. Made sure I packed the bananas and Clif bars in my pockets properly and nothing left unpacked before I took off. Volunteers in the change tent were awesome, very helpful.

I struggled a bit at the mount line. Unclipped the right shoe to put my foot in but there was an incline immediately after on Palani Road and I just couldn’t clip it back in. Did a very embarrassing kick push of the bike until I reached a flatter spot before I managed to clip it back in.

We did about a 10km square in town before going out to the Queen K Highway for the long single lap ride. That’s where I last saw my wife Li-ann and son Sebastian too for the ride, at Palani Road. Weather was surprisingly mild (at first) – low winds with overcast. Until we got to Hawi about 100kms in, where we were exposed to the notorious cross winds. I didn’t feel it at first as we were climbing. But after the turnaround as we descended, I was afraid to go on my aerobars. Stayed on the side bars for more control, I felt more confident hence could go faster.

At 130km I discarded my single water bottle, to be given electrolyte in a soft plastic bottle that loosely fit in my cage. It fell off very soon after and dropped onto my chain, knocking it off. Had to stop at the side for a 1-2 minutes to put it back on. I had no drink for the next 15kms and the sun was coming out as well. Rather disappointing that they did not provide proper cycling water bottles. I wasn’t the only one dropping bottles, there were plenty on the course.

My splits started getting slower with more climbs back into town and it felt like a headwind too. Finally made it back with a bike split time of 5:35:57 averaging 32.3kph. A conservative average power of 142 watts for 1300+m elevation. Consumed 2 bars, 2 bananas and 3 gels – alternating between solids and gels.

Coming into transition, there were no bike catchers for age groupers, so we had to rack our bikes ourselves. I opted to unbuckle my helmet and placed it on my bike instead of removing it in the change tent. I’ve had my previous helmets get bumped up pretty badly when it gets stored away with the other gear bags. Once again, the volunteers in the change tent were awesome, placing cold towels over our necks. I swapped over a fresh pair of socks, put on my run shoes and packed 3 more gels in my pockets. Both transitions were about 5 minutes each, from timing mat to timing mat.

The upper body felt a bit stiff as I ran out but I soon settled into a somewhat comfortable pace. I saw Li-ann and Sebastian about 1km into the run which gave me a boost. The course took us to a 10km-ish lap on Ali’i Drive and then tackling that long climb on Palani Road before going out to the Queen K Highway. We then detoured into the energy lab for the turnaround and then return the same way with a descend on Palani for the final stretch of Ali’i to the finish.

I was holding about 5:15 to 5:30 pace, not including walking the aid stations. I took a pee stop at the portaloo at 3km. Felt much more relieved, I couldn’t fully release it whilst on the bike. I felt some stomach discomfort as I approached the Palani climb. Took the time to down my first gel there but must have somehow missed Daniela Ryf and Jan Frodeno serving drinks. I felt a bit better for a couple of kms but was starting to break wind and felt like I needed to do a number 2 at the 20km portaloo. Had to wait my turn too and what I saw in there can never be unseen!

Thereafter it was purely survival. I kept on feeling like gagging but nothing came out. I stopped taking coke and switched to oranges with water. That worked for a while and then not. I then switched to chips with water, that seemed to do the trick. The personal needs station at the energy lab called out my number early and had my flag ready when I got there. A fellow Malaysian, Shahrom (who started 10 minutes later) passed me at 30km but he later started to cramp and was walking more. I passed him again just before the final descend on Palani.

Shahrom encouraged me to go ahead. I responded by saying he is still ahead of me in terms of time as he started later. I pushed on down the hill on Palani, opting to skip the aid station as it was close to the finish. The volunteers were cheering loudly. They were awesome throughout, not just here but all along the course. Their enthusiasm was next level, I’ve never experienced it before at any other race.

Reaching the bottom of the Palani hill, the music was loud and there was Li-ann screaming GO KEVIN! I somehow found an extra gear and I sprinted. Well I tried anyway with whatever energy I had left. Coming onto the red carpet, I gave high fives to the crowd. I got my flag ready, zipped up my suit and put the sunglasses on my head. There were a few other guys finishing around the same time so I tried my best to find my own space.

Last few steps towards the finish arch, tears welled up in my eyes. I’ve pretty much cried at nearly all the Ironman finishes I’ve done and this was one I definitely bawled my eyes out. Carrying the Malaysia flag proudly above my head, I heard those magical words from the announcer – Kevin Siah, you’re an Ironman!

I’ve made it. I raced and completed the Kona Ironman World Championships! Truly a dream come true. Sure, I did not qualified directly but it did not matter. My overall time was 11:07:56, a bit over my target of 11 hours to beat sun set. But it started getting dark much earlier before that so I could not have beaten it anyway. Run split was 4:13:36, averaging just over 6 minutes pace. Whilst I slowed down considerably in the second half, it was still pretty consistent. I placed 235 out of 303 in my age group and 1292 out of 2282 overall. Probably my lowest ever ranking in an Ironman but it is the World Championships after all.

Thank you everyone for following this journey. I definitely could not have done this without the sacrifices made by my family, so I owe this finish to them. Overall I had an incredible experience. Sure, there were some shortcomings and there were some things I expected more from a World Championships but no race is perfect. And these memories I will cherish for a lifetime

Mahalo