Kona Will Have to Wait

Earlier today, lottery slots were announced for the 2009 Hawaii Ironman World Championships to occur in October.  I suspect the lottery is one of a few events meaningful enough to impel over-achieving type-A triathletes to cross all their fingers and toes in hopes of securing one of the desired Kona slots.  Specific details are not generally released to the public, but it’s commonly accepted that upwards of thirty thousand entrants pin their hopes on obtaining one of the coveted 150 lottery slots.

In the few minutes prior to the announcement itself, there is an odd mixture of excitement, anticipation, and tension.  A muddled concoction lingering stagnant like the early morning fog.  It is an uphill battle trying to make sense of it, all you can do is wait.  You simply wait; it is agonizing.

It is odd how lottery day can affect you like that.  When it comes to triathletes and Kona, dreams can be realized in exchange for a paltry $50 entry fee.  The numbers don't lie.  Taking a page from Vegas, these lottery odds are squarely stacked against you.  Yet despite the odds, many look to beat the house at its own game and hit jackpot. 

The exchange is a no-brainer for most.

As for me, I’ve dreamt about toeing the line in Kona for years. 

Like many, my Kona fantasies started by watching the event on TV.  Then, as is the case now, something about Kona pulls at me.  Years later, having completed four Ironman triathlons, I must admit that I find the opportunity and allure to partake and compete in Kona to be an unfulfilled dream. 

For most, a ticket to Kona is punched by qualifying at one of the worldwide qualifier events.  Sadly, the cold truth is that I simply am not fast enough to qualify.  Not by a long shot.

As it is, last September I finished Ironman Wisconsin (a qualifying race) in 11 hours, 23 minutes.  This time represented a personal best for me by almost an hour.  By any measure an otherwise hugely successful day.  Maybe, if all goes without incident, I could someday finish in sub 11 hours.  Maybe.

The point is moot however.  Even if I were to complete an Ironman event in less than 11 hours, such a time is realistically ninety minutes or so off the typical qualifying time standard for my 35-39 age group.  Hopes of qualifying are a waste of time.  I might be better served wishing to sprout wings and fly into the blue sky.

As it is, the lottery is my only chance at Kona. 

Normally, I would be one of the many lottery entrants.  Normally, I would be foolishly pinning my hopes on a lottery slot.  Like many others, hoping to defy the odds with my invitation to Kona assured and in hand.

But this year is not normal.  This year I’m unemployed.

The irony would crush me – the year I finally get my ticket to Kona is the year I simply cannot spend the money for a trip over to the big island.  It is what it is, and anyway your slice it, a week in Hawaii doesn’t come cheap.

I simply couldn’t risk tempting fate. 

So this year – painful as it was – I had to walk off the dance floor early.  I did not enter the lottery.  No way I’m risking my ticket to the big dance with an empty wallet. 

I've never been to Hawaii and I often joke that I'm not going unless my partaking in the Ironman is part of the agenda.  Won't I be the fool if my stubbornness is all for naught.  I'm told Hawaii is spectacular; many call it paradise on earth.  

I really want to go there.

(insert a heavy dramatic sigh here) 

Hopefully things will be different next year.  Hopefully next year things will be back to normal and I’ll once again be holding my breath in naiveté that I might see my name on the 2010 lottery list.

Hopefully…

PS - If you want to better understand the hype surrounding Kona - Click here