Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, locally known as Honu, consistently boasts a highly competitive field of professional and age group athletes. Saturday’s 11th annual running of the race, which also serves as a qualifier for the Ironman World Championship, will be no different.
The course — hailed as one of the most challenging in the Ironman 70.3 series — includes a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run along the Kohala Coast.
The race starts at Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area, then transitioning into the bike portion that takes athletes north to Hawi, giving them a taste of the northern half of the Ironman World Championship course. The race wraps up with a run on the grounds of The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii.
Professional athletes start the swim at 6:50 a.m., followed by age group males at 6:53 and age group females at 7.
Ironman 70.3 Hawaii is the only qualifier for the Ironman World Championship held on the Big Island. There are 72 qualifying slots to October’s Ironman World Championship — 28 International slots, 24 Big Island slots and 20 Hawaii state slots — up for grabs, and 40 qualifying slots to the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Canada.
Craig Alexander blew away the field in 2013, crossing the finish line in 4 hours 5 minutes and 43 seconds, almost seven minutes better than runner-up finisher Paul Matthews.
The 40-year-old Australian has won three Ironman World Championships, with the most recent coming in 2011, when he set a world championship course record of 8:03:56 and became the oldest Ironman champion. However, in March Alexander announced his retirement from Ironman-distance racing at the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championships.
It is Alexander’s third running of the Honu, and the veteran triathlete will try to make it three-for-three Saturday. He also won in 2009.
Alexander will battle a field of six other professionals, including 2011 champion and fellow Australian Luke Bell. Bell finished fourth last year.
The race has attracted big names in the past, with three Ironman world champions collecting six of the ten titles. Some of the biggest names in triathlon have appeared in the race including Chris McCormack, Ironman champions Tim DeBoom and Pete Jacobs, and Lance Armstrong, who won the race in 2011 with the current course record of 3:50:55.
On the women’s side, three-time champion Belinda Granger will not be back to defend her crown, opening the door for Kailua-Kona’s Bree Wee and 10 other professional female athletes in the field.
Last year, Wee held a healthy lead late, but a wrong turn on mile 10 of the 13.1-mile run forced Wee to backtrack to avoid disqualification. She still managed a third place finish.
Wee has consistently been a top-five finisher at the event, including a win in 2011, but will be pushed by an elite field, including three top-tier triathletes from Canada.
Melanie McQuaid is one of the most highly decorated triathletes in the field, having won three XTERRA World Championships as well as the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship in 2011.
Angela Naeth won the Panama 70.3 Pan-American Championships in February and has a host of Ironman 70.3 gold medals on her resume.
Triathlete Magazine’s 2009 70.3 Triathlete of the Year and 2014 Lavaman Waikoloa champion Magali Tisseyre rounds out the Canadian trio.
Local racing fixtures Luis De La Torre, Kristin Drost, Tommy Vonach, Helgi Olafson, Michael and Mercedes DeCarli, Keoni Smith and Rani Henderson are among the field in the event that anticipates nearly 2,000 participants.
Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi, who has four Lavaman Waikoloa finishes under his belt — including a personal best in 2014 — will race in his second 70.3 Hawaii.