Originally written in German. Translated to English by AI — please excuse any awkward phrasing.
Unfortunately the wonderful time on Hawaii is already over. These lines are being written on the flight back to San Francisco, where I’ll be spending the next 1.5 weeks. One thing is certain: I have to come back here.
Physically I’m doing a bit better than a few days ago — the nasty sunburn has finally faded, though it’s left behind a few minor burns. The muscle soreness is mostly gone, but the incredible joy of having been “allowed to be there” has stayed 🙂 I’ve already set another record: 4 days in a row without any sport, and more will follow… I didn’t bring any athletic gear with me — it’s all in my bike case, still on Hawaii, flying back Saturday (thanks Alex & Sandra).
Right then, on to the race report.
After a quick breakfast in the apartment with my roommate Alex, we headed out to the start around 4:30am. We caught the very first shuttle from Hannes and arrived at the pier shortly after. From there we went straight to body marking, where your race number gets taped onto both upper arms. It’s a very special procedure that only exists at Hawaii these days. It used to be stamped on with ink, but now it’s more like a temporary tattoo. This area is divided by number, though it was either signposted so poorly or I was simply too dumb to figure out the system — I stood in the wrong line three times before finally finding the right one and getting my number. The atmosphere there was strange — partly very tense, partly very relaxed, oddly mixed.
Then it was on to the timing chip check, then weigh-in (another first for me — apparently that only happens here too) and finally we were allowed into the transition area.
Transition is incredibly tight, barely any room for bikes or people, the walkways were just wide enough for one person. My bike was all the way at the far end of the pier, so I had a long walk with the bike in hand ahead of me in T1. After the usual things like pumping up tires, filling bottles etc., we had plenty of time to watch the pro starts in peace. Important note for next time: don’t stand right next to the start cannon when it goes off — it’s definitively loud. But at least I was fully awake after that. That was one of those moments where it really sinks in where you are. All those years of watching it on a computer or TV screen and dreaming of being there, and now it’s suddenly real.
Right after the pro women’s start we joined the line for the swim start — all 2,100 starters have to funnel down a roughly 2.5m wide staircase. That takes a while, and even though we were fairly far forward we stood there for a solid 10 minutes. Finally in the water, there were still about 10 minutes until the start, which I used for some warm-up swimming and water treading. The start line is about 100m from the shore and it was already very crowded there. I spontaneously decided to go for the relaxed swimming version and just enjoy the atmosphere — meaning I positioned myself very far back and in the middle. So almost everyone was ahead of me, and I had the most relaxed swim start in a long time. The atmosphere was incredible, and after a few moments of soaking it all in, we were actually off. Interestingly there was nothing going on in the middle and I received virtually no punches or kicks. Up to the turnaround I unfortunately had to pass a lot of people, but that went relatively smoothly. After the turnaround I found a small group and drafted comfortably off their feet back to the finish. After 1:10:51h I had solid ground under my feet again.
Shortly after I was already under one of the many water hoses, rinsing off the salt and getting the salty taste out of my mouth. Then into the changing tent with my gear bag, changed out of swim gear and into a cycling jersey, grabbed a load of sunscreen and headed to my bike. Easy to find — not many bikes left at that spot. Unfortunately my helmet and visor had fallen to the ground, someone must have knocked it off. The visor was no longer attached, just lying next to the helmet, the lens badly scratched. Great start…
Nothing to do but reattach the visor to the helmet and hope the scratches wouldn’t affect visibility. Luckily they didn’t.
The path through transition was long and slow — you couldn’t pass and some people in their cycling shoes weren’t exactly in a rush. That’s how my slowest transition time ever came about: 4:19 minutes.
Finally on the bike, my favorite activity followed — picking off the field from behind. And I stayed busy with that all the way to the end of the bike course… The first kilometers go through town, then briefly onto the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, down Palani Road onto Kuakini Highway and back again. That was the most crowded section — really hectic. At times overtaking was impossible with the backlog. On the Queen-K heading toward Hawi things improved somewhat — as far as Kawaihae I was riding almost exclusively on the left overtaking line. Conditions up to that point were excellent — not too hot yet and some tailwind. I kept overtaking large groups of riders — it felt more like a road race than a triathlon. That would stay that way until the end. I barely saw any referees. Very disappointing — this was the World Championship after all!
There were many aid stations and I grabbed 2 water bottles at each — one to cool down with, one to drink. Unfortunately they were regular plastic water bottles, and after one use they got so dented that no bottle cage in the world could hold them properly. As a result I lost 4 of them myself — once even right after an aid station. Fortunately it had no negative consequences.
On the climb up to Hawi the field bunched up again quite a bit — really packed. I kept making up positions, occasionally being passed by smaller groups too (as always, no referees!). The descent from Hawi was very pleasant — almost no wind. From Kawaihae it got windy, and from a very nice crosswind angle for me. I kept picking off positions, though not as many as at the start anymore. The field was now fairly spread out and many were riding solo through the lava fields.
One incident bothers me though and makes me question the fairness of some fellow athletes. Somewhere between Kawaihae and the Scenic Point I overtook an Irish rider; who then had nothing better to do than tuck right into my draft, following me at 30cm. At first I didn’t notice, but a few miles later I turned around and saw him there. I was confused — I’d passed him a while back. How did he close the gap? Or did he ever fall back at all? It was genuinely brazen — even my most colourful insults couldn’t get him to stop 🙁 A few miles later I slowed way down, forcing him to pass. Once he did, I wound up and overtook him so fast he couldn’t get back on my wheel. Or so I thought — attempt number one I abandoned a bit later, the guy was glued to me like a barnacle. OK, same game again — insults, slow down, then surge past. The second attempt stuck — it hurt, but still better than dragging him all the way to T2. (It wasn’t the person in the photo below, but it illustrates the riding style pretty well.)
So much for the drafting issue and group riding — other athletes told me similar stories. The race organizer needs to crack down harder, this is unworthy of a World Championship. Or reduce the field size (which will probably go in the opposite direction).
Toward the end things got a bit tougher for me too — it had gotten noticeably warmer and I no longer had the form of recent weeks. All in all I’m very happy with the bike split of 4:53:47h. Not happy about the sunburn I got along the way — it was seriously brutal and still hurting two days later. Despite cooling cream, after-sun lotion and other chemical assistance 🙁
Just before T2 I got out of my shoes, then the final descent into transition and off the bike. One loop around the transition area, grabbed the run bag and back into the changing tent. Helmet off, jersey off, race belt and bib number on, socks and shoes on. A friendly volunteer packed up the rest. Grabbed cap and sunglasses for the sunscreen station and got another coat applied. After 3:17 more minutes I was back on course. A total of 7:38 minutes spent in transition — that can probably be done faster 😉 Though I’m still far from this year’s T2 record — one athlete spent a whopping 40 minutes in there!
Right after T2 there’s a short uphill, and I already knew this run wasn’t going to be fun. The first few kilometers were brutal — completely different from usual. Legs aching terribly, on top of that the heat and no wind. The Alii Drive section, the first 15 kilometers, were in hindsight the worst. Suffocatingly hot — the heat just sat there and no wind moved at all. At every aid station I grabbed everything within reach — sponges, water, ice, water, sponges. Most went toward cooling, but a few sips of water made it inside me too.
After about 3-4km things improved — legs weren’t hurting as much and what I was doing could technically be called running. Around km 10 I took a brief pit stop at a porta-potty, where you could really feel what the absence of running wind means — it was hellishly hot and got warmer the longer I was in there. My body was literally cooking. Thankfully there was an aid station right there, so I stopped again and cooled down once more.
From Alii Drive it was back onto Kuakini Highway, then up the steep Palani Road to the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway toward the Energy Lab. Up to about km 23 things went reasonably well, then it got noticeably worse and I was getting the bill for my season (too many Ironmans, no recovery, and inadequate preparation for this one). The stretch on the Queen-K to the Energy Lab felt endless — the only positive was the wind finally blowing for cooling. The Energy Lab itself was relatively pleasant — nothing like the horror stories you usually hear. It was actually quite runnable from my perspective, but directly after it the plug was well and truly pulled. After km 35 it was over for running — what I was doing had more in common with stumbling. Still moving forward though, thank god I didn’t have to walk. Except at aid stations — from that point on the motto was “walk the aid stations.”
On the rolling highway it was back up toward Kailua-Kona to Palani, the subsequent steep downhill section finished me off completely. Running downhill when you’re completely dead hurts a lot — but always with the knowledge that you’ve definitely made it now. Just one small loop through town and then toward the finish line. My first priority: be alone in the finish photo. Easier said than done — many were still fighting for every last second. I meanwhile set my cap aside and took off my glasses — the photo should look decent and I should actually be recognizable in it. Eventually I found the right moment and managed to cross the finish line alone. It was an incredible feeling — the reward for many years of hard work and the fulfillment of a dream.
The marathon clocked in at 3:17:27h — not as bad as it felt, but in all fairness I can do much better than that. Next time, I promise 😉
Total time: 9:29:41h, 62nd in age group M30-34, 225th overall. But that’s just for completeness — it doesn’t matter much to me. Being here was the goal, and enjoying it as much as possible.
Unfortunately you can’t enjoy it for long — after getting the flower lei placed around your neck you’re immediately ushered out of the finish area. Kindly but firmly. In those minutes it starts to sink in more and more what you just got to experience and what it means to you personally. In my case, very very much (to put it mildly, almost everything) — it’s impossible to put into words. Even now, days later, I still can’t really describe it.
It was so beautiful that I want to come back here. Even if the first time will probably never be topped.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who played their part in making it happen. Thank you so much — without you it wouldn’t have been possible!!!
Also a huge thank you for all the messages, congratulations etc. that reached me during this time. You’re all amazing!