When the alarm went off at 3:45am, I stayed in bed for another 15 minutes to let Karel have the kitchen to himself as he made his espresso and pre-race meal. When I got up, I was quick to go outside to the patio to let Karel do his own thing without getting in his way. Karel’s mom stayed in bed as we told her to watch the swim from behind the building in front of us as it would be too crazy for her to go down to the finish line area. Karel was incredibly calm and I couldn’t sense any nervous energy from him. It was a mixture of excitement, readiness and confidence and of course, gratitude that he had a healthy (and injury free) body at the end of a very successful season of racing. Around 5:15am, Karel was ready to head to the race venue. My job was to carry his special needs bags (and drop them off) and to grab his pump from him after he pumped his tires.
Due to the rain the night before, Ali’i drive was a little
wet but the air temp felt very comfortable. Crowds were already lining up on
the wall to watch the swim start, the finish line was fully assembled, you
could hear Mike Riley (and the other announcers) and there were athletes
everywhere. I walked with Karel behind the King K hotel and dropped off his
special needs bags before wishing Karel a great race and giving up a good luck
kiss and hug. Karel went into the athlete-only area to get body marked
(temporary tattoo) and weighed before heading to his bike on the pier.
During
this time (which moved rather quickly, I was surprised with all of the athletes!),
I made my way to the pool area behind the King K as that was my meeting spot
for Karel to hand me his pump. Around 6am, Karel came back from his bike,
handed me his pump and I gave him one more good luck wish.
He looked really calm and relaxed as he was listening to his music. I waited just a little longer to make sure he didn’t need me for anything else and then I walked down the road to get a spot to watch the swim start. During this time, Karel did his jog warm-up to our place, went to the bathroom once more and then jogged back to the pier – all before 6:30am. With Karel’s wave starting at 7:05am, he gave himself time to get close to the stairs entering the water so that he could get in a 10 minute swim warm-up with a few efforts to get the blood flowing.
Making friends.
2.4 mile swim
Aside from the chaos that comes with a mass
start, Karel had his best non-wetsuit/Kona swim. Karel lined himself up to the
far left of the buoys and near the front row. The buoys were spaced every 100
meters which made it easy to mark progress. Plus there are a few landmarks to
the left which help athletes know how far they are (ex. the “boat” looking
hotel by Huggo’s is about 1000 meters in). It was really important for Karel to
try to accelerate hard from the front and then settle into a good rhythm. This
was something that he practiced in the practice swim the previous Saturday.
Karel was most proud of how he felt on the way back from the two turns (around
the boats – which are the only two turns of this swim course) as he felt strong
and exited the water feeling relatively fresh and not exhausted. The way back
to the pier is typically a little slower due to the movement of the waves/ocean
and layout of the course but Karel felt like he was able to swim strong
throughout.
T1
Whereas any other Ironman may have a small group of athletes exiting the water between 1 hour and 70 minutes, IM Kona is a bit different. With so many fast athletes in one race, it’s not uncommon to have 30-80 athletes exiting the water within a few minutes. Karel made his way up the stairs (which are only placed there for race day), through the hoses to rinse off and then to his T1 bag. Karel did not have anything in his bag since he had his cycling shoes and helmet on his bike (mandatory for all athletes to have their helmet on the bike, shoes are optional in bag or on the bike pedals). When he grabbed his bag, he took off his swimskin and then put it in his bag before running to his bike. No need for Karel to even enter the changing tent. Once he got to his bike, he put on his helmet and made the long run with his bike all the way around pier. Every athlete has to cover the same distance/path around the pier, which makes for a very long transition area.
Whereas any other Ironman may have a small group of athletes exiting the water between 1 hour and 70 minutes, IM Kona is a bit different. With so many fast athletes in one race, it’s not uncommon to have 30-80 athletes exiting the water within a few minutes. Karel made his way up the stairs (which are only placed there for race day), through the hoses to rinse off and then to his T1 bag. Karel did not have anything in his bag since he had his cycling shoes and helmet on his bike (mandatory for all athletes to have their helmet on the bike, shoes are optional in bag or on the bike pedals). When he grabbed his bag, he took off his swimskin and then put it in his bag before running to his bike. No need for Karel to even enter the changing tent. Once he got to his bike, he put on his helmet and made the long run with his bike all the way around pier. Every athlete has to cover the same distance/path around the pier, which makes for a very long transition area.
112 mile bike
Karel was filled with happiness when he got on his bike (flying mount) as he was thrilled with his swim. Going into the race, Karel had a stretch goal of trying to get in the top ten for his age-group. Not knowing what the weather would be like, Karel was more focused on chasing the competition versus chasing a time (then again, Karel doesn’t care about times when he races). With his swim time being a few minutes faster than in 2016, Karel felt like this would set him up to be with faster cyclists. Having a lot of confidence in his run, his goal for the next 112 miles was to put together a solid bike, nail his nutrition and deliver himself to the run.
It was only a matter of a few pedal strokes that Karel realized something was wrong with his bike. His electronic shifting was not working. This meant that he was stuck in one gear and one gear only….for the next 112 miles. And not just any gear but a very easy gear. Karel went from such a high, to such a low in a matter of seconds. He suddenly felt so empty, sad and confused. Even as a bike mechanic, this was a mechanical issue that was completely out of his control. With the upcoming in-town section taking only about 20-25 minutes, I wasn’t sure why I didn’t see Karel flying down Palani after he exited the transition area. When I finally saw his neon-green kit coming down the hill, I was super happy to see him. But what came next was not what I expected to hear….
“I have no gears.”
My heart immediately sank into my stomach and I couldn’t believe it. Karel later on told me that he got of his bike within the first mile and tried to jam the chain into another gear for more resistance. No go. Compared to the 24-27 mph speeds that other athletes were holding to cover the “in-town” section, Karel was averaging 15 mph.
As soon as Karel shouted that to me about his gears, I felt like I needed to help. I didn’t know what to do so I just started running to my condo. I left Karel’s mom on Palani (there was no way I could communicate to her what had happened since she doesn’t speak English) and made my way to the condo. Luckily, our condo is just a block from Palani. My heart was beating so fast, I was sweating like crazy and I just felt so sad for Karel. Not even a few miles into his 140.6 mile race and his day of racing was overwith. Sure, he could still ride his bike but it was going to be a very long morning of riding with just one gear. Plus, riding in such an easy gear means a lot of pedaling which means a lot of mechanical and cardio fatigue. I also worried about Karel’s hips and back (which he has to be so careful with when he rides) and just the overall emotions that he would be carrying with him for the next 112 miles.
When I got into my condo, I grabbed my bike because my first thought was “He can ride my bike.” Then I thought, oh that’s silly. Then I thought “I have a battery! He can use mine!” I searched for some tools because I thought he would need those. I know little about bike mechanics (prior to this incident, I didn’t even know where the battery was in my bike) but I have seen Karel work on bikes enough to know what tools he uses/needs. All of this was in a mega panic and feeling the need to help my husband.
After I grabbed my bike and a small tool gadget, I sprinted my way down the stairs and rode across the street. I was hoping that I didn’t miss Karel for I really wanted to help him.
Luckily, I spotted Karel. I yelled and jumped up and down so he could see me. At first I thought he was going to keep riding but he stopped soon after he saw me. He pulled over to the side of the road in pure sadness and told me that he has no gears. When I saw a tear fall down his cheek from under the sunglasses attached to his helmet, that was my sign that I had to switch from wife to coach. Whereas I wanted to give him a hug and be emotional, I knew that would only make him more upset. We moved on to the sidewalk on Kuakini and Hanama (around there) and as Karel said “And I had such a great swim…” I stopped him from talking as I knew his emotions were taking over. I said “take my battery. I even brought your tools.” Karel was overloaded with his thoughts about this unfortunate situation and told me that he didn’t think it would help. He was convinced that the wire shorted the battery due to the rain as he clipped the wire prior to travel when removing his aero bars and secured it with electrical tape. I told him to try and he swapped my battery for his (from inside the seat post – aha, that is where it is!) and his biked shifted! Karel took the tools with him just in case he didn’t them again and I told him not to let this get to him. There was very little communication between us during the few minutes that this battery swap took place as I wanted Karel to stay calm. Karel is not one to over-react, play the blame game, make excuses or get angry so his emotions were purely from disappointment in the situation. He knew that his top 10 goal would no longer happen even though he now had the ability to shift his gears. I told him that I love him and to give his best and that everything will be ok as he rode off. Even though he lost a good 15 minutes in the first 7 miles or so of the bike, I still felt like he would be able to be in the race, so long as my battery worked for the rest of the ride.
As I walked back to the condo with my bike, I felt a bit of relief that I could help Karel during is helpless situation but I felt sick to my stomach about the situation. I just helped Karel cheat. As I made my way to the condo, I couldn’t help but think that we just broke a very important rule with triathlon racing – no outside assistance. I knew this meant a disqualification so I just hoped that Karel would be able to continue the race and cross the finish line for I know Karel and he is not a cheater or a quitter and would not want his race experience to be taken away from him. Even if his goal was no longer reachable, he loves to race and I wanted to give him the opportunity to race – even if he wasn’t an official finisher.
Karel’s mom came back to the condo and she was visibly upset because she didn’t see Karel on the bike. I showed her a picture that I saw him and gave her a thumbs up to signify that he was ok so she wouldn’t worry. Before the race, I made a time-line for Karel’s mom so she knew about when Karel would be where on the course so she could go and cheer. Well, I had to adjust those times because of the incident.
Sadly, I couldn’t feel happy about what just happened. Rather than feeling like the hero in this, I felt disappointed that we cheated. I knew Karel would feel the same way so I just hoped that he was able to enjoy his day before he would need to tell an official that he received outside assistance. To help with my emotions, I went for a run along Ali’i drive while listening to the live broadcast on my phone and periodically checking the Ironman tracker app to see how Karel was doing. When I saw that Karel was riding a more normal speed, I did feel better that he would be able to ride more comfortably by choosing his own gears to change throughout the race. I notified our team (on our private Facebook team page) that Karel had a mechanical but I wanted it to come from him to explain to our athletes what had happened, especially since we still needed to speak to an official.
After my run, I returned back to the condo, showered and ate, watched more of the live coverage and continued to track Karel. Although he was making good progress on the course, he continued to move back in places. This told me that something was not right. When I looked at this split paces compared to other athletes, I knew something was wrong. He was still moving much faster than in the first few miles with only the easy gear but far slower than what he is capable of riding. I tried not to think much of it and I was just counting down the hours until he got off the bike.
As Karel was getting closer to the transition area, his time was not bad but it could have been so much faster. On a record setting day with no wind, I knew something was not right as he was nearing 180ish place off the bike.
Karel was filled with happiness when he got on his bike (flying mount) as he was thrilled with his swim. Going into the race, Karel had a stretch goal of trying to get in the top ten for his age-group. Not knowing what the weather would be like, Karel was more focused on chasing the competition versus chasing a time (then again, Karel doesn’t care about times when he races). With his swim time being a few minutes faster than in 2016, Karel felt like this would set him up to be with faster cyclists. Having a lot of confidence in his run, his goal for the next 112 miles was to put together a solid bike, nail his nutrition and deliver himself to the run.
It was only a matter of a few pedal strokes that Karel realized something was wrong with his bike. His electronic shifting was not working. This meant that he was stuck in one gear and one gear only….for the next 112 miles. And not just any gear but a very easy gear. Karel went from such a high, to such a low in a matter of seconds. He suddenly felt so empty, sad and confused. Even as a bike mechanic, this was a mechanical issue that was completely out of his control. With the upcoming in-town section taking only about 20-25 minutes, I wasn’t sure why I didn’t see Karel flying down Palani after he exited the transition area. When I finally saw his neon-green kit coming down the hill, I was super happy to see him. But what came next was not what I expected to hear….
“I have no gears.”
My heart immediately sank into my stomach and I couldn’t believe it. Karel later on told me that he got of his bike within the first mile and tried to jam the chain into another gear for more resistance. No go. Compared to the 24-27 mph speeds that other athletes were holding to cover the “in-town” section, Karel was averaging 15 mph.
As soon as Karel shouted that to me about his gears, I felt like I needed to help. I didn’t know what to do so I just started running to my condo. I left Karel’s mom on Palani (there was no way I could communicate to her what had happened since she doesn’t speak English) and made my way to the condo. Luckily, our condo is just a block from Palani. My heart was beating so fast, I was sweating like crazy and I just felt so sad for Karel. Not even a few miles into his 140.6 mile race and his day of racing was overwith. Sure, he could still ride his bike but it was going to be a very long morning of riding with just one gear. Plus, riding in such an easy gear means a lot of pedaling which means a lot of mechanical and cardio fatigue. I also worried about Karel’s hips and back (which he has to be so careful with when he rides) and just the overall emotions that he would be carrying with him for the next 112 miles.
When I got into my condo, I grabbed my bike because my first thought was “He can ride my bike.” Then I thought, oh that’s silly. Then I thought “I have a battery! He can use mine!” I searched for some tools because I thought he would need those. I know little about bike mechanics (prior to this incident, I didn’t even know where the battery was in my bike) but I have seen Karel work on bikes enough to know what tools he uses/needs. All of this was in a mega panic and feeling the need to help my husband.
After I grabbed my bike and a small tool gadget, I sprinted my way down the stairs and rode across the street. I was hoping that I didn’t miss Karel for I really wanted to help him.
Luckily, I spotted Karel. I yelled and jumped up and down so he could see me. At first I thought he was going to keep riding but he stopped soon after he saw me. He pulled over to the side of the road in pure sadness and told me that he has no gears. When I saw a tear fall down his cheek from under the sunglasses attached to his helmet, that was my sign that I had to switch from wife to coach. Whereas I wanted to give him a hug and be emotional, I knew that would only make him more upset. We moved on to the sidewalk on Kuakini and Hanama (around there) and as Karel said “And I had such a great swim…” I stopped him from talking as I knew his emotions were taking over. I said “take my battery. I even brought your tools.” Karel was overloaded with his thoughts about this unfortunate situation and told me that he didn’t think it would help. He was convinced that the wire shorted the battery due to the rain as he clipped the wire prior to travel when removing his aero bars and secured it with electrical tape. I told him to try and he swapped my battery for his (from inside the seat post – aha, that is where it is!) and his biked shifted! Karel took the tools with him just in case he didn’t them again and I told him not to let this get to him. There was very little communication between us during the few minutes that this battery swap took place as I wanted Karel to stay calm. Karel is not one to over-react, play the blame game, make excuses or get angry so his emotions were purely from disappointment in the situation. He knew that his top 10 goal would no longer happen even though he now had the ability to shift his gears. I told him that I love him and to give his best and that everything will be ok as he rode off. Even though he lost a good 15 minutes in the first 7 miles or so of the bike, I still felt like he would be able to be in the race, so long as my battery worked for the rest of the ride.
As I walked back to the condo with my bike, I felt a bit of relief that I could help Karel during is helpless situation but I felt sick to my stomach about the situation. I just helped Karel cheat. As I made my way to the condo, I couldn’t help but think that we just broke a very important rule with triathlon racing – no outside assistance. I knew this meant a disqualification so I just hoped that Karel would be able to continue the race and cross the finish line for I know Karel and he is not a cheater or a quitter and would not want his race experience to be taken away from him. Even if his goal was no longer reachable, he loves to race and I wanted to give him the opportunity to race – even if he wasn’t an official finisher.
Karel’s mom came back to the condo and she was visibly upset because she didn’t see Karel on the bike. I showed her a picture that I saw him and gave her a thumbs up to signify that he was ok so she wouldn’t worry. Before the race, I made a time-line for Karel’s mom so she knew about when Karel would be where on the course so she could go and cheer. Well, I had to adjust those times because of the incident.
Sadly, I couldn’t feel happy about what just happened. Rather than feeling like the hero in this, I felt disappointed that we cheated. I knew Karel would feel the same way so I just hoped that he was able to enjoy his day before he would need to tell an official that he received outside assistance. To help with my emotions, I went for a run along Ali’i drive while listening to the live broadcast on my phone and periodically checking the Ironman tracker app to see how Karel was doing. When I saw that Karel was riding a more normal speed, I did feel better that he would be able to ride more comfortably by choosing his own gears to change throughout the race. I notified our team (on our private Facebook team page) that Karel had a mechanical but I wanted it to come from him to explain to our athletes what had happened, especially since we still needed to speak to an official.
After my run, I returned back to the condo, showered and ate, watched more of the live coverage and continued to track Karel. Although he was making good progress on the course, he continued to move back in places. This told me that something was not right. When I looked at this split paces compared to other athletes, I knew something was wrong. He was still moving much faster than in the first few miles with only the easy gear but far slower than what he is capable of riding. I tried not to think much of it and I was just counting down the hours until he got off the bike.
As Karel was getting closer to the transition area, his time was not bad but it could have been so much faster. On a record setting day with no wind, I knew something was not right as he was nearing 180ish place off the bike.
T2
Karel had a quick transition and was relieved to be off his bike with his feet on the ground. The temperature was heating up but I had no idea what was going on with Karel. Why was he riding somewhat fast if he only had one easy gear but also so slow compared to what he could have ridden?
26.2 mile run
When I saw Karel running on Kuakini before heading to the out and back section on Ali’i drive, I gave him a big cheer. He quickly told me that the battery stopped working again and he only had one gear for most of the ride. Later on, Karel told me that the battery only worked for about 20 miles and luckily, when the battery died, he was in the big chain ring. It was still an easy gear and on any other typical Kona day, it may have been fine with wind but on a day that required a lot of resistance on the chain, he was forced to pedal at a very high cadence just to keep the momentum going. But with every climb, the gear was too heavy, which forced him to get out of the saddle a lot and to use a very slow cadence to get over some of the hills. This was a very poor way to ride the course, not to mention the mechanical and cardio fatigue that occurred for over 90 miles. He had a lot of low moments during the ride as he was helpless being passed by so many athletes. He refused to quit and tried to make the best of the decision and adjust his position or figure out the best way to gain speed (or make it “easier” when climbing) whenever possible. In addition, he still focused on good nutrition but because of this very inefficient riding style, his body was under a lot more stress compared to if he would be able to ride at his preferred cadence (around mid 80’s) and change his gears.
After I saw Karel on the run, I yelled to him “Put together a run that you will be proud of!” and that seemed to stick with him as he was running really well, with good form and at a great pace. Again, I had no idea how much the ride took out of his legs and heart but I knew my mission for the day was to keep him going. Karel isn’t a quitter but it’s easy to give into the thoughts in your head that it’s not worth it – especially on what was turning into an extremely hot marathon run at the Ironman World Championship.
I rode my bike (without the ability to change gears – since I had Karel’s dead
battery) on one of the side roads so I could see Karel once more on Ali’i
drive. I rode on the opposite side of the road, took a few pictures and a video
but didn’t say anything to him.
I knew he needed to get into a good place with
his rhythm (and thoughts) so I just tried to be invisible. After a half mile of
watching Karel run, I turned around and made my way to the top of Palani to
wait for Karel once more.
Karel had a quick transition and was relieved to be off his bike with his feet on the ground. The temperature was heating up but I had no idea what was going on with Karel. Why was he riding somewhat fast if he only had one easy gear but also so slow compared to what he could have ridden?
When I saw Karel running on Kuakini before heading to the out and back section on Ali’i drive, I gave him a big cheer. He quickly told me that the battery stopped working again and he only had one gear for most of the ride. Later on, Karel told me that the battery only worked for about 20 miles and luckily, when the battery died, he was in the big chain ring. It was still an easy gear and on any other typical Kona day, it may have been fine with wind but on a day that required a lot of resistance on the chain, he was forced to pedal at a very high cadence just to keep the momentum going. But with every climb, the gear was too heavy, which forced him to get out of the saddle a lot and to use a very slow cadence to get over some of the hills. This was a very poor way to ride the course, not to mention the mechanical and cardio fatigue that occurred for over 90 miles. He had a lot of low moments during the ride as he was helpless being passed by so many athletes. He refused to quit and tried to make the best of the decision and adjust his position or figure out the best way to gain speed (or make it “easier” when climbing) whenever possible. In addition, he still focused on good nutrition but because of this very inefficient riding style, his body was under a lot more stress compared to if he would be able to ride at his preferred cadence (around mid 80’s) and change his gears.
After I saw Karel on the run, I yelled to him “Put together a run that you will be proud of!” and that seemed to stick with him as he was running really well, with good form and at a great pace. Again, I had no idea how much the ride took out of his legs and heart but I knew my mission for the day was to keep him going. Karel isn’t a quitter but it’s easy to give into the thoughts in your head that it’s not worth it – especially on what was turning into an extremely hot marathon run at the Ironman World Championship.
When
I saw Karel running up Palani (the steepest hill on the course, occurring this year -with the new course-around mile 7-8ish), I told him that he is running one of the fastest paces at this
point in the marathon. Even though it was not possible to pass 150+ people over
the next 20 miles, I wanted Karel to know that he was still having a good race.
And most of all, I wanted to make sure Karel still felt like he was racing. The
bike was now in the past and the focus was on getting him to the finish line
with the best run that he could put together on the day.
Karel said that the run was incredibly hard – one of the hardest Ironman marathons that he has ever run. It was so hot out there and there was no cloud cover. He had no idea of his pace or overall run time as the focus was on running from one aid station to the next, walking through the aid stations and taking care of himself with ice/water and then surviving to the next aid station. Karel was later shocked when I told him that he ran a 3:15 marathon and moved from 181st to 82nd. With the wind at his face as he got closer to the new entrance of the energy lab, it started to get very hot and very tough for Karel. Despite his body breaking down and his mind exhausting, something inside of him kept him going.
Although Karel slowed down (as everyone does in the marathon), he was still putting together solid splits according to the tracer. I was just so proud of Karel for what he had overcome and how he was able to still run so well.
I went back to the condo to tell Karel’s mom to head outside to watch Karel finish and I made my way to the bleachers to capture Karel crossing the finish line. As Karel made his way over the finish line, I could tell he was completely empty – mentally and physically. What a day.
Post race
I made my way to the patio area by the pool where I stood to meet Karel in the morning. Thankfully, our friend Livingston was volunteering and snapped a picture of Karel and called me so I could talk to Karel. Karel was absolutely exhausted and told me that he just wanted to lay in the grass for a while and go to sleep. I told him to take his time and that I would meet him when he was ready. Livingston wouldn’t let Karel fall asleep so he stayed with Karel until he was able to get up. Karel went to the bathroom, rehydrated a little (no appetite to eat) and about 20-30 min after he finished, he hobbled his way to me. I told him that I was so proud of him and he said that was the hardest thing he had ever done. As we were walking, I wanted to bring up the battery swap but I hesitated as I knew Karel was lacking some brain cells to think. Once Karel started to talk a little more (although clearly disappointed), I mentioned about us needing to talk to someone about my outside assistance. Karel agreed and said he was thinking the same thing. Neither one of us could live with this scenario if we didn't tell an official. Even though my battery didn’t technically help Karel (he still rode 90 miles on one gear), it was still outside assistance and we always want to play fair and by the rules. Plus, we feel that being a good role model for our athletes and having integrity for the sport means doing the right thing.
I made my way to the patio area by the pool where I stood to meet Karel in the morning. Thankfully, our friend Livingston was volunteering and snapped a picture of Karel and called me so I could talk to Karel. Karel was absolutely exhausted and told me that he just wanted to lay in the grass for a while and go to sleep. I told him to take his time and that I would meet him when he was ready. Livingston wouldn’t let Karel fall asleep so he stayed with Karel until he was able to get up. Karel went to the bathroom, rehydrated a little (no appetite to eat) and about 20-30 min after he finished, he hobbled his way to me. I told him that I was so proud of him and he said that was the hardest thing he had ever done. As we were walking, I wanted to bring up the battery swap but I hesitated as I knew Karel was lacking some brain cells to think. Once Karel started to talk a little more (although clearly disappointed), I mentioned about us needing to talk to someone about my outside assistance. Karel agreed and said he was thinking the same thing. Neither one of us could live with this scenario if we didn't tell an official. Even though my battery didn’t technically help Karel (he still rode 90 miles on one gear), it was still outside assistance and we always want to play fair and by the rules. Plus, we feel that being a good role model for our athletes and having integrity for the sport means doing the right thing.
After we made our way back to our place, Karel was feeling super nauseous. He took a shower and laid down in bed. Unable to eat anything, we started with some soup and over the next 2 hours, his appetite slowly came back. His mom was super proud of him.
Nearing 7pm (when athletes can start checking out their
bikes), Karel mentioned that he was feeling ok enough to walk around. We both
wanted to find the head bike official (Jimmy Riccitello) as soon as possible as we
wanted to take care of this situation for we both didn’t feel good about it.
Karel and I slowly walked to the King K hotel (official race hotel) and went to a room (Lost and Found) to see if we could locate Jimmy. The volunteer we spoke to was very confused. The convo went like this.
Karel “I’d like to speak to the head bike official about a situation on the bike course.”
Volunteer “OK, is this about another athlete?”
Karel “No, it’s about myself.”
Volunteer “ Did another athlete do something?”
Karel “No, I’d like to disqualify myself.”
Volunteer “Are you sure?"
Karel "Yes.”
We waited over an hour for Jimmy to be found (during that time Karel collected his bike and gear bags as I waited in the room) and once he came, we told him the entire situation of what happened. Jimmy was a bit speechless as he couldn’t believe that Karel wanted to disqualify himself at the Ironman World Championship. Jimmy said that he really appreciated the honesty and that he would write down Karel’s number in case anyone complained about what they saw but in all fairness, he didn’t feel that Karel was deserving of a disqualification. He told us that although it is outside assistance, it was not something that was planned to help Karel gain the competitive edge and I was not offering Karel something that he could use as an advantage over his other competitors. We expressed several times that we felt like it was the right thing to do, Jimmy took note of it but didn’t feel it was worthy of a DQ. We thanked him for allowing us to share the situation and he thanked us for being honest about the situation. I think he was a bit taken back by it all and a little speechless.
Afterward, Karel got back his appetite in full force and wanted a burger and fries so we picked one up outside of a restaurant (Karel only managed to eat half) and headed back to our condo.
Karel and I slowly walked to the King K hotel (official race hotel) and went to a room (Lost and Found) to see if we could locate Jimmy. The volunteer we spoke to was very confused. The convo went like this.
Karel “I’d like to speak to the head bike official about a situation on the bike course.”
Volunteer “OK, is this about another athlete?”
Karel “No, it’s about myself.”
Volunteer “ Did another athlete do something?”
Karel “No, I’d like to disqualify myself.”
Volunteer “Are you sure?"
Karel "Yes.”
We waited over an hour for Jimmy to be found (during that time Karel collected his bike and gear bags as I waited in the room) and once he came, we told him the entire situation of what happened. Jimmy was a bit speechless as he couldn’t believe that Karel wanted to disqualify himself at the Ironman World Championship. Jimmy said that he really appreciated the honesty and that he would write down Karel’s number in case anyone complained about what they saw but in all fairness, he didn’t feel that Karel was deserving of a disqualification. He told us that although it is outside assistance, it was not something that was planned to help Karel gain the competitive edge and I was not offering Karel something that he could use as an advantage over his other competitors. We expressed several times that we felt like it was the right thing to do, Jimmy took note of it but didn’t feel it was worthy of a DQ. We thanked him for allowing us to share the situation and he thanked us for being honest about the situation. I think he was a bit taken back by it all and a little speechless.
Afterward, Karel got back his appetite in full force and wanted a burger and fries so we picked one up outside of a restaurant (Karel only managed to eat half) and headed back to our condo.
It was a very emotional, exhausting and tough day for Karel but he is incredibly happy that he finished. He said even if the bike would take him 7 hours, he was going to finish the race. While Karel had to deal with more than he had planned to deal with over the course of 140.6 miles, he is heading back home with a finisher medal that means more to him than any finish time or finishing place. Onward and upward we go.
Thank you for your support and for reading.