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Best-Ever Men's IRONMAN World Championship Field to Do Battle in Kona

World Championships preview, the Blueseventy coffee boat pirates, and sprinting after 30!

TOGETHER WITH THE BLUESEVENTY

Good morning everyone,

Well, once again the IRONMAN World Championships is here. And although it looks different nowadays with only gender racing (not how it should be), there will still be plenty of exceptional racing on tap.

Personally, I’m looking forward to watching the pros rip up the course, and also hearing of the incredibly inspiring stories from the entire field. Folks like team Agar, who will once again be toeing the line together in Kona. And Jonathan Pascual, who despite an incurable cancer diagnosis will be pushing hard to complete his first ever IMWC. 

No shortage of inspiration, and action on tap!

In today’s edition:

  • 🌴 A preview of the men’s IRONMAN World Championships in Kona

  • 🏴‍☠️ The legend of the Blueseventy coffee pirates.

  • 🏃‍♀️ And why you should be sprinting after 30!

Thanks for being here.

-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor

Headshot of Matt Sharpe

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ONE BIG THING

Amidst Nice and Kona Experiment, the Big Island Will Again Host Best-Ever World Championships Field

IRONMAN

What is it: On Saturday the men’s IRONMAN World Championships will take place in the iconic location of Kona, Hawaii. It is the 46th edition of the race, and the first edition of the men’s-only race in Kona.

Champions return: Saturday’s race will feature for returning champions, who given their pedigree could see another finish on the top step of the podium.

  • Sam Laidlow (FRA) - Last year’s champion has shown incredible form winning T100 London and finishing second at T100 Ibiza. Had he not been disqualified at IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz earlier this year he would also have a full-distance win to his name.

  • Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) - Although the Olympic gold medalist was not able to defend in Paris, he turned heads with an absolutely dominant victory at IRONMAN Frankfurt not long after the Games.

  • Gustav Iden (NOR) - 2022’s winner has seen a difficult year due to injuries and the passing of his mother. However, he has been training well with Blummenfelt recently and seems to be peaking at the right time.

  • Patrick Lange (GER) - The 2x winner in Kona has also had a strong year highlighted by the win at IRONMAN Texas after the winner tested positive for PED’s.

Front pack flyers: From the cannon the pace will be absolutely on, and these athletes are sure to be featured at the front of the race out of the swim,

  • Matthew Marquardt (USA) - he led IRONMAN Lake Placid by himself until mile 20 on the run. With a few more bodies around expect him we expect him to stay up front even longer.

  • Rudy Von Berg (USA) - 4th overall at last year’s IMWC, he will be looking to stick himself on the front and stay there through the run.

  • Ben Kanute (USA) - Always a front-pack athlete, Kanute has dedicated his year to performing on the Big Island and he tends to show up when the stakes are high.

The uber bikers: They may not exit the water first, but these incredible cyclists will make a serious mark during the bike,

  • Magnus Ditlev (DEN) - One of the bike leaders from 2022, Ditlev also has a record-breaking Challenge Roth to his name and will be guaranteed to start the run at the front of the race.

  • Lionel Sanders (CAN) - One of, if not the biggest names in the sport, has been chasing a result to match his 2nd place in 2017. Could this be his year? Maybe. But there is no doubt he’ll chew through the field on the bike.

  • Trevor Foley (USA) - His swim might have him out of the main bunch, but we expect the IRONMAN Lake Placid winner to ride himself back up to main field, and maybe even run himself onto the podium!

Darkhorse picks: Although not obvious picks for the win, look for these athletes to be amongst it at the front of the race and maybe breakthrough for a career-defining day,

  • Jackson Laundry (CAN) - The Canadian has been on a tear recently with strong perfromances at 70.3 Michigan and IRONMAN Chattanooga. And after an interview with The Tempo he surely has confidence to mix it up at the front! 🤣

  • Pieter Heemeryck (BEL) - An incredibly strong cyclist with a strong fourth at last weekend’s T100 in Lake Las Vegas. Should be in the mix on the swim and bike and has a run that may keep him in the game longer than most.

Tempo’s take: Every year we say that this year is the most competitive Kona yet. But it truly is an incredible year where it feels like all the favorites are coming in at (mostly) 100%.

  • We’ll see what the weather looks like on race day. Right now the forecast actully shows some rain, so if the famous cross winds and heat are muted we she see some absolutely incredible times, especially on the bike.

There will most likely be a large front pack of almost 20 athletes together out of the swim. Some will be happy to sit in while others will want to smash the bike right out of T1. If a small group can get away early than it will be game over for the slower swimmers.

  • We expect the likes of Blummenfelt, Ditlev, Laidlow, and maybe one or two more to hit T2 together. If that’s the case than all three of them will run togehter for the first half in an ode to the “IRON-War.”

Once the race gets real in the energy lab Ditlev will fall off, Blummenfelt a few miles later. Then Laidlow will take his first win in Kona.

Or maybe something else crazy will happen! We’ll find out soon enough.

How to watch: Watch live on Outside and proseries.ironman.com and others starting at 4:30 AM HST/10:30 AM EST/4:30 PM CEST

Will you watch Kona? What are you excited for?

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TOGETHER WITH BLUESEVENTY

Blueseventy and the Kona Coffee Pirates!

Before it was commandeered by IRONMAN, the Blueseventy coffee boat was a much-loved pioneer in World Championship brand activations. We spoke with John Duquette, Blueseventy Head of US Sales and Operations about the origin story of this delicious initiative.

Where did the idea for the Kona coffee boat originate?

A guy named Albert Boyce worked for Coffees of Hawaii and had the idea.  We manned the boat with him and a rotating cast of partners though 2015, and in 2016 Coffees of Hawaii moved their marketing dollars elsewhere and that's when Clif Bar joined us.  The crew was Clif was extremely professional and full of great ideas so their presence really upped the overall experience out there.

Was it the same boat every year? What were the logistics like organizing this endeavor?

It was the same boat and more or less the same crew.  Honestly it was always a bit stressful because at the end of the event we'd try to get a price quote and book for next year and they'd say "don't worry about it, we've got you, call us next summer."  Then maybe we'd call in February or March and they'd say "don't worry about it, we got you, call us back a couple months out."  Then we'd call in August they'd say "It's about time you called, we haven't heard from you and didn't know what was going on!

  • It felt like there was always stress around it but it always worked out.  All in all we enjoyed working with them and they were extremely professional. Other than that we used some of our Seattle connections to get Starbucks to donate the coffee and then we filled out a staffing sheet with Clif. 

We always had plenty of volunteers to man the boat but the crew was really strict about the amount of people who could be on it.

What was the vibe like on the boat?

It was total madness.  As soon as we dropped anchor about 100 people would be swimming up. The vast majority were well behaved but you had the odd person complaining we didn't have some random sweetener or trying to climb onto the boat for whatever reason. 

  • All in all there were heaps of smiling faces and languages from all over the world.  It was as as great of an example of international unity as anyone can come up with

How much coffee would you go through? What was the quickest it ran out?

I can't recall how much Coffees of Hawaii made in the early days but Starbucks would give us 5 gallons of brewed coffee which we served in approximately 2oz cups.  That would usually last 1.5-2 hours.  We tried to buy more coffee but they simply didn't have time to brew more any more as we'd get there right when they opened and the opening crew was already brewing coffee for us from the moment they walked in the door.

Any animal sightings from the boat?

The typical turtle and fish sightings and in 2019 some dolphins hung out at our underwater photo booth for some time!

How did the hostile takeover of the coffee boat take place?

It really came down to the boat company.  We stayed in touch with them throughout 2020 and 2021 and even early 2022.  In July of 2022 I called the office and they told me they had my reservation and that they'd send me the paperwork.  It never came and in August I called them back and the same person told me that Ironman had rented the boat the entire week.  There were some words exchanged but it was clear we couldn't beat the corporate overlords.

  • I swam out there last year and grabbed a coffee and I don't want to offend anyone but the vibe just didn't feel the same. There were no floaties, no photographer, and there was no party. People seemed to swim up, drink a few sips of coffee and then swim off. 

What is your fondest memory from the coffee boat?

I'll first admit I worked fewer shifts on the boat than most people in our company for a handful of reasons, but there's one interaction that I'll never, ever forget.  We were out there handing our coffee and chatting with people and a guy swam up to the boat and let out a enthusiastic and victorious yell.  Then in a  British accent he said, "Yes! I made it to the coffee boat!"  I smiled and said something to greet him and he replied something along the lines of,

"You don't understand. My wife does all these races but while she goes out training I just sit around on the couch.  Last year she qualified for Kona and when I went down to the pier with her and I learned about the coffee boat.  I decided then and there that I was going to learn to swim so that if she qualified for Kona again I could swim out and have a coffee in the middle of the ocean. I made  it!

I don't think there's a better story to sum up what the experience meant to people. I miss it but I'm glad the tradition is being carried on.

FAVORITES

🤖 Crazy Kona tech: The IRONMAN World Championships is always a showcase fo the the latest and greatest in bike tech. And this year is no different! Highlight’s from this year include aero trisuits, crazy aero setups, and a 3D printed bike?!? [GTN]

🏃‍♀️ Sprinting after 30: Running sprinting can provide loads of benefits for your form and help boost your VO2 max. But sprinting as we get older can be a little more risky than our youth. This guide to sprinting after 30 can help you find the need for speed! [Inside Hook]

🧪 Ketone’s for you: As time goes on more research is showing that ketones can help improve your performance. The latest benefit of this supplement? An increase in your naturally occuring EPO - meaning enhanced oxygen delivery! [My Sports Science]

💉 Doper detained: It has been confirmed that while he is serving his two year doping ban Tomas Rodiguez Hernandez will continue to be drug tested by IRONMAN. [ProTriNews]

REEL TIME

A presentation on what races we should do next year?!? Management consultants can only dream of this power point! 😍🤣

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