Dick and Ricky Hoyt were inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame. Yes, Ricky has cerebral palsy. As a baby, the doctors said he would just be a vegetable the rest of his life. Mom and Dad said that would not be the case. Ricky went to public school and has a college degree. To complete the Ironman, Dad swam while pulling Rick in a raft, then biked with Rick on a specially adapted bike, and then pushed Rick in a wheeled stroller. Rick gave a moving speech in which he described the first time he and dad did a running race. He said he felt like he wasn't even disabled while racing. A powerful message that should remind us all of our potential abilities in the world. Rick said he is proud to be the only vegetable to have done the Ironman as far as he knows and he prefers Rick to Ricky.
Check out the video of a historic Ironman awards ceremony. It hardly ever rains in Kona and certainly never during the awards which is held outside. Well guess what? It started with a sprinkle that made things a little wet but it stopped and everyone could deal with it. Then the rain came back in starts and stops. Eventually it started to rain hard and never stopped. I've never stood in rain like that before on purpose. Picture if you will handing out wooden bowls which were the trophies and athletes were turning them over to dump out the water that was accumulating in them. By the time Chrissie Wellington went to give a speech, the sound cut out. Mayhem ensued as the thousands of people decide they had enough and poured out of the venue while walking in ankle deep puddles. Only a few hardy souls gathered around the stage for the men's awards. See what I mean in the video.
After the awards ceremony, this year's industry/athlete party was put on by K-Swiss. Because of the rain it was a bit crowded inside. Good thing everyone is skinny. It was a good chance to casually catch up with folks. Chris Corbin, Luke "the head MacKenzie, Linsey "Corbin not Pickel" Corbin, Doug "ah nuts" Berner, Rachel "Splish" Ross.
What happens when the local establishments close for the night in Kona and no one wants to go home? Stand around in the parking lot for awhile until the police politely ask that everyone should leave. The Euro folks were shocked that a bar would close at 2am. Where they are from open until at least 4am. Who goes out that late?
One of the things I'd been looking forward to in Hawaii since January was a mountain bike ride with some friends to commemorate yours truly turning another year older. Pretty much my whole life has involved bikes so that's what I love do to celebrate certain milestones. While technically not the actual day of my birth I determined it didn't matter and considered the 13th this year as b-day. The trail is called Jurassic Park and involved a lot of loose-rock climbing but the downhill was the reward. I have to admit that there was more pavement than dirt involved on this ride but all in all it was pretty cool.
Kudos to Plow for joining me on this sweat-fest up into the jungle. (Yes I do have more than one friend but Tom was the only one to join in that day)
Aloha until next year!
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