KONA 2004: Epilogue
There is always a Story After the Story. Or, more precisely, the
stories after the story ends. I love little life vignettes in movies
which tell how all the main characters evolved, or suffered, or muddled
through, or just plain disappeared, after the action stopped.
Randy Caddell
Randy was the wheelchair athlete I met briefly at the 2004 Kona
Ironman, helping him through the day. The heat and winds forced him to
stop part-way through the hand cycle (bike) portion of the race. What
little I learned about him came during the race, when I talked about
him with Gordon, my fellow handler, and after the race, when I
investigated his life on the web. But I was shocked, along with many
others, to learn in February, 2005, that he had been struck and killed
by a truck while cycling through town on the Queen K highway. All of us
who spend out lives afoot or on bike on the roads know how dangerous
that can be, and have an innate sense of empathy whenever we hear of a
fellow traveler who is struck down by an inattentive driver. Here's a
link which tells a little more about his life and death: http://www.insidetri.com/news/fea/2576.0.html
Nina Kraft
Nina is the German who finished first in the women's race at Kona 2004,
20 minutes ahead of then 4-time winner Natascha Badmann, of
Switzerland. (Natascha's story is worth a look. A single mom, nearly 20
years ago, she was "overweight, out of shape, directionless". She met a
man who saw an athlete inside the lost lady, and remade herself into
the premier female triathlete of her generation.) This year, the
Ironman folks introduced drug testing for the top three finishers,
looking specifically for EPO, the red cell making hormone. They found
it in Nina's samples. Unlike most others who are caught she said,
basically, I did it and I'm sorry. She lost her title, was given a year
suspension, and basically ended her career. Here's a link which gives
the early report on the incident: http://www.insidetri.com/news/fea/2457.0.html
There have been a few other cases of alleged doping, mostly with EPO,
in our sport. It has caused a flurry of self-examination, and
wonderment amongst us. Since you can get the same effect from altitude
or hypoxication (http://www.altipower.com),
it's a wonder why people take the risk when they know they will be
tested.
Me
My life went on too. Specifically, I flew over to Maui a few days
later, to compete for the fourth time in the Xterra
(Off-Road
Triathlon) World Championships. That story begins here
And, the next year (2005), I get back in the saddle chasing my Kona
Dreams once again. That story start here.