Heads up! Here’s your massive list of sports tech deals! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $429, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium for $735, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, (or Hero 13 bundle for $339!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
3
Have some fun in the travel section.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
4
My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
5
The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Julie Moss as an unknown college student
First time I watched Kona I must have drinking, as I thought it would be a great idea to sign up… I’ve now signed up for 2 over a beer. Completed IMWI last year, training for IMAZ now! Love the site, keep up the great work.
Julie Moss crawling.
The pure strength of the human spirit is placed front and center in this event. Nothing else like it!
It was Julie Moss crawling video I saw first and thinking what a crazy people!
When Chris McCormack (when he couldn’t compete)cheered on fellow Australian Craig Alexander.
2012, when I first started looking into the tri world.
Erin Baker (NZ) one of the foremost Triathletes in the sport…..1987 when this was the Ford Ironman championship
3 years ago watching the live feed on the internet as I was just getting into triathlon.
I have vivid memories of watching it on Wild World of Sports in the 80s thinking those folks are crazy. Today, I watch and think maybe I’m just crazy enough to try it too.
Mark Allen vs David Scott. I was 12 watching those battles. The one I remember best was the year Allen was ahead and just collapsed in run.
Macca vs. Raelert. Rinny winning her first. First glimpse of the Iron War. Moving stories and finishes of age groupers. After that I watched every available NBC feature online.
Youtube clips of Julie Moss finishing IM might be one of my first that I can recall a few years back but Sian Welch and Wendy Ingraham finish deserve a mention too. Both finishes are just crazy and unbelievable. Perseverance at its best!!!
My best memory was as a volunteer the year Norman Stadler and Nina Kraft won. Unfortanaty Nina was later disqualified for doping. It was an awesome experience to watch live.
Watching Kona maybe 20 years ago on TV in awe and admiration thinking one day,one day.
Volunteering as a bike catcher and at the finish line in 2012!
Can’t remember the exact year but when I started with triathlon 23 years ago in israel Kona was a far away dream, even on TV we were able to get only a few minutes of it, if a sports channel decided to give it some attention.
Many years have passed, I have completed a few ironman races and Kona remains a dream :-)
Welch and ingrahm crawl off!
i am new to triathlons but am already signed up for a full next September. Watching Rhinny kill it on the run was amazing last year
The Peter Reid Canadian second place curse era
Mark Allen’s eventual win in 1989 over Dave Scott. Great race!
Carfrae last year destroying the field.
On TV last year!
Watching Chrissie wellington have a flat and hoping someone would throw her an air cartridge, which someone finally did after some time and she came back to win the whole race! I still think that person who gave her the cartridge is still kicking herself!
I loved watching Chrissy Wellington race. Even though she no longer races IM I’m still a huge fan!
First watched it on TV about 4 years ago. I thought it was crazy and awesome. Few years later, I am now an ironman myself
For sure, Julie Moss crawling through the finish line in 82 and finishing 2nd !!! How hard is it ?
I watch every year with my computer hooked up to my tv. Last year watching Rinny catch and pass everyone in front of her on the run.
When I was preparing for my first triathlon, our couch invited us to watch an event at his house as “motivation”, it turned out to be KONA 2008 and Crowie winning his first World Championship. I thought it was a really crazy sport, now I’m hooked into it :)
Watching Julie Moss cross the finish line.
I think it was 1982 when I ran a few miles with my Dad’s friend that was finishing really late! Grew up with it since I grew up here in Kona!
My favorite memory from watching the Kona coverage online was when Chrissie Wellington gutted out her final win in Kona. To see her dig so deep and pull off a win was truly inspiring.
Julie Moss
Mark Allen ‘s amazing record breaking 1989 victory, on the Web.
Simply put incredible athletes one and all! Always amazing.
Watching sister Madonna!
Watching Chrissie Wellington double flat, blow her CO2, refuse any outside help, and still finish 15 minutes ahead of second place. She’s so fast!
In 2012, I watched the respective winners, Pete Jacobs and Leanda Cave, among dozens of fellow elites and professional athletes (Rinny Carfrae and Eneko Llanos my faves) race and cross the finish line. BUT, I was most inspired and moved by all the AGE GROUPERS I was assigned to for body marking (numbers) before the start of the race. Coincidentally, I was stamping all the masters age participants 50 years old and up and there were a ton of them! These regular peeps (athletic beasts) made it to Kona! VERY INSPIRATIONAL and they keep me motivated and moving as my own years come and go! I’d love a new FR920XT or Fenix2 Special Edition to log my workouts. And, my birthday is coming up… ;-)
I remember watching Crowie pass Chris Lieto late in the marathon for the win.
First memory of watching IM Kona was many years ago before triathlon was on my radar. I don’t recall what athletes I watched but was totally in awe of how anyone could swim bike and run the distances! Little did I know that years later I would become an IM myself!
Julie Moss crawl
I know it has been said but Julie moss crawling. Amazing. Shivers.
it is so amazing and inspirational to watch the athletes cross the line. I am awe struck by the dedication and perserverience!!!
Watched a video on youtube in 2013. Really motivating. Ran a 10k after that.
I rememeber seeing Wide world of Sports and Dave Scott racing and thought “this guy is crazy to do that”. Now I’m that kind of crazy! :)
I didn’t know what an Ironman was in early 2012, by October I had completed my first sprint, signed up for my first IM, and was watching Kona live online.
Crowie setting the course record while cramping the last few miles.
Watching as a kid in the 80’s on broadcast television. I really didn’t understand all the nuances of it back then, but I was amazed at how spent they were by the end.
Saw it in person in 2001 by coincidentally being on Kona for a vacation.
Watching the “ordinary” people try and finish a life long dream. Nothing short of extra ordinary, seeing non pros try and finish something they put so much heart into.
This will be my first year watching coverage of Kona. I just started to get into these shenanigans this year. Don’t be too hard on me. :) I really am looking forward to tomorrows event though and hope that someday I can take a vacation around this event and see it in person.
Livestreaming Kona for HOURS last year and my daughter (5 at the time) being so mad that mommy and daddy were watching so much TV when we never let her watch anything.
I love looking through YouTube at all the different Kona ironman videos and all other triathlon videos. My favorite Kona moment must be Mark Allan vs Dave Scott and Macca vs Raelert.
first time watching an ironman
It’s always great watching the pros at Kona punish the course. The most memorable moment of Kona was actually an age grouper. He was a father who had a daughter. She was one of the victims of Sandy Hook. I usually don’t get emotional about things, but this story brought a tear to my eye as I sat in the couch watching the NBC Sports version of the race with my wife. I won’t ever forget the pictures they showed when the family realize their daughter had been murdered. The stories the AG’ers bring to the race are truly inspiring. They keep us racing.
My first time watching the co-worker I was waiting to see cross the finish was behind schedule, when he came across he stumbled one way and then the other before being caught by volunteers. Turns out his cliff blocks he melted away pouring water over himself in the heat and he hadn’t eaten for the second half of the marathon. Oof!
Crowe breaking the course record.
Seeing the profile stories on nbc world wide of sports and thinking how impossible of a race that would be to do. Only to later end up doing a race of my own this year at IMTX. Such an awesome sport!
Watching the last several minutes of 2012 on YouTube while I struggled through the last several minutes of a tough trainer workout. There’s no way you can quit a workout while watching the tenacity of the people struggling to finish before midnight.
Watching a good friend and teammate work her way up to a Kona qualification, and then racing in Kona the year after. Lisa is an amazing triathlete. She did very well and I was inspired not only by her, but by everyone doing the race. And watching the last racers come in during the last two hours of the race were simply incredible. I want to experience that energy someday, and have started my own triathlon journey (I learned to swim 4 years ago and still moving forward – did my first 1/2 Ironman last fall).
Miss of course is the first thing I remember is watching it 2012 right after reading Iron War. I was only into endurance sports for about a year at that point and training for my first tri, but IM was dead in my sights. Crossed the finish line at IMTX this past May :)
I would love a 920XT. I just have a 405 and would love to know exactly how slow I am in the water :)
Julie Moss and that amazing finish!
Watched the first one XXX years ago. Happy to say I will be volunteering and watching it in person tomorrow!
YouTube clip in 2013. Motivated me to try “Tri”, got me to do my first 70.3 last August. I hope I get the 920XT. :)
Dave Scott and Mark Allen “IRON WAR” !!!
I began watching these championships this past winter while sitting endlessly on a trainer. The coverage on NBC’s YouTube clips are a great length for a good indoor bike workout. I’m hooked and started entering triathlons this summer!
Watching a YouTube clip of Julie Moss
Mecca all the way!
I’ve never watched a kona but would like to take a look.
Watched in amazement as participants struggled in the last quarter of the event, eventually staggering across the finish line looking like they just got worked over by street thugs. Marathons wear me out, I only wish I had what it took to take this on…
The first time I ever watched Ironman I thought, there’s no way I will ever do that. Those people are insane, that’s too long, why would someone do that? Three Ironman’s later, Watching Kona is like my Olympics.
no one best memory, but i get teary every team i see those last age groupers coming in across the line, bodies doubled over, stumbling, leaning to the side. there’s something about knowing that someone has given everything they have to give that moves me every time.
When I was about 12 I just happened to catch it on TV. As an uncoordinated slow xc runner who tried really hard to come in anything but last, I was awestruck by the human feat. Since then, the Ironman has epitomized athleticism in my eyes. That day I also put it on my life goal list. This year I did one.
Welch and Ingraham battling 4th and 5th racing each other to reach finish while both are crawling
Watched last year for the first time after following Hines Ward’s got chocolate milk training on YouTube. Awesome experience.
Julie Moss Crawl
First time was last year. I finished a big ride early in the morning, and had a nice recovery day watching 8+ hours of racing!
IM Kona 2011 – watching Chrissie’s come from behind win. Simply one of the best races to date.
Iron war but then I decided I am not cutout for triathlon :-) Running is enough!
It was in 2011, just days before my father died. I watched in awe Chrissie Wellington taking the win… Then coming back from the funeral, I watched it again, and again… It fuelled my fire for living longer than my dad.
Iron war!
watching the final age groupers cross the finish line. All the sacrifices them and their families have made so they can chase that crazy dream
2009 – Watching Jackie Arendt, a local pro (Madison, WI), race her first Kona and second Ironman ever!
I am a 45 year old triathlete that remembers the duals with Mark Allen and Dave Scott. They inspired me to want to do a triathlon. For many years I said I would do one and for whatever reason never did. Then 5 years ago as I was turning 40 I said enough and no regrets. Today I have done several races including 2 Half Iron 70.3 races. A full is on the very near horizon. I would love to upgrade to the 920 and push towards that full with it as my training guide.
Thanks for the opportunity
Mark
Wide world of sports
Watched Macca win and have loved the event ever since.
Watched last years while in training for my first ironman (NZ). Great watch. Go Team Kiwi!
obviously Julie Moss was the first impact I remember. But most impactful was watching the TV coverage of the 2005 race and the feature on Jon Blaise and his race with ALS. That was the first time I thought maybe I could do one. It’s taken a long time to get there with my first attempt being IMAZ in 6 weeks!
Watching Chris McCormack make winning look easy. Will be doing my first full ironman next year!
Wide World of Sports, back in the late 70’s or early 80’s, way before I had any thought of joining the madness
Watched it last year for the first time after completing my first sprint tri about a month early. Truly amazing to see the athletes compete in Kona or any Iron Man triathlon!
First watched it in 2007ish and set a goal then to complete an Ironman at 30. Can proudly say I’m signed up for IMCDA 2015!
Julie Moss. Just epic effort. Finished my first two weeks ago!
I was sitting at home in northen Sweden. Clock was almost midnight and I watched Kona on a online stream on my computer. It was so exciting that I couldn’t turn it off. I ended up watching it all the way to the end. To say the least, I did not go to my morning class the next day…
I remember when I was a big Trek fan watching and pulling for Chris Lieto. Maybe he can pull one out before it’s said and done!
2012 80years Japanese age champion Hiromu Inada
Stormin’ Norman Stadler scorching the bike course.
Julie Moss for sure. I will never forget it
The Chrissy confusion of will she won’t she race. Like Ronaldo at the World Cup. Theatre for sport.
watched it while biking to get ready for a half iron race. Youtube of course
Watching Pete Jacobs crush the competition in 2012!
This year will watch it for the first time