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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.
Maybe 5 years ago when Craig Alexander won in the running against Raelert. After that I had to dl the previous races till maybe 1990 and watch them all! So exciting!
Have to be honest and say that I’ve never heard of it, so I looked it up on youTube. First thought: damn that’s tough!
I think it was 3 years ago when I found out that one of my friends starting racing triathlons and then I stumpled on the Ironman coverage in the internet.
The crazy mob in the water
watching kona=every.single.indoortrainerride (unless I’m watching GOT)
best one I saw live was Macca vs. Raelert in 2011
Watching Kona has always been a good reminder of the dream race that I would like to do one fine day!
Watching macca win his 2nd Kona
My first memory of triathlon is only 3,5 years ago. I was at the age of 26, my weight was way to high and I was lying sick in bed for over a week. Out of frustration of my situation I started browsing the web and discovered the Ironman event. I was so amazed that people could do those crazy long distances while I could not even run 5K without stopping every 3 minutes, so I started searching for video’s about the event. That was when I found the full footage of the 2010 Kona event on the universal sports website and I watched the entire race (9 hours). From that day on I’ve lost 20kg (44lb) and in 2015 I’ll do my first HIM.
I life in Europe and the TV doenst show this. Since internet coverage I can watch it live! Now I try to sleep and watch as much as I can.
Great event, I need to practice swimming if I ever want to take part …
First watched it when I was a student when I still had time to spend hours in front of the telly. Would prefer to watch it in person!
I remember Luc Van Lierde win in 1999, our whole little country of Belgium was all over it.
We even gave him the prestigious “Best Belgian sportsman of the year” award in 1999!
Thomas
A couple of years ago when performing some cycling training on the trainer at the same time.
I believe it was Wide World of Sports back in the mid 80s showing snippets of this new 3 part race. I remember thinking an event this grand deserved more than 10 minutes airtime.
First memory is a short summary on (at the time) the (only) swedish sports show “Sportspegeln”. It was in the early 90’s, the bikes were very funky and there was lots of speepos and short tops.
For me, it was in 1989 – I was still a kid back then – and I clearly remember seeing the hundreds of triathletes swimming from a helicopter shot and thinking to myself: “Uau, those folks are really brave, they are not afraid of the sharks! Or maybe they can out swim them.” You see, I was terrified of sharks… I still am…
Mirinda Carfrae’s flawless run form on the marathon in 2013.
My best memory is following Dirk Bockel online with his race to 10th place with a broken hand. Just amazing.
After interesting on triathlon, I saw the 2005 Ironman world championshiop where a man won running on a swimsuit and I get totally hooked to it!
Saw the guys race in the scorched landscape feeling sorry for them in 2001…
Moss and McCartney in 82. Saw it on wide world of sport in Australia and the sheer willpower shown to keep going has always stuck with me.
And cheers for the competition Ray!
Frederik Van Lierde taking the win.
I’ll create memories from a next edition!
MACCA!
Can´t remember the year or who won or anything like that, but still a fun memory to follow the race on my laptop in the middle of the night here in Sweden.
2010 swimming with dolphins…
My best memory of watching Kona will be this year, seeing it live in person for the first time!
Not a specific race, but a shot; when they shoot the athletes from below during the swim, so only their silhouettes are visible in. Epic.
My favorite moment was watching Kona back in middle school and thinking, “I MUST do that!” Fifteen years later, triathlon has shaped my life, and I’m on the cusp of qualifying.
I was heading to a lake in the french Alps to raw and everything was closed due to a triathlon. 4 years ago… so we just settled and watch it. Training for a marathon at that time I needed video to wath during training. I saw all the Kona boradcast from early beginning to now… in a few weeks.
My first memories of Kona were when Chrissie Wellington started winning
First I watched was 2011 – love the fact that Craig Alexander got spanked on the bike the year before and he came back even stronger to take the title for another year.
Seems like ages ago but it was only 2012. I was following Kona online mainly because of an American former professional road racing cyclist I liked back then.
I remember seeing the ridiculously oversized quad muscles on the athletes and doing a double-take.
It was in the 90s and I saw some crazy guys riding on strange bikes in the heat. I thought it unbelievable. Now I’m doing it myself and I could use the FR920XT :-)
Watching Chrissie Wellington surge to the finish, battered, bruised, and all heart, was so inspiring!!
Thank you (and thanks to Clever Training) for offering this giveaway!
Chrissie W – totally awesome++
Watching a documentary about Laurent Jalabert making an unbelievable ride to pass hundreds of riders :)
Thank you for the give away Ray :)
Don’t know what year it was but watching Dick Hoyt and son finish. An inspiring sport.
Chrissie Wellington has been an inspiration and made kona magical.
Kona is a must have says a triathlon friend of me. Greetings from Germany
I have a friend who did Hawaii back in 1990. Love to look up the pictures from that time.
This year will be the Big Kahuna of Konas for me as one of our The Paige Project team mates is racing all the way from South Africa in support of Cerebral Palsy (Claudia Hazelwood) :)
I think I remember seeing it first on a TV program called Transworld Sports sometime in the late 90s.
Watched Ironman as a kid when Bud Light was the sponsor.. Asking my dad why someone would do that in one day?
(I finally answered it last year at IM Arizona)
My first memory is watching wide world of sports on a saturday morning as a kid. They would show little snippets of the race.
I dicovered Kona thanks to… Garmin! They just published athletes interviews on their blog :)
Chrissie Wellington’s smile as she crosses the line in first place for the first time!
My first memory of Kona was flipping through the channels and seeing footage on NBC. I was amazed by the bluest ocean waters and the amount of athletes in the water once the cannon went off. It was beautiful, and there was even a dolphin swimming with the athletes.
Watching it every year inspires me to get off my butt and keep moving…
Paula Newby Frazier hits “The Wall” 1995
Watching Mark Allen and Dave Scott race on tv…
Watched it on YouTube a long time ago. It was awesome!
Think it was 1994… Greg Welch… Doing the Aussies proud!
My first time i saw Kona, was 3 years ago. My expectations were incredible as the race. I recently knew what the triathlon was, beacause i went to watch one(sprint distance one) and somebody told me about de Ironman distance.I couldn’t bealive that a human can do that. After watching the race i started to train for triathlon.
Two weeks ago i have finished my first Ironman Race.
The strange underpants run – but this is probably not my best memory :-)
First memories are watching some of the inspirational videos of people finishing the race, some stumbling through the Finish gate, some close to midnight but finishing nevertheless!!
Remember Macca 2010 – He was here to win!
Watching the recap of the Carinthian Ironman 7 or 8 years ago, there was a segment where the highlights of the last Kona were shown. It was meant to show the audience what the participants aspired to. It was awe-inspiring. I was severely overweight and never thought to ever even think of competing in any triathlon. Fast forward to today, I am training for my first olympic distance next year and hope to finish the 70.3 in St. Pölten, Austria in 2016. As of today, starting in Kona seems impossibly far away, but then again, so was any triathlon some years ago :-)
I can’t remember if was the old Grandstand on the beeb or World of Sport on ITV; but I remembers seeing something – probably shown about a month after the event as was the want in those days – live coverage was reserved for Rugby Union and Wrestling, oh and Horse racing.
My thoughts were, probably at the time “Mad Lot, nice scenary though”, and “when’s the Rugby starting?”
Apart from that I have 2 Kona mountain bikes – which I bought with no thought to the name connection to the race.
Kona brunch with my triathlon club. It was a few months after the race, but still a great excuse to get together and relax.
I remember seeing the highlights in a sports show early one Sunday morning many years ago. They managed to cram the winner all the way to last place in about 3 minutes of telly which got me hooked.
First time I’ve watched Kona was the full race live coverage – I guess 2008 or so. With 12h time difference, I spent the whole night watching the race, sometime battling with the sleep.. Powerade and selfmade powerbar-cookies were the snacks for enhancing the atmosphere ;)
Watched a you tube clip just so I could qualify for the competition ;-)
first time watching snippets of Kona?
couldn´t really understand why anyone should punish him or herself so much.
started marathon a few years later.
can understand now.
Watching Julie Moss crawl to the finish in 1982. and the many more who have tried so hard to finish Kona
First memory: Luc Van Lierde
Best memory: Frederik Van Lierde
GO BELGIUM GO !
Best memory: Watching Mark Allen win again and again.
This year will be first time watching, from home. Inspired by supporting at the local triathlon
Watched the guys who was on the “biggest loser” or something. Unfortunately he did not finish in time – very short of a couple of minutes. But his effort was impressive nevertheless.
My first memory of Kona was seeing the news that Chrissy Wellington upset the odds to win in 2007 for GBR. Inspired me to do my first Ironman
The 2011 edition from the link posted on your blog, and in 2013 I did my first ironman ;-)
Remember seeing tv reports about the race maybe 8 years ago, fascinating landscape, thinking ‘lots of crazy people doing extreme sports’…that was before I started getting into tri sports myself 3 years ago, so hadn’t yet fully appreciated the challenge and beauty of it!
Mark Allen, 1995, everybody loves a comeback story.
I’m always most amazed by the athletes who arrive just before the cut-off time. In 2013 that being the oldest female tri-athlete in the field who arrived just a few minutes before midnight with the whole crowd going crazy. Gives me goose bumps every time I think about it.
I watched an online recap of the 2012 race during a lunch break and it was ehough to seriously consider “upgrading” from a runner to a triathlete.
I am not quite in triathlete boat and follow such events only time from time but they never stop to impress me. I guessthe first time I saw Kona was on youtube – nice NBC coverage compilation form couple of years.
The best Kona I ever saw was in 1996 when Luc Van Lierde won his first one. Seeing the pain of an athlete totally disappear after crossing the finish line as a winner is unbelievable.
Don’t want to see the pain he had the days afterwards!
Go Belgium!!
Maybe slightly embarrassingly my earliest memory is whilst watching Magnum PI when he completed but – if my ageing memory doesn’t fail me – he turned round in the middle of the cycle leg to go and rescue TC despite having a large critical bet on finishing the race……
I quick search in IMDB tells me that this was Series 1 Episode 18 “Beauty Knows No Pain” and was first shown in 1981.
Two years ago I watched it for the first time. I remember at first thinking how nice it would be to swim, cycle and run around Hawaii… until I figured the extreme distance the athletes had to cover – and how “nice” might not be the right word.
However, now I (previously merely an avid runner) am training for my first tri :).
In mid 90; watched together with my uncle and dad on German satellite program like ZDF or SAT1. Back then didn’t understand it at all – both the idea or the race and the language.
Rushing home and logging on just in time to see my friend finish under goal time. Wish I could have been there
Julie Moss’ finish on YouTube.
First time was in 2007, when a childhood friend from school qualified and placed top 500.
Crowie winninh his third title!
Following live the participation of a friend of mine last year
Reading “Iron War” by Matt Fitzgerald and imagining what it would of been like to be there watching Dave Scott and Mark Allen battle it out on the marathon. Lead me watching hours of youtube clips of Ironman and being inspired to enter my first and never looking back since.
I saw my firts kona last year I was starting to do triathlon and found a world championship was held in Kona, I saw and loved, I hope one day can participate in it.
Love watching Kona (especially being an Aussie!!) – first remember seeing Macca, full of confidence, fail on so many early attempts…then finally cross that line first.
My real first memory of Kona was watching it live via web streaming following my coach who was competing there.
My first ironman was watching Miranda Carfree win. She was amazing. I was in aww of how she ran all the other women down. Simply amazing.
Crowie is probably one of most inspirational guys in whole IronMan crew. But to get at this level you have to be not only born with the talent but to work really hard. And he worked really hard. That keep me pushing out of my doors every day and keep me going. Sadly he is not racing in Kona anymore.
First memories go back to 2004 and 2005, when the German guys Stadler and Al-Sultan won.
Late 80’s and the appearance of the aerobar
Are these people human?
Watched replay of Pete Jacobs in 2012.
Watching Chrissie Wellington, win her Gold in 2009 and 2011, absolutely classic.
Watched it first time in the 90’s. Smacked down on the road a day before, so I had to watch most of it standing, because of the abrasions on my buttocks :-). Switched through the chanels and get stucked on the kona because they showed in this moment a guy which has fallen from his bike in the same way I did it a day before.
Saw a glimpse of it on a Magnum PI TV show!
I remember watching it about 5 years ago. It was awesome!
First: Sarah Reinertsen in ’05–really inspiring!
Best: Chrissie Wellington winning in ’11 with road rash from a bike crash and other untold (until later) injuries–so tough.