‘After 4 years of hard training, sacrifice and disappointments I finally qualified for my 2nd Kona World Championships held October 12th 2013. After the initial joy of finally getting that coveted Kona spot, reality set in that I would be faced with my 3rd IM this year and the BIG one would be roughly 8 weeks after UK IM where I qualified.

There’s absolutely no race like Kona though and this was a reward for me and my family who have suffered through all my races the last 4 years!!! I always describe Kona as a ‘moon’ landscape with its barren, desolate lava fields, active volcano, searing sun and ever present winds ( there’s a reason it’s a surfers paradise!!!). Then there are the athletes…..wow! 2,000 of the very best amateurs in the world plus 200 lottery athletes. Everyone here is VERY good. 622 athletes will go under 10 hours in this race!

Each day leading up to the race you can feel the energy building. Every hotel within a 15 mile radius has athletes and family staying and athletes are everywhere training. You feel so special to be part of this, which is probably one reason why everyone wants to go to Kona!

I was so excited and happy on race day. I wanted to have a great race but knew if I didn’t that it wouldn’t stop me smiling and enjoying the day. The race start is at the pier right in downtown Khailua. If you don’t get their by 5am your spectators will never get a spot on the pier to watch the swim start. Flags of so many nations are here and even tiny Bermuda ( we had 4 athletes qualify for this race in a population of 60,000!).

I decided to stay right of the ‘washing machine’ mess of the swim start and went way left to find my own space. I probably swam quite a bit extra but needed to be relaxed when starting this race. The Kona cannon goes off and you start swimming in the most beautiful water of any IM I’ve ever done. You can see clearly to the bottom just about the entire way, with the most beautiful fish and even dolphins!

It’s always tough coming in to bike transition and seeing how many bikes are already gone but I had prepared myself for this, it’s a long day and the fastest swimmers never win the categories!! The bike is a solitary loop out and back and hardly scenic in those lava fields. But the pockets of supporters at regular intervals cheer you on no matter who you are! Always brought a smile to my face which encouraged the spectators to be even more supportive of you!!

The last 24 miles of the bike were very tough. Severe head wind and scorching sun. I was having a great bike on my new P3 speed machine but I started to get the beginning signs of some nasty gastrointestinal problems. A 10 minute PB on my bike from 2009 when I last raced so was very happy with that!

I felt good about starting my run although was bit worried about how it might pan out as I could not take in any gels at the start of the run. I had a run plan to run 4 mins and walk 30 seconds at least for the first 10 miles. The run is essentially a figure of 8 course and the real racing starts when you come back to town and then have to run out to the Energy Lab. Like the bike, it’s a desolate run course which makes it all the more challenging. There are some great home made signs throughout the race day , I think my favourite was on the run course where a sign said ‘ naked belly dancers just ahead ‘ and then a little further up ‘ just kidding’. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that thought ‘really?!’ Unfortunately for me I started to have some real tummy issues at mile 12 and started throwing up. Managed to run a bit more and then started wretching again at mile 17/18. Serious walking started then. I certainly didn’t come to Kona to not finish so somehow I was getting to Alii drive to hear those words ‘ you are an ironman!’. Fortunately the one great thing about Kona finish is its downhill/ flat and the crowds are awesome. There is something so special about turning onto Alii drive and everyone is screaming for you to finish. My 2 daughters were just at the run in to the finish and gave me a Bermuda flag which I was so proud to wave to the crowd and finally hear ‘ Julia Hawley you are an Ironman’.

I had to endure a visit to the medical tent ( which the doctors aptly described as the Ritz Carlton of IM medical tents! ). It’s not only hard to qualify as an athlete for this race but it’s hard to volunteer even!! You have to apply a year in advance and thousands of volunteers travel from all over the world to work this race! How crazy is that!  A lady from Montreal put my number on in the morning, the doctor looking after me in the medical tent was from Ohio and the young lad helping me after the medical tent was from Colombia!!

It had been a special day for Bermuda as our only male professional triathlete came 7th overall ( and was 4th until the last few miles of the run) in only his 2nd Kona. The boy may just win it one day!!!

For anyone aspiring to get to Kona it’s worth every hard training session and disappointment to get there, even if you have to wait years. And remember, ALWAYS go to the slot allocation as you never know how it might roll down.

Thanks to all the viceroys I trained with over the summer and helped me have the greatest IM at UK to get my Kona spot. Those fantastic track sessions and rides over the winter!!’

Julia, we are in awe of you!