Professional triathlete Bree Wee was the first Big Island representative across the finish line, and Keish Doi followed as the top Hawaii Island amateur at the Ironman World Championship on Saturday.
Wee finished in 9 hours, 34 minutes and 37 seconds, good for 16th in the female pro division and beating her personal best on the Kona world championship course by more than 13 minutes. She set the course amateur record in 2007 with her previous best of 9:47:40.
Doi has more than a handful of Kona finishes on his resume and added another with his 10:13:49 finish Saturday.
After Wee and Doi, the Big Island finishers trickled in throughout the day.
The main topic of conversation was the strong winds on the bike portion of the race.
“It was like an evil trick,” said Grant Miller, who was racing after a 20-year Ironman World Championship absence. “I had never seen the wind like that before. We battled the wind all the way out there and thought we would get a nice tailwind coming back in, but no. It was a double headwind.”
Miller came into the race with the ambitious goal of beating his time from 1994, and the veteran came in at 12:04:32, beating his two-decade-old time by 15 minutes.
“Well, I guess it says I’m a little smarter than I was 20 years ago because I don’t think I’m any stronger,” Miller said with a chuckle. “Twenty years ago we didn’t know anything about doing this race. I think that was the difference today.”
Ryan Lopossa, a Hawaii Island fireman, completed his inaugural running of the race in 12:02:47.
“It was hard,” Lopossa said. “Lucky for us, we have the opportunity to do that bike course all the time, but I’ve only had wind like that once. Usually when you see wind like that it’s a turn around training day. You start to feel it and say ‘I’m not going to train in this stuff. It’s too gnarly.’ I’ve done that before.”
Both Lopossa and Miller credited the aid stations for their outstanding service and keeping them hydrated and healthy on the course.
“They went above and beyond,” Lopossa said.
A few other notable finishes were Andrea Bess at 11:38:30 and Kristin Drost at 12:20:55.
Mayor Billy Kenoi finished in a little under 17 hours.
More than 2,000 athletes representing more than 68 countries and 49 states started the 2014 Ironman World Championship. The diverse field of competitors included eight-time Olympic medalist in short-track speedskating Apolo Ohno who finished with a time of 9:52:27; Italian open-wheel racing legend and Paralympic handcycle champion Alex Zanardi who finished in 9:47:14; NASA and European Space Agency astronauts Chris Cassidy and Luca Parmitano, who finished in 10:15:11 and 12:33:42, respectively; and former NFL defensive tackle Don Davey with a time of 13:54:57.
BIG ISLAND PARTICIPANTS
Athlete Age Time Overall
Bree Wee 35 9:34:37 163
Keish Doi 47 10:13:49 544
Andrea Bess 37 11:38:30 1191
Ryan Lopossa 41 12:02:47 1345
Paul Blaber 44 12:03:01 1389
Grant Miller 51 12:04:32 1354
Anita Leao 38 12:20:01 1436
Kristin Drost 34 12:20:55 1444
Kevin Rooney 48 12:43:29 1526
Winona Chen 24 12:46:20 1537
Jason Nixon 51 12:49:53 1547
Sam Wilburn 42 13:18:51 1626
Justin Bledsoe 32 13:28:28 1653
Pamela Harlow 50 14:13:38 1751
Charles Bittenbring 62 14:21:19 1764
Michael Karson 46 14:27:01 1777
Ivy McGowan 47 14:49:04 1815
Daniel Piccuta 59 15:09:17 1849
Peter Bresciani 66 15:09:57 1850
William Greentree 58 15:10:37 1851
Cassidy Landes 38 15:13:54 1858
Rob Van Geen 53 15:33:04 1885
Cindy Wild 48 15:46:04 1902
Tommy Shopay 37 16:11:59 1937
John Miller 60 16:28:13 1953
Mike Sohriakoff 45 16:47:20 1977
Jason Hamada 32 16:50:19 1979
Billy Kenoi 46 16:54:13 1982
Robert Erickson 66 16:55:40 1984
Colby La Brie 35 DNF (according to official results)
Luis De La Torre 46 DNF (according to official results)
Sal Salmi 60 DNF (according to official results)
Travis Obrey 42 DNF (according to official results)
Morgen Bahurinksy 66 DNS (according to official results)
