Taking charge

The nature of television is that it's hard to be inclusive and that drama and conflict rule. And that's particularly true for an event that spans 17 hours let alone half an hour for the nightly news.

The latest Kona special on NBC no doubt will bring home more accolades for the producers. They will be well deserved.

For the first time, I think, the coverage of the actual race took precedence. That's great.

It didn't hurt at all that the men's race wasn't decided until there were about two miles left. And it didn't matter to me that the ironmanlive coverage of the event - about two months ago - was the best ever either and I'd already seen 'in real time' almost every minute of the pro races.

For me, it's similar to the appeal of watching any of the Bourne films again and again and again. I never tire of the action. The outcome becomes irrelevant because Ironman is far more about the journey.

This year the commentary from Macca stood in stark contrast to that from Crowie. The producers must have been falling all over themselves during those interviews. Talk about two people with two different perspectives about each other.

Macca spoke of Crowie as a lost brother; all Crowie could do was agree that they were both Aussies. Ouch.

The interviews reinforced what a great ambassador Macca is for the sport and left me unsure of who Crowie is. I believe that's unfair to Crowie because he has been a superb champion and he has been one of the most consistent triathletes in the world the last three seasons.

Clearly Macca sees his win as a vindication of the dominating triathlete that he is. He most certainly has assured his place in the Hall of Frame.

The coverage also showed that Macca is a master race strategist. He deliberately held back on the bike in order to unleash himself on the run. That's not new.

But as he came out of the Energy Lab, Macca would have known Andreas was approaching fast. Did he let Andreas catch him and then run with him for a bit before dropping the hammer? Too bad the producers didn't ask that question.

Too bad also that we never heard what Andreas or Marino were thinking. These guys have the potential to win in Kona. It mystifies me why no effort is made to talk to the Europeans.

As for Chris Lieto, what if Macca was right? What if Chris took it a little easier on the bike? What if he had a bit more left in the tank for the run? How bad does Chris want to win in Kona? Is he prepared to take the risk that Macca did and work harder on becoming a Sub 3 runner? Or is he content with pushing as hard as he can on the bike and seeing how far he gets on the run?

The coverage of the woman's race lacked the same intensity though NBC did as best it could.

I suspect Chrissie wasn't available for comment, or declined to chat, so as Miranda could rightly take centre stage. Chrissie did indicate so in her post-race comment. Still it would have been good to hear at least something from Chrissie. A missed opportunity for her.

Were there really only three pro women in the race? Dibens, Carfrae and Steffen. What was Steffen thinking?

Like it or not, Kona is the race to win bar none. Coming second means nothing. That sounds harsher than intended and it's not fair, but it's the truth. The winner gets his/her face on a box of Wheaties, everyone else simply gets a bowl and a spoon and some milk to eat them with.

Kudos to NBC for this year's pro coverage.

As for the age groupers, I think there's still a bit of a learning curve for the producers. Not every age grouper has had some life/death experience. Really. No, really. But there's still some drama.

I do have to say that Lew had some great advice: push yourself every single day. And what you do at age 40 will determine what you're capable of doing at age 80. Truer words couldn't have been said.

I would have liked to have known more about the French guy who crashed on the Queen K and then was so hurt that he had to walk the entire marathon. Why was he so determined to finish? For me, he's more representative of what it means to be an Ironman.

At the end of the day, Ironman is about the potential within each and every one of us. It's about the ability to persist and to excel.

It's about being disciplined. And it's about being fortunate. It's about taking calculated risks and taking charge of one's life and how one chooses to live. It is life changing and life reinforcing.