The 2nd instalment in our Kona 2015 Race Week photo series features another captivating gif from Matt, and a few highlights from the 2015 Kona Beer Mile. You can almost smell the salt air, wafting in to cover the scent of fresh track-vomit.
Note: there are NO actual photos of vomit in this photo set.
But first – if you like writing that is thoughtful, heartfelt, and actually good, then check out the following. If not, go ahead and skip to the Beer Mile.
“Forget what you may have heard, the finish line at midnight isn’t the most dramatic place of the 140.6 mile race. It is the 50 yards before the finishing chute, about 15 minutes before midnight. Inside the finishing chute the lights are bright enough to blind you and the music is loud enough to make the most reluctant person dance. However, outside the finishing chute the lights and music are struggling to fight off the silent darkness. Outside the finishing chute nervous friends gather and grimace wondering if their racer is going to make it in time. The course guides make their cold calculation of who will be the last finisher, but the enthusiastic supporters still hold out hope for everyone on the course. Then it happens, the lights at the finish line dim, the music grows soft, and a sea of people start to leave. The last few racers don’t stop, even though their hopes of hearing those magic words — you are an ironman — have been dashed in the last 50 yards before the finishing chute.”
-Matthew Vandersande, TRS Triathlon contributing photographer
And now, the photos you’ve all been waiting for – the Kona 2015 Beer Mile. Thanks again, Matthew.
