Welcome Banquet

Last night was the official Welcome Banquet. As you can imagine, feeding 1800 athletes plus volunteers, family, friends, and other VIP guests – the food wasn’t the highlight of the evening. They did have a rock concert stage set up with two jumbo screens. The evening started out with Hawaiian greetings, dancing, and fire juggling. The Hawaiian commentator very dramatically introduced the theme of the event – Lei Ahi – the circle of fire – to represent the fire within (each athlete, etc.).

After all the Hawaiian stuff, the Mike Reilly (AKA the voice of the Ironman – b/c he pronounces each finisher with “ - you are now an Ironman!”) took over MC’ing. There were a variety of presenters/guests. Many of them making references to the brutal winds out on the bike course. Because this is the 30th anniversary of the Ironman, the original athletes from the inaugural event in 1978 were invited to the banquet. At least 4 of the original 12 athletes attended. Lots of stories from the early days. One guy wore cutoff jeans. Another guy rode a single speed, 61lb bike with a kick stand and front basket.

Over the course of the evening there were various stats thrown out:
- 1800 athletes total
- 13 physically challenged athletes
- 800 Kona ironman virgins
- Youngest athletes are 18, oldest male is 79, oldest female is 72
- 358 athletes are over the age of 50. 23 over 70!
- 51 countries are represented. 793 Americans. 200 Germans, 138 Austrians. A bunch of Australians, Canadians, Japanese, and French.
- California has the most athletes with 154. Texas didn’t even break the top 5 states. Other top states include Colorado and Washington.