I tried to ease his burden by telling him not to worry-that he was in good shape and was going to be just fine. He’d done the race the year prior, and wasn’t happy with his day. He was a good athlete, but he told me he didn’t think he was going to do well. ![]() It was hard to understand, but I noticed an uncharacteristic nervousness in Dan as we began to talk. A few days before the race we ran into each other on Ali'i Dr., not far from the finish line. That year, a friend from my hometown of San Diego, Dan Trone, was competing in Kona. I’ve always been enamored by the timing of their words and how they made me feel happier and more satisfied after witnessing a great feat. For me, this was like listening to Mozart. All my life I’d listened to famous sportscasters throw out signature phrases after a great play, a goal, homerun, buzzer beater, or record breaker. For 40 years it has pulled people from all walks of life to its black lava hearth, and after feeling the heat of its flame we are never the same again.īack in 1991, something happened that led to the phrase that has become the chant of Kona, the words triathletes all over the world want to hear. That’s the power of Kona: we know in our hearts it holds all of us hostage-in a good way. If history is our proving ground for what's in store for us, then our best memories of Kona are still before us. It has guided ones with mental illnesses to remain strong, the lost and homeless who never gave up on themselves, the accident victims with broken bodies, and the amputees who were told they couldn’t. The island has helped heal the parents who have lost a child, the ones carrying disease that have been told their time is limited, and the survivors of the horrors of war. ![]() ![]() The IRONMAN World Championship, Madam Pele, and the Leeward trade winds of West Hawai`i can churn up even the strongest of athletes, but every year we all witness the other side of the island-its healing powers. Nothing has changed with the race itself you are expected to get yourself through a day of swim-bike-run of monumental proportions. I always answer this way: after the cannon goes off and 2500 souls begin their 140.6 mile/226 km journey through the dark landscape of a promised land, it’s all the same. There have been changes in technology, nutrition protocol, training regimens, ceremonies, coaching, charities, and more. I’m asked often what I've seen change over the years-at this marquee event and in the sport more broadly. Starting in 1989 with the Iron War right up to bringing the final finisher home at midnight in 2019. When thinking about the IRONMAN World Championship in Hawai'i, images of so many special moments race through my mind like a sped-up movie. It’s hard to imagine an IRONMAN finish line without him, but as he bids us farewell, here’s his own story of how his signature phrase came to be.ĭon’t you just love birthdays, anniversaries, significant memories, and special moments in time? Over the last few decades, besides my family, Kona moments have defined my life and who I am today. Athletes and fans everywhere have come to love Reilly, even choosing their races based on where he’ll be calling athletes across the finish line. This past summer, race announcer Mike Reilly announced that he would retire later this year from race announcing at IRONMAN finish lines the world over.
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