For this post I am going to put my “People magazine” hat on and write a sentence or two here and there about some of the top dogs seen around town lately.

Pre-race favorite Peter Reid just arrived in Kona today and immediately was seen running down Alii drive. You can never count Peter out. Most of the magazines have him as the favorite. Plus he has Mark Allen on his corner. We know that is a big advantage.

Norman Stadler aka. “Lava Java man” is constantly hanging around that popular coffee shop in Kona posing for pictures. If he was not a very fit looking guy and the current champion I would say he was on his honey moon. He looks a bit too relaxed for my liking but supposedly that is the same way he was last year.

Tim DeBoom was spotted riding on Alii Drive. I would say he is the totally opposite of Norman. You never really see him around. He must be a good poker player. Tim hides his cards well. I wish him luck. In 1992 or 1993, I can not recall the exact year, I ran with him for a few miles down Alii drive. I had ripped my visor at T2 and had nothing on my head. Tim asked me how come I had no head cover. Once I told him my story he handed me a visor. What, you carry visors and hats at all races I asked. No, I could not decide if I wanted a hat or a visor, so I had both in my transition bag Tim replied. Tim and I have been friends ever since. I wish him luck. Many people count him out but I know he can do it.

Another Boulder athlete is Simon Lessing who was actually born in South Africa and usually represents the UK internationally. I did not see him today but I did see him yesterday running at 6:50 AM down Alii drive. Please Simon! You live in Boulder were there are inches of snow today. And now you come to Kona and run at 6:50 AM. Relying on talent is not going to win the Ironman. Run at noon like I did with my team today to acclimatize your body. If all goes well the professionals will not start running until noon not 6:50. Should I ask him if he needs some coaching advice?

Heather Fuhr was at the pier Saturday and she looked really skinny. She is an amazing runner. Back in 1993 she ran me down with 6 miles to go on the Queen K Highway. Heather will benefit from a fast bike day as she can run with the best and perhaps win her second Kona title. I did hear she had a running injury sometime this year so we have to wait and see.

In a previous post I mentioned Karen Smyers. If she was younger I would put some money on her. But unfortunately she is getting up there in age. She looked great!

I also previously mentioned Michele Jones who was running down Alii drive at noon and getting good acclimatization. I have not heard any good or bad gossip on her but I just like her to be in contention off the bike. If she takes care of her nutrition and paces herself well she can give Natasha a run for it all.

Natasha Badman is definitely the favorite. How can she not be? But a little bird noticed some weakness in her amour. This rumor can be unfounded for sure as the source has not been verified. But hey the National Enquirer prints unverifiable sources and so can I.

Now I just have to go over all this information, gossip and observations and come up with some predictions. Not an easy task but I think I can handle it.

I got two workouts in today. I ran with some of our team members today at noon and later in the day I rode for about an hour with Mark. Tomorrow we are going to ride about 60 miles near the turnaround in Hawi. One of our team members got almost blown off her bike out there today. Some reported 50 MPH gusts. I guess we have to check it out personally tomorrow and get back to you.