Is it really time to watch the Ironman World Championship? Yep. The coverage airs on NBC, Saturday, October 27, from 4 to 6 p.m. Eastern time (check your local listings for the other time zones), six weeks before its typical airing. The broadcast returns to a two-hour feature whereas lately it's been limited to 90 minutes, less time than some triathletes take to finish the swim. We can thank Lance for sparking that one--he would have been a likely competitor until he was banned from participating--and NBC for not pulling the plug. Talk about a good alternative to watching college football!
Outside of the pro race, which saw winning performances by Pete Jacobs and Leanda Cave, who's going to appear in the footage? I have a few guesses...
- Will we see Lew Hollander and Madonna Buder, two of the oldest entrants in the race? Lew eventually went on to finish, his 24th I believe, but Sister Madonna didn't make the bike cut-off.
- Maybe Harriet Anderson who was the last triathlete to cross the finish line before the 17-hour cut-off?
- How about Bonner Paddock who became the first person with cerebral palsy to finish the Ironman World Championship when he crossed the line in 16:38?
- Or Adrienne Hengels who got engaged at the finish line (doesn't a marriage proposal make for good TV?)?
- Or the tough-as-nails competitors who crashed somewhere out on the course yet managed to pick themselves up and still finish? I watched a guy in the live stream finish the race in 10 something hours with his arm in a sling.
The funny thing is I almost forgot that the Ironman would be on TV this weekend. I thought I'd be excited to watch it so early--but more so than I actually am. Maybe it's because I did watch a large portion of the race online and already heard some of the Kona Inspired stories. Maybe it's because I did randomly wake up at 3 a.m. to watch the final hour of the race and see Lew Hollander and Harriet Anderson cross the finish line. But the likely culprit--it's simply a busy weekend. The Warren Miller movie, a birthday party, a football game, friends in town, the World Series, a 5K. Yeah, I'll be setting the timer to record this year's coverage.
Who do you want to see during Saturday's coverage?
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