Kona Day 6 - Part 2 - Banquet Dinner and Pre-race Meeting

Last night was the banquet and pre-race meeting. I met a few nice people and was into the Hawaiian spin they added to the race, but beyond that, uch of the format and content was similar to previous Ironman dinners and pre-race meetings. I did learn a couple of things about the rules that I hadn't before realized.

Once you begin to pass someone on the bike, you must complete the pass or incur a penalty. Apparently a lot of people get called for this one. I don't think I like this rule since the person you are about to pass may decide to speed up just as you begin the pass, making it very difficult to pass. Well, hopefully I don't get any penalties.

I also learned that once you tell them you want to quit the race, they mark your number down and give you a DNF - if you have a change of heart after they write your number down and you actually do finish the race, you still get a DNF - so apparently you have to be very careful what you say out there to the race officials (like this sucks, I'm never going to finish).

They did have a 'preview' of the special interest stories that I'm sure will be part of the 1 hour special they put together. A double leg amputee trying to finish; a 19 year old navy seal hopeful trying to build his resume with an Ironman; etc.