When a semi-truck loaded with pasta and other foods arrived at the Courtyard King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort last week, the employees knew that soon to follow would be hoards of hungry triathletes competing in the 2024 VinFast Ironman World Championship.
The longtime host hotel of the iconic sports event is stocked with enough provisions to feed about 7,500 people, with three catered meals that feature plenty of spaghetti and lasagna: the E Komo Mai (welcome) banquet on Thursday, the Banquet of Champions on Sunday and the Volunteer Mahalo Party on Oct. 28.
The hotel has hosted the world championship race since 1984.
The hotel, whose name was due to being near the historic Kamakahonu, home of King Kamehameha the Great, also is in a perfect location for the event. It overlooks the Kailua Pier, where the Ironman begins in the early morning with the swim, and it is steps away from the finish line on Aliʻi Drive. The nearby pier also is where the bikes are set up and both transitions between legs occur.
This week, the hotel will be operating at max capacity, with all 455 rooms sold out.
Ross Wilson, executive director of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District, said the hotel is a hub for all things Ironman: a retail pop-up shop, events, media center, welcome parties and awards banquet.
“It’s in the middle of historic Kailua Village and it’s a great home for Ironman,” Wilson said.
Over the decades, Ironman has been an economic boon to Historic Kailua Village in the usually slow time of October. Retailers, restaurants and other accommodations all benefit.
This will be the first year the Ironman in Kona will host all male athletes. Since it began in 1981 on Oʻahu, men and women had competed together. But that changed last year.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced the iconic race to be canceled resulting in a backlog of athletes who qualified for the world championship race. The decision to split the men and women was made with the first all-female race in 2023. Now, the men and women alternate championship sites between Kona and Nice, France.
About 2,500 athletes will participate in this year’s Ironman World Championship, which takes the elite and amateur triathletes into the waters of Kailua Bay for the 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 116-mile bike through the Kona landscape and along the Kohala Coast to Hawi and back, finishing with the 26.2-mile run (a marathon).
Christopher Blunt, director of sales and marketing at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort, said he anticipates a combined 8,300 athletes and spectators this year.
During the week of Ironman, the hotel is dedicated to the Ironman operations team, Ironman VIPs and community members that help make this race happen, Blunt said.
Kona businesses and the community have a tradition of contributing to the race with volunteers, he said.
Starting today, Ali‘i Drive from the hotel to Hale Halawai (site of the Ironman Village), will be bustling with people from around the world counting the hours to the start of men’s race, which kicks off Saturday at 6:25 a.m. at Kailua Pier.
“You’re going to hear five to 10 different languages this week,” Wilson said.
During race week, the hotel hires about 100 additional people to help with the catered events.
Alana Yamamoto, sales manager for the hotel, said people can’t wait to apply to work Ironman week.
“I have friends that are taking off from their regular job to come work here because the rewards are great when you work the functions,” Yamamoto said, adding the Ironman team usually gives away swag.
Plus, the hotel pays well.
Yamamoto has been volunteering for the event for 25 years. She said the most exciting thing so far for her this year was coming into work last week and seeing the country flags hanging in the lobby at the hotel.
The 68 flags represent the countries participating in this year’s Ironman.
“…For me, that’s a real sign that it’s (the race) here,” Yamamoto said.
Last week, hotel staff were working on setting up the Ironman merchandise tent and moving tables and chairs for the catered functions.
The hotel and Ali‘i Drive are busy every day this week with shopping, events like the Keiki Dip and Dash, Parade of Nations and Underpants Run. By 4 p.m. Friday, however, Yamamoto said things will start to quiet down.
And most athletes are asleep by 7 p.m., getting much-needed rest before pushing their bodies to the physical limit.
“They’re zoning in,” Yamamoto said of the athletes. “They’ve already eaten their carbs Thursday at the welcome banquet and they’ve turned in their bikes. It’s the calm before the storm.”
This year, 40 hotel staff will volunteer on race day.
Historically, the hotel volunteers help the athletes get ready for the swim, providing water and sunscreen.
With many of the athletes coming to Kona alone, with no family, Yamamoto said the hotel volunteers are their main cheerleaders: “We’re the first ones that they see, wishing them good luck at four o’clock in the morning.”
