On Saturday, the 16 triathletes from the Big Island who will be competing in the VinFast Ironman World Championship all have completed personal journeys, including one man who overcame alcoholism and another who survived brain surgery.
“This event means a lot to me considering where I came from,” said 30-year-old Michael Kemp, who became an alcoholic after his father died when he was 17 but has been sober for the past six years.
Kemp became intrigued with Ironman a couple of years ago after meeting an Ironman athlete, noting endurance athletes and sobriety go hand in hand. Last year, he finished the Ironman 70.3 Hawai‘i race, known as Honu, in South Kohala .
He will be among the field of 2,400 competitors from 85 countries competing in the Ironman, as well as being among the 40 athletes who are part of Team Ironman Foundation’s fundraising team that is dedicated to raising funds to support the communities where an Ironman event is occurring.
“I’m not here to take first place. I’m here to show my family I’m a standup citizen in the community,” Kemp said.
This is the first time only men will tackle the grueling course that includes a 2.4-mile swim in Kailua Bay, 112-mile bike up the Kohala Coast and 26.2-mile run around Kailua-Kona, finishing on Ali‘i Drive at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Resort.
Kemp, who said Ironman is an opportunity to show himself and his family that he can do something constructive and not destructive, raised $25,000 that will go toward volunteerism grants and keiki of the community.
To qualify for the Ironman World Championships, athletes must finish a qualifying event and be among the fastest. Each event also has a varying number of Kona slots to be awarded.
Kaiden Lieto, 21, and Gary Wong, 49, both of Kona, captured two of those slots.
“Everyone knows that Ironman in Kona is the one,” Wong said. “It’s at the top of everyone’s list.”
So much so that many men who qualified for the 2023 Ironman World Championship deferred their entry until 2024 because last yearʻs men’s event was held in Nice, France, and not in the traditional setting of Kona.
Growing up in Kona, Lieto surfed and watched his dad compete in Ironman. Lieto already has completed quite a few half Ironman events, including Honu and Lavaman.
But his journey to compete in the world championship hasn’t been easy. In January 2023, he was hit by a car while bike training on Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway and suffered a concussion and broken collarbone.
Lieto would go on to finish third in his age group during Honu. At that point, he said he wanted to be a professional triathlete because he “got so hooked.”
A day after the race, Lieto flew to O’ahu for an MRI as a follow-up on the crash injuries that left him struggling with memory loss and post-concussion issues.
Lieto was told he had a venous malformation in his brain. The doctors also told him that he should stop working out because it could result in a brain bleed.
In March, he underwent successful brain surgery. Two weeks later, Lieto found out he got a slot for the Ironman World Championship in Kona.
Lieto’s first full week of training started in late May and he’s rarely missed a day, except for the past seven days, when he’s been suffering from body fatigue, body aches and headaches.
Before the surgery, Lieto said: “I was confident I was going to win my age group. This Saturday is going to be about pushing through and finishing.”
Lieto said he is strongest on the bike and swim but feels like he’s on an even playing field for all the Ironman events. His worry is that his body won’t function the way he wants it to come race day.
“I think my day on Saturday, I’ll finish in 9 hours or 15 hours, depending on how my body is on the day,” he said.
Like Lieto, Big Island athletes are training nearly every day for several hours leading up to Ironman. For the local athletes, they have the advantage of learning the championship course.
“We know every single turn and rolling hill,” said Laurentiu Grigore, 46, of Waikōloa. “We’re probably more adapted to heat and humidity.”
Grigore has lived on the Big Island for 17 years and completed Ironman World Championship races in 2017 and 2022. He has sacrificed lots of sleep during his six months of training, but now has a goal of finishing the triathlon in under 11 hours.
“I love that it’s my home and I get to race in the place I love the most,” Grigore said. “The pressure of the race is amazing. It’s like the Olympics, the triathlon everyone wants to do.”
Wong has been trying to get into the Kona race for three years. He’s been training seven days a week for six months. A week before the race, the 49-year-old recalled hitting a wall while running on his treadmill on his lanai.
After two hours of cycling, and running for 3.74 miles, Wong collapsed from exhaustion.
“I literally broke down,” Wong said. “I was in tears thinking I couldn’t do it.”
But thinking about his family and friends who are supporting him on his Ironman journey, which has included training seven days a week for six months, he pulled himself out of the dark place and finished the run.
Wong has been participating in triathlons for 15 years, training with discipline, consistency and devotion to complete three full Ironman races and 15 half Ironmans.
“I test myself to see how far I can go,” Wong said.
Kemp also has trained every day for months and has practiced on the course. Some days he goes on a long ride and short run and other days he’ll do long swims.
“Every time I do the bike a portion, it’s on the course,” he said. “I’m learning how to battle winds and expect the winds.”
He said he has low expectations for conditions because they are unpredictable and “you need to roll with the punches.”
Lieto said when he’s on the course he feels at home.
He sees the memories he’s made with friends over the years especially while running past Banyan’s, a surf spot on Ali‘i Drive, which is also part of the Ironman run course.
“There’s no better place to grow up,” Lieto said.
According to a list provided by Ironman, the full list of Hawai‘i Island triathletes are: Anthony Kotas, Timothy Connelly, Andrew Loeb, Ron Kalich, Jose Graca, Steffen Brocks,Keish Doi, Kaiden Lieto, Robert Loveridge, Toi Wong, Michael Kemp, Lloyd Gillespie, Ian Hersey, Daniel Hill, Alexander Hsia and Laurentiu Grigore.
Editor’s note: If you know of any other triathlete from the Big Island who is not on this list, please let us know at newseditor@bigislandnow.com.
