Meet the Big Island men competing Saturday during the Ironman World Championship

Mark Loftin asked ChatGPT six months ago what he needed to do be physically ready for Saturday’s Ironman World Championship.

“I told Chat my goal was to finish,” the 57-year-old from Kona said.

ChatGPT’s advice? Focus on training in the heat and hydration.

He also uploaded a lot of is previous race data from Ironman 70.3 Hawai‘i (a race half the distance of the full Ironman), and it laid out a rough training plan.

“I’ve been following it,” he said.

Loftin is one of five Big Island men gearing up for the greatest triathlon race in the world, along with Keish Doi, José Graca, Michael Pipta and Steffen Brocks. While this year marks the return of men and women sharing the field since 2019, no women from Hawai‘i Island will be competing this year.

The five local men, despite four of them living in the small town of Kona and involved in the same sport, haven’t trained together and they don’t know even know each other well.

But they all will be together on Saturday, along with more than 2,500 other triathletes, to compete in the 140.6-mile swim, bike and run course. It starts with the 2.4-mile swim in Kailua Bay, then tackling the 112-mile bike course up Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway to Hawī and back, and capping off the race with a 26.2-mile marathon through Kailua-Kona and into the Hawai‘i Ocean and Technology Park and Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority, about two miles south of the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport.

Keish Doi, 59, of Kona

Doi started doing Ironman triathlons when he was 35 years old. This will be his 16th Ironman World Championship in Kona.

Doi, with bib number 2339, remembers watching the World Championship race on television’s ABC Wide World of Sports in 1982 as triathlete Julie Moss made her historic crawl across the finish line, inspiring athletes for years to come.

“I was probably a teenager,” Doi recalled. “As soon as I watched that, something clicked in me and I said: ‘That’s a race that I want to do, and I have to do at some point.'”

Once he started training and doing triathlons, Doi said he was “hooked.” He loves the challenge, and it’s something that motivates him to stay healthy all year round.

In May, Doi placed third in his age group at the Ironman Vietnam in 10 hours, 56 minutes and 56 seconds to qualify for the World Championship.

Doi said everyone competing in Kona on Saturday is fast, adding he won’t be that competitive in the age group here: “I probably won’t get top 10, but I’ll be in the top half (finishers).”

Almost every day, Doi swims 30 minutes to an hour, bikes 1 to 4 hours, and runs 30 minutes to an hour. But arthritis in his ankle could test him during the run.

A lot of Doi’s friends who race are women and he is looking forward to sharing the field with women again, saying it’s “definitely a different experience with just men” and “not as much fun.”

Doi said triathlons are always fun to see people you know during the race and say hi and cheer each other on.

José Graca, 51, of Kona

He will be representing his home country of Brazil, donning the bib number 1944.

In 2024, he placed second in his age group during the Ironman World Championship men’s race, finishing in 9 hours, 12 minutes and 47 seconds.

In 2018, he was fourth in his age group and in 2019 he was fifth during the World Championship.

Going into the race this year, Graca said his goal is “just doing good.”

Graca started doing triathlons in 2005. In 2010, he did his first Ironman in Brazil and in 2012, he raced in Kona for his first Ironman World Championship. Three years later, Graca moved to the Big Island so he could train year-round for Ironman.

“If I live in the big city or another place, maybe I don’t do it,” said Graca, who trains every day. “But here, for me, it’s like a ritual. For me, I feel good after doing this, and it’s my lifestyle.”

Graca said race day is the best because he gets to spend it with a lot of friends, on and off the course, cheering each other on.

“The hard part is training three months before, four months before, every day,” Graca said.

Graca knows the course can be challenging. The ocean can get choppy. The crosswinds on Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway can be dangerous for bikes on the way to Hawī. And the extreme heat hits during the run in the Energy Lab. After living on the Big Island for more than 10 years, Graca feels like he has an understanding of the elements.

Mark Loftin, 57, of Kona

He secured his first spot in the World Championship through Ironman’s legacy program for finishing 12 Ironman races over 12 years.

On Saturday, he will be wearing bib number 2396.

Loftin said he’s always been a marathon runner, but he got into triathlons because he was looking into doing other types of workouts “rather than just beat up my hips and legs.”

Loftin moved to Kona in November with the goal of participating in the Ironman World Championship. He started training for the race in January using ChatGPT as a coach.

The biggest thing his AI trainer had Loftin working on was putting in a lot of mileage out on the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway on the bike, “because that’s really the big pole in the tent of this race.”

“(ChatGPT) warned me about crosswinds, and it suggested using different wheels on my bike,” he said. “It suggested a skinnier front wheel as my original wheel was thicker.”

Loftin also got ideas for tires to avoid getting flats.

Loftin admitted that he feels weakest in the swim. To address that, he joined the master’s swim club at the Kona Aquatic Center, trying to get a little faster.

“My hardest thing is open water,” Loftin said. “I have trouble going in a straight line.”

Loftin also has had to address nausea that he sometimes gets when pushing too hard. Through experimenting with different types of goo gels and different formulas to drink, he’s found that Coca-Cola has become his go-to drink on the bike. He rotates it with water and salt tablets.

“It has the carbs and the sugar I need, and it doesn’t make me sick,” Loftin said.

Michael Pipta, 61, of Pāhoa

He will be wearing bib number 492 in his first Ironman World Championship.

He has done three full Ironman races as well as a whole series of 70.3 events, including Honu earlier this year along the Kohala Coast of the Big Island.

Pipta said he wanted to try and qualify for the World Championship in 2023 when Honu was still considered a qualifier for Hawai‘i residents who placed high enough in their age groups.

Unfortunately, Honu was discontinued as a qualifying race and Pipta had cast his name into the lottery ring twice for a chance to race the Big Island course. Pipta thought about retiring from triathlons but decided to try one more time for the 2026 race.

“I got an email saying I got the spot, so here I am,” he said.

Pipta said he’s always been a good swimmer. But it wasn’t until he was swimming with the master’s group in Seattle, Wash., that he met his coach, Kainoa Pauole Roth, who encouraged him to get into triathlons.

“She’s been coaching me ever since,” Pipta said. “It’s almost been 20 years now.”

Pipta said he likes the camaraderie that is fostered among athletes who share a triathlon field. He also enjoys the training, saying, “Putting in the work to know that you can achieve a goal, that’s what I like the most about it.”

Pipta said his coach has been getting him ready for the race since April by building up to lower swim sessions, longer runs and longer bike rides. In addition to that, Pipta participated in running events, swim races and Honu to prepare for race day.

“I’m always doing some kind of racing,” he said. “I also swim with a master’s group over on Hilo’s side, so I do that three days a week.”

Pipta said he’s most concerned about the bike course and the climb to Hawī on Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway.

“It’s a slow, steady climb that on paper doesn’t look like it could be that taxing on your body, but it is,” Pipta said. “Those last four or five miles of just 2 or 3% grade (elevation increase), you have to stay consistent and stay mentally focused through that, and just keep pushing forward.”

Pipta has worked hard to dial in his nutrition so he can stay consistent with his pace during his run. Out of everything, he’s found “good fresh water” is what he wants on the course.

“Your body always craves water,” Pipta said. “The calories from Infinit (electrolyte drink mix), which is the product that I’m currently using for training, won’t be enough. I need to hydrate, and I feel better after having some water.”

Steffen Brocks will be wearing bib number 2389. Big Island Now was unable to reach Brocks for this story.