One Day Later...

After yesterday's "pumpkin eater" post, a couple of people suggested I post to Slowtwitch. So I did... and at this point that thread has over 11,980 views and 171 replies. That is one crazy keen community! I also received a lot of private messages asking for his name or bib number, which I didn't think was necessary to give out.

I also got a message from a friend of the guy, who said he realized exactly who I was talking about and confronted him. He admitted the cheating to his friend, and has since posted an apology on Slowtwitch as well. I have to say that took some character on his part. I don't know that I would have the courage to admit publicly that I cut the Kona Ironman course, so props to him. Of course, I don't know he would have admitted to anything without being busted first... but nonetheless the end result is that he's mailing his finisher shirt and medal back to WTC.

Tough lesson to learn. I truly believe that finishing Kona in 16:59 (or not even making the cutoff but still finishing) deserves as much respect as any sub-10 or whatever time the clock says. I hope Mike goes back to Kona someday (after sitting out at least a year, if WTC doesn't make that decision for him) and finishes the whole course with his head held high.

Finish. The. Whole. Course. Enjoy the day and experience everything thrown at you - even if you aren't posting the splits you hoped for. That is living like you mean it.