Conquering Kona
CONQUERING
KONA Bevan Docherty has ticked most of the boxes on his triathlon to-do list. The only things missing are an Olympic gold medal and a win at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii Words: Robert Tighe
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ironman distance (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run) last year. Docherty won his first ironman in his hometown of Taupo earlier this year and on October 12 he’ll be in Kona, Hawaii, for his first crack at the Ironman World Championship. Rookies rarely do well in Kona. Since 1980 only one rookie – Belgian Luc van Lierde, in 1996 – has won on their first visit to the Big Island. It’s a race that can destroy reputations. Australia’s Chris McCormack came to Kona in 2002 with an incredible record in short course triathlons. Like Docherty, McCormack was an ITU world champion and won on
Photography: Nils Nilsen (3), Gani Pinero/EnduraPix (1)
Bevan Docherty would like to apologise to anyone he has offended during his triathlon career. “I’m not the nicest person on the race course,” he says. “It’s a little embarrassing after a race but it’s the way I am. As soon as I relax things go wrong so I’m constantly panicking even when things are going well. I snap and yell at people all the time – race officials, volunteers and fellow competitors.” Docherty once described himself as the Gordon Ramsay of triathlon but he says he’s mellowed since he made the transition from Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) to the
the red bulletin
“I really should have moved to ironman years ago rather than hanging around trying to win olympic gold”
the red bulletin
71
Happy camper As part of his training routine Docherty sometimes sleeps in a hypoxia tent which simulates high altitude. “It’s like acamping holiday at home,” he says.
Bevan Doherty trains at a high-school pool near his home in California. Above right: Winning the Olympicdistance Beijing Triathlon this year. Below right: getting in the saddle at the 2013 Ironman 70.3 US Championship
his ironman debut. He went into Kona in 2002 having won his previous 33 races over various distances. He was unbeaten for three years. Before the race he talked up his chances: “I didn’t come here for a holiday or to get a finisher’s medal,” he told a TV reporter. “I came here to win.” McCormack led off the bike and looked set to win, but 15km into the marathon he was hit by chronic cramps caused by poor nutrition (the fourth discipline of ironman). He was forced to abandon the race and as American Tim DeBoom 72
passed him on his way to his second win in a row he mocked McCormack with the words: “Welcome to Kona, punk.” It took McCormack five years to figure out how to thrive in Kona, winning the first of his two titles in 2007. Docherty doesn’t have five years. McCormack made the switch to ironman aged of 29. Docherty is 36-years-old and he knows the clock is ticking. “I messed up,” says Docherty. “I should have moved to ironman years ago rather than hanging around to try and win gold at the London Olympics.”
Docherty was hoping to complete the set of Olympic medals in London. After silver in Athens in 2004 and bronze in Beijing in 2008, he finished 12th in London last year, well off the blistering pace set by the Brownlee brothers and Javier Gomez. “I’m not in this sport to participate, I’m in it to win and I didn’t enjoy it [Olympic distance] because I was getting my arse kicked,” he says. “It was time to step away. This engine is suited to longer stuff.” Docherty’s first race in the transition from short course to long course triathlon the red bulletin
Credit:
Photography: Nils Nilsen, Rocky Arroyo/EndurPix, Ella Brockelsby/photosport.co.nz
Ones to watch Craig Alexander is one of Docherty’s picks to do well in Kona. “He’s just turned 40 but he’s still going well,” says Docherty. “I think Andy Potts is due an amazing race and Eneko Llanos has had an amazing year.”
was the Panama 70.3 (half-ironman) in February 2012. He passed Lance Armstrong 2.5km from the finish and won the race. He followed that up with a third-place finish at the 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas in September last year. Just ahead of him in second was Australia’s Craig Alexander, a three-time Kona winner who compared the heat in Vegas to the conditions expected in Hawaii this month. Docherty isn’t concerned by the prospect of running a marathon through the lava fields of Kona in the 35ºC heat that is common in October. “I know some people struggle, but I race well in the heat,” he says. “And where I live [Santa Cruz, California] has similar conditions in terms of rolling terrain and tough winds. I just have to go to Kona in good shape and hope I’ve put myself in the hurt box enough to perform well.” Cameron Brown has endured his share of hurt and heartache in Hawaii. New Zealand’s most successful ironman made
Credit:
“S ometimes it’s good not to know what you’re up against. You end up pushing yourself harder” the red bulletin
his debut in Kona in 2000 and has twice finished runner-up. He’s also failed to finish on three occasions and he rates Kona “the toughest one day race in the world.” “It’s a beast of a race,” says Brown. “It’s the heat, the humidity and the wind. The swim is beautiful but you can overheat on the bike and have a meltdown on the run. You leave a part of your soul out there.” Brown is a 10-time winner of Ironman New Zealand in Taupo, Docherty’s hometown. Earlier this year Docherty raced his first Ironman in Taupo and not only beat Brown but broke his course record by three minutes. The win all but ensured his qualification for Kona and the record time suggested he might have the legs to contend for the title. Docherty plans to arrive in Hawaii a few days before the race instead of giving himself a couple of weeks to acclimatise as most athletes do. Cameron Brown isn’t convinced that’s the best preparation. “You can’t go to Kona three days before the race and think you’re going to nail it without learning a little bit about the course,” he says. “I think if you go in there blind, you’ll get a hell of a shock.” But Docherty has always had a reputation for doing things his own way. He trains alone, he doesn’t have a coach and he isn’t fazed by the cliché that to win at Kona you have to pay your dues first. “I’ll go into Kona as relaxed as I can and hopefully I’ve done enough,” he says. “I think some athletes overdo their training because it’s Kona and go into it overcooked. I’ll drive the course in a car so I won’t race it completely blind but sometimes it’s good not to know what you’re up against. You end up pushing yourself harder.” When Docherty announced his move to the ironman distance last year he said his ultimate aim was to win in Kona. So can he do a Luc van Lierde and win on his first attempt or is he setting himself up for an epic failure like Chris McCormack? “Chris went into his first Kona cocky,” says Docherty. “I’m confident when I know I can back it up. I know if I’m standing on the start line and my training has gone as planned then I can podium. With a bit of luck there’s a chance I could win.” McCormack has since admitted that his disastrous debut in 2002 was a result of not giving the race the respect it deserved. “I thought I was better than I was,” he told LAVA magazine. “In all those shorter races, I was never pressured. In Kona, I was pressured, and I crumbled.” Docherty will find out on October 12 if he copes or crumbles under the unique pressures of Kona. www.bevandocherty.com
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KONA Bevan Docherty has ticked most of the boxes on his triathlon to-do list. The only things missing are an Olympic gold medal and a win at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii Words: Robert Tighe
70
ironman distance (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run) last year. Docherty won his first ironman in his hometown of Taupo earlier this year and on October 12 he’ll be in Kona, Hawaii, for his first crack at the Ironman World Championship. Rookies rarely do well in Kona. Since 1980 only one rookie – Belgian Luc van Lierde, in 1996 – has won on their first visit to the Big Island. It’s a race that can destroy reputations. Australia’s Chris McCormack came to Kona in 2002 with an incredible record in short course triathlons. Like Docherty, McCormack was an ITU world champion and won on
Photography: Nils Nilsen (3), Gani Pinero/EnduraPix (1)
Bevan Docherty would like to apologise to anyone he has offended during his triathlon career. “I’m not the nicest person on the race course,” he says. “It’s a little embarrassing after a race but it’s the way I am. As soon as I relax things go wrong so I’m constantly panicking even when things are going well. I snap and yell at people all the time – race officials, volunteers and fellow competitors.” Docherty once described himself as the Gordon Ramsay of triathlon but he says he’s mellowed since he made the transition from Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) to the
the red bulletin
“I really should have moved to ironman years ago rather than hanging around trying to win olympic gold”
the red bulletin
71
Happy camper As part of his training routine Docherty sometimes sleeps in a hypoxia tent which simulates high altitude. “It’s like acamping holiday at home,” he says.
Bevan Doherty trains at a high-school pool near his home in California. Above right: Winning the Olympicdistance Beijing Triathlon this year. Below right: getting in the saddle at the 2013 Ironman 70.3 US Championship
his ironman debut. He went into Kona in 2002 having won his previous 33 races over various distances. He was unbeaten for three years. Before the race he talked up his chances: “I didn’t come here for a holiday or to get a finisher’s medal,” he told a TV reporter. “I came here to win.” McCormack led off the bike and looked set to win, but 15km into the marathon he was hit by chronic cramps caused by poor nutrition (the fourth discipline of ironman). He was forced to abandon the race and as American Tim DeBoom 72
passed him on his way to his second win in a row he mocked McCormack with the words: “Welcome to Kona, punk.” It took McCormack five years to figure out how to thrive in Kona, winning the first of his two titles in 2007. Docherty doesn’t have five years. McCormack made the switch to ironman aged of 29. Docherty is 36-years-old and he knows the clock is ticking. “I messed up,” says Docherty. “I should have moved to ironman years ago rather than hanging around to try and win gold at the London Olympics.”
Docherty was hoping to complete the set of Olympic medals in London. After silver in Athens in 2004 and bronze in Beijing in 2008, he finished 12th in London last year, well off the blistering pace set by the Brownlee brothers and Javier Gomez. “I’m not in this sport to participate, I’m in it to win and I didn’t enjoy it [Olympic distance] because I was getting my arse kicked,” he says. “It was time to step away. This engine is suited to longer stuff.” Docherty’s first race in the transition from short course to long course triathlon the red bulletin
Credit:
Photography: Nils Nilsen, Rocky Arroyo/EndurPix, Ella Brockelsby/photosport.co.nz
Ones to watch Craig Alexander is one of Docherty’s picks to do well in Kona. “He’s just turned 40 but he’s still going well,” says Docherty. “I think Andy Potts is due an amazing race and Eneko Llanos has had an amazing year.”
was the Panama 70.3 (half-ironman) in February 2012. He passed Lance Armstrong 2.5km from the finish and won the race. He followed that up with a third-place finish at the 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas in September last year. Just ahead of him in second was Australia’s Craig Alexander, a three-time Kona winner who compared the heat in Vegas to the conditions expected in Hawaii this month. Docherty isn’t concerned by the prospect of running a marathon through the lava fields of Kona in the 35ºC heat that is common in October. “I know some people struggle, but I race well in the heat,” he says. “And where I live [Santa Cruz, California] has similar conditions in terms of rolling terrain and tough winds. I just have to go to Kona in good shape and hope I’ve put myself in the hurt box enough to perform well.” Cameron Brown has endured his share of hurt and heartache in Hawaii. New Zealand’s most successful ironman made
Credit:
“S ometimes it’s good not to know what you’re up against. You end up pushing yourself harder” the red bulletin
his debut in Kona in 2000 and has twice finished runner-up. He’s also failed to finish on three occasions and he rates Kona “the toughest one day race in the world.” “It’s a beast of a race,” says Brown. “It’s the heat, the humidity and the wind. The swim is beautiful but you can overheat on the bike and have a meltdown on the run. You leave a part of your soul out there.” Brown is a 10-time winner of Ironman New Zealand in Taupo, Docherty’s hometown. Earlier this year Docherty raced his first Ironman in Taupo and not only beat Brown but broke his course record by three minutes. The win all but ensured his qualification for Kona and the record time suggested he might have the legs to contend for the title. Docherty plans to arrive in Hawaii a few days before the race instead of giving himself a couple of weeks to acclimatise as most athletes do. Cameron Brown isn’t convinced that’s the best preparation. “You can’t go to Kona three days before the race and think you’re going to nail it without learning a little bit about the course,” he says. “I think if you go in there blind, you’ll get a hell of a shock.” But Docherty has always had a reputation for doing things his own way. He trains alone, he doesn’t have a coach and he isn’t fazed by the cliché that to win at Kona you have to pay your dues first. “I’ll go into Kona as relaxed as I can and hopefully I’ve done enough,” he says. “I think some athletes overdo their training because it’s Kona and go into it overcooked. I’ll drive the course in a car so I won’t race it completely blind but sometimes it’s good not to know what you’re up against. You end up pushing yourself harder.” When Docherty announced his move to the ironman distance last year he said his ultimate aim was to win in Kona. So can he do a Luc van Lierde and win on his first attempt or is he setting himself up for an epic failure like Chris McCormack? “Chris went into his first Kona cocky,” says Docherty. “I’m confident when I know I can back it up. I know if I’m standing on the start line and my training has gone as planned then I can podium. With a bit of luck there’s a chance I could win.” McCormack has since admitted that his disastrous debut in 2002 was a result of not giving the race the respect it deserved. “I thought I was better than I was,” he told LAVA magazine. “In all those shorter races, I was never pressured. In Kona, I was pressured, and I crumbled.” Docherty will find out on October 12 if he copes or crumbles under the unique pressures of Kona. www.bevandocherty.com
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