Ironman Archives -

An evening with IRONMAN legend Dave Scott

For one night only earlier this week, we teamed up with online retailer www.SportsShoes.com and event specialists Underground Fan Club for an exclusive evening with IRONMAN legend Dave Scott.

The six-time IRONMAN world champion flew over fresh from the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships held in the glittering French city of Nice the weekend before.

All eyes were on our ultra-light, uber-cushioned speedster at the start of the night as press, influencers and competition winners managed to get their hands on the Rincon for the first time.

From one instant classic to another. Sky Sports presenter and IRONMAN competitor Charlie Webster opened up the panel discussion to a packed-out room.

Conversation covered Dave’s stellar history in the sport and quickly turned to the famous long-term rivalry he had with his greatest IRONMAN opponent, Mark Allen.

Dave shared his memories of the famous Iron War of 1989. This was the IRONMAN World Championship race in Kona that saw the world’s two strongest athletes race side by side at world-record pace for a grueling 139 miles.

Dave was a committed IRONMAN competitor for more than 20 years. He is known by the nickname ‘The Man’ for his intense training regimes and relentless race performances. So, what are his top tips for racing an IRONMAN?

Take in fewer calories more frequently is the first. Don’t eat or drink in T1 is another. Make sure you mix being seated and standing when on the bike and try to improve the mobility in your hips and shoulders. This last one will serve you well for each of the triathlon disciplines.

There was no time like the present to put some of the tips into immediate practice. The evening switched from indoors to outdoors and a group workout led by the IRONMAN Hall of Famer, starting with mobility exercises.

As a renowned coach and ultimate competitor, Dave shared his knowledge and experience with the group, before circling back to The Curtain for healthy snacks and a full debrief.

Special thanks to our partners SportsShoes and the Underground Fan Club for their support and organisation of the event. Thanks also to Dave Scott for sharing his wisdom and expertise on the night.

Photo credit: SportsShoes

Get to know our athletes in 70.3 seconds with…

Who is your biggest fan? What is your earliest sporting memory? What is your greatest strength? And if you were an animal, which animal would you be?

Find out the answers to all these and more in our 70.3 Seconds series with the HOKA athletes who competed last weekend at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France.

Emma Pallant

Ellie Salthouse

Romain Guillaume

Adam Bowden

Manon Genêt

Josh Amberger

Photo and video credit: Activ’Images

IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in pictures

Unique. Historique. Légendaire. HOKA ONE ONE was there every step of the way last weekend for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.

Fourteen years after the first-ever half IRONMAN World Championship race took place in Florida, USA, we were live in the city of Nice, France, where the event was taking place for the first time.

Did you know that the ‘70.3’ in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship refers to the total distance, in miles, that athletes complete in a half IRONMAN event? So that’s 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1 mile run.

The race featured a swim in the pristine waters of the Mediterranean Sea, a challenging bike course up and back down Col de Vence followed by a run course along Nice’s historic Promenade des Anglais waterfront to finish.

Athletes were cheered on by enthusiastic supporters for every mile of the 70.3 course, particularly along the HOKA ONE ONE Time To Fly Zone where bands, banners and ice cream made for a festival atmosphere.

The half IRONMAN race featured high-class fields across all professional and age-group races. HOKA athlete Manon Genêt finished eighth and posted the highest finish in the pro races for the brand.

The international endurance event provided the perfect opportunity for our elite athletes from across the world to come together as one team, one HOKA ONE ONE.

While in Nice, we took the chance to speak to HOKA athletes. We hosted a live Facebook interview on the Promenade des Anglais with US athlete Ben Kanute and IRONMAN legend Eric Gilsenan ahead of the men’s championship race.

HOKA athletes, including Emma Pallant, Ellie Salthouse and Josh Amberger, kindly took part in our 70.3 Seconds Series, where we asked them some quickfire questions and got to know them a little better.

Watch now and find out what our athletes’ greatest strengths are, their earliest sporting memories and whether they prefer their eggs poached, scrambled or fried.

Away from the racing action, fans had the chance to road-test the record-breaking Carbon X on a group run and try out all the latest HOKA products at our expo stand, including the ultra-light, uber-cushioned speedster Rincon.

Swim, bike, fly. It all comes down to the run.

Photo credit: Activ’Images | @thatcameraman

IRONMAN Hamburg in pictures

We were live in Hamburg last weekend for the latest stop in the 2019 IRONMAN series.

Our friendly team was on hand to talk all things HOKA ONE ONE with the thousands of athletes and spectators in town for the event.

Every man, woman (and their dog) had the chance to try out the latest HOKA shoes, including the Clifton 6, Carbon X and the ultra-light, uber-cushioned speedster, Rincon.

Our four elite athletes, Arnaud Guilloux, Susie Cheetham, Horst Reichel and Katharina Grohmann, were on hand to meet and greet fans at the HOKA stand…

…before grabbing their numbers and preparing to test themselves over the 3.8km swim, 183km bike ride and 42.2km run the next day.

Horst started strongly on the swim and bike before fading, while Arnaud moved through the field and eventually finished fourth.

Wearing the Carbon X, Arnaud clocked the second-fastest marathon time in the pro race, running 2 hours, 55 minutes and 5 seconds.

In the women’s race, Katharina was consistent throughout and finished sixth despite suffering stomach problems from the beginning.

But there was absolutely no stopping Susie.

Susie was in a podium position from start to finish, though it was on the bike where she really excelled.

With the fastest bike time and a healthy advantage coming out of T2, Susie flew round the course and won by almost three minutes ahead of her nearest rival.

Next stop for us: IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Nice on 7-8 September.

Photo credit: Activ Images | James Mitchell

Kona calling for flying Swede Patrik

“Kona is, and has always been, the biggest IRONMAN race in the world.”

If you had any doubts about the importance of Kona to triathletes and fans around the world, then HOKA athlete Patrik Nilsson sums it up well.

“Everyone arrives at their peak, goes in super fit and with such high ambitions. But, of course, there can only ever be one winner, and you never know what will happen.”

And Kona certainly hasn’t been without its share of upsets and drama over the last 40 years.

The pursuit of greatness

In 1982, Julie Moss showed up to the IRONMAN World Championship as an unknown. The world watched as she refused to give up and crawled to the finish line. It was a run that would define her and her career to come.

Classic battles in the late-eighties between six-time winner Dave Scott and Mark Allen helped to define the sport for a new generation of fans. So just who will follow in the footsteps of 2017 victors, Daniela Ryfe and Patrick Lange, and take the honours at this year’s event?

“Everyone arrives at their peak, goes in super fit and with such high ambitions. But, of course, there can only ever be one winner, and you never know what will happen.” Patrik Nilsson

The annual event on the Pacific island of Hawaii never fails to deliver on excitement. It’s after hearing about the legendary Kona event that Patrik decided to hang up his track spikes in pursuit of greatness at the world’s most demanding endurance test eight years ago.

Trials and tribulations

Patrik’s top-10 debut last year was an admirable first shot. It didn’t come, however, without the inevitable trials and tribulations of more than eight hours of competition.

Patrik suffered intense stomach problems for the best part of the 42k run. He managed to summon incredible mental strength to rally and eventually finished eighth to become the highest-placing Swedish athlete of all time at Kona.

Not a bad feat for someone who only made his professional debut in 2013.

Now 27 years old, Patrik has gone on to become a four-time IRONMAN champion and has dipped inside the magic eight-hour mark on two occasions in Copenhagen and Barcelona.

Finding inspiration

Hailing from the small town of Saltsjöbaden in Sweden, Patrik now lives in Denmark with his girlfriend and coach, Teresa, and son, Matteo.

The life of a professional triathlete rarely tends to remain in one fixed place, and Patrik spends a lot of time traveling the world for various competitions and training camps to try and reach the top of his sport.

“None of this would be possible without the support, huge work, understanding and love from my family,” says Patrik. “My biggest inspirations are Matteo and Teresa.”

“None of this would be possible without the support, huge work, understanding and love from my family.” Patrik Nilsson

Teresa, in particular, plays such a pivotal role in Patrik’s personal and professional life and it’s a relationship he describes as “just perfect”.

“Teresa does a huge amount of work taking care of our son alone when I’m traveling, together with being my coach and having her own coaching company in Denmark,” says the Swedish IRONMAN record-holder.

“She knows everything about me. She knows about my recovery, my training, my life. She is always able to change the training so that we get the most out of it. It really is perfect.”

Turning dreams into reality

If Teresa is the person steering the ship, then it is Matteo who is undoubtedly the driving force behind it.

“Matteo is a huge motivation for me,” says Patrik. “It’s important for me to show him that everything is possible if you work hard and have a dream.”

“I’m in good shape, have trained hard and feel ready for race day. I will do everything I can to perform at my best.” Patrik Nilsson

Will that dream of topping the podium in Kona materialise this weekend?

“My main focus is to do everything I can and perform at my best,” says Patrik. “I’m in good shape, have trained hard and feel ready for race day. I will do everything I can to perform at my best, and then we will see how far that will take me.”

Photo credits: Peignée Verticale, Activ’images and Patrik Nilsson

Keep track of Patrik’s progress and all of the HOKA athletes in action at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona on Saturday by following HOKA ONE ONE.