I'm sure I spent more time in the transition area than anyone else in the race. I was happy with my swim and bike performance, and caught a fair number of runners, but also got passed by a few as well. In all, it was a fun, if expensive, racing experience. A few of us are planning to move on to the Canadian IronMan race in Penticton, Canada next August. Now that will be a challenge.
Every sport goes through a process of growth and evolution.
Triathlon has done that and now appears to be settling into middle-age. Some of the top IronMan competitors, such as Karen Smyers, Paula Newby-Fraser, Dave Scott, and Greg Welch are well known by those who follow the sport even casually. It takes a fairly accomplished athletes to do all three sports proficiently enough to compete in a race. That challenge will always draw new participants. It's also fun to switch from sport to sport and use different muscles in a race setting.