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9. Mark Allen and Greg Welch at the 1991 Ironman
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#FlashbackFriday Part 2 Ironman 1991 Mark Allen won for the 3rd year in a row, this time battling it out with a young Greg Welch. In my 30 Years of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship coffee table book, I wrote about Mark and Greg’s race. Greg went in to the race feeling confident and ready to go head-to-head against Mark. I titled the story: Checkmate. Here’s an excerpt: The two are locked together in mortal combat. Sweat beads up on both foreheads as they survey the board and scan the memory banks. They search endlessly, desperately for the back breaker, the killer, the pièce de résistance… the mother of all moves. Pawns, rooks, and castles are all willingly sacrificed for the win, the only goal that matters. When you are on the other side of the table, the pause, that calm before the storm, can seem like forever. A deep breath is taken and “The Move” is finally made. A smile plays at the corner of the lips of the mover and the word that always follows the mother of all moves is spoken loudly and clearly, ending the game, ending the speculation, ending any what ifs. So goes the game of the Ironman. In the game of Ironman chess, sometimes the moves are so subtle no one seems to notice. But they’re there. Letting Greg Welch dictate the pace on the bike took that responsibility off Mark Allen’s shoulders. It also put his most dangerous competitor right where he wanted him most: smack dab in his sights. No worries like, “Where is that guy?” or, “How far back is he?” Allen played the Ironman chess game to perfection for the third time in a row. But he also knows that only three people have ever run a sub-2:50 in Hawai’i: Allen, Dave Scott…and Welch. Even though he had to stop and stretch for who knows how long this year, Welch still ran 2:48:10. So don’t count the young Aussie out, Ironman fans. He’s learned a few lessons from the Ironmaster. Both Allen and Welch know that this year is history, that the next time around they’ll start from scratch, that they’ll be playing Ironman chess all over again. It won’t take Welch many moves to turn Checkmate into Check…..Mate. 📷 Lois Schwartz
A post shared by Bob Babbitt (@babbittville) on May 18, 2018 at 9:39am PDT
Ironman World Championship: 1990 – 1999
8. Iron War!
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#FlashbackFriday 1989 Part 2 As we celebrate IRONMAN’s 40th anniversary, I’m looking back at each of my Ironman’s, starting in 1980. This week, I look back at 1989, and the greatest Ironman race in history: Iron War, the epic side-by-side battle of Mark Allen and Dave Scott. Their splits for the day? Swim: Dave 51:16, Mark 51:17. Bike: Dave 4:37:53, Mark 4:37:52. Run: Dave 2:41:03, Mark 2:40:04. Mark: 8:09:15, Dave: 8:10:13. I wrote about that day > 🔗 in bio
A post shared by Bob Babbitt (@babbittville) on May 4, 2018 at 7:57am PDT
Iron War
7. Day 1 of Breakfast with Bob at Kona
here
Featuring: Gordon Haller & Dave Orlowski, Frederik Van Lierde, Heather Jackson, Sebastian Kienle, Ben Hoffman, Helle Frederiksen, Lucy Charles, Javier Gomez, Andrew Starykowicz, Ashleigh Gentle & Josh Amberger, Lionel Sanders, Patrik Nilsson, Anne Haug, Marcus Cook, and Susie Cheetham.
6. My 1986 Ironman
1986 Ironman
5. Championship Edition of Breakfast with Bob from Kona
Watch our Championship Edition interviews here
Listen to the interviews on Babbittville Radio here
4. Tim Don: From Halo to Hamburg
here
3. Jan Frodeno: Post Oceanside 70.3 Chat
here
2. Only 362 Days to #IMKona2019
1. The Pease Brothers Climbing Palani
One of the top highlights of 2018 for me was meeting the Pease Brothers, Kyle and Brent, and getting to watch them race in Kona.
In case you haven’t had a chance to watch our Breakfast with Bob from Kona interview with Kyle and Brent, filmed a few days before they finished the Ironman World Championship, here you go…
Here’s to a great 2019! See you at the races….
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