Just a few days short of his 40th birthday, Tim DeBoom still loves to race, but he has vowed that this year’s 32nd place finish at Kona would be his last Ironman on the Big Island. His two wins there will forever mark him among the greats. Certainly his inspiring win by two Kona country miles in 2001 helped raise some American spirits after the tragedy on 9/11. His all-out duels with Peter Reid were the triathlon equivalent of Ali-Frazier – minus the bitter disrespect that fueled the pugilists.
But Tim DeBoom is far from retiring as he plans a more adventurous exploration of far ranging, intriguing, eclectic endurance events like the Leadville 100, XTERRA races, the Alpe d’Huez triathlon and more. Not unlike professional surfers who choose to avoid the contest grind in favor of traveling the world in search of perfect waves, DeBoom says he will spend some of his time – with friends like Peter Reid and Tim’s brother Tony - in the role of a soul endurance athlete seeking new challenges.
In an interview this week, DeBoom offers his thoughts on new rules and regulations pertaining to pro qualifying for Ironman Hawaii, the passing of the torch from Kona’s old guard to the new, the inspiring performances of Chrissie Wellington and Mirinda Carfrae.
Slowtwitch: What happened to you in Kona this year? You were very positive about your preparation.
Tim DeBoom: This year I expected a lot more out of myself. My training went really well and I stayed healthy all year long. The trip over was easy. There was nothing wrong. No excuses. I have tried to figure out what did not come together on race day. Maybe I did not get enough calories – or am I just getting old? [DeBoom will be 40 on November 4] I try not to think about it too much and I try not to beat myself up too much. It was not a good day. But I still tried to enjoy the day and get out and have some fun with my friends.
ST: What do you suspect went wrong?
Tim: I prepared well. All indicators with my training were good. I expected to have a good day. The swim went well. I was in a big group near the front on the bike and I was comfortable the first half of the ride. I was in control. Then, when I turned around at the halfway point, things went south. Something might have happened with nutrition. Maybe I did not take in enough calories the first half of the bike.
ST: Any other factors?
Tim: I was riding with the strong cyclists and right before the turnaround Chris McCormack made a little break and I could not go with them. At that point, I felt I was a little under geared. Coming down from Hawi, I needed a 54 tooth. Most guys had a bigger tooth and I was spinning out on a lot of sections with a tailwind. With a crosswind, there would not be a big difference. Beyond that, I just don't know what happened. I am trying not to over analyze it. At this point, I don't want to let it keep me up at night.
ST: When did you start running with Normann Stadler?
ST: We have always been friends. He is definitely a guy I admire and I get along well with him. So on race day I saw him at the Energy Lab coming back at me and he was struggling. I said ‘You better be ready to run when I catch you!’ So I came up on him with seven miles to go and we had a nice little run in from there. [they were timed in identical 8:49:26s and finished in 32nd and 33rd places] It made a tough day more enjoyable to share it with him like that.
ST: Normann is sort of a brilliant athlete who is very emotional when things go wrong. You seem to have a very different temperament but sympathize with him?
Tim: He is just like all of us in that position. He wants to win so bad he puts his whole heart into it. When things go wrong, you beat yourself up. That intensity can damage relationships and things like that when winning is such a big part of the goal. Normann has that feeling as well. I think if you are not upset when something goes wrong, maybe you should not be racing. When he gets upset, it shows his heart is completely engaged.
ST: Is there a chance you will change your mind about not returning to Kona?
Tim: I’ve had my fill in Kona. It would have been nice to have a better race this last time, but I will not rethink my decision. I have done all I ever dreamed of at Kona and I went into that race knowing that was my last time. I knew I was getting older this year. I was motivated and I enjoyed all the elements of training. But when the WTC started to change the rules for qualification procedures, I did not see someone else dictating my race schedule next year. I knew I did not agree with that.
ST: Is this something you personally disagree with? Or is it something that you think is wrong on general principles?
Tim: It was not simply my personal feeling. Who were they to say and tell someone like Crowie that he needs to go do different races to go into Hawaii? I knew I was too old to be told I had to do two or three long races in order to qualify for Hawaii. Nobody knows better than the athlete what is needed to come into this race in winning shape. What they did with rules changes irritated me and I felt it was wrong for the sport. The more people have to race at that distance the less chance they will have a great race.
So I just let it go. I will not change my mind.
ST: Luc Van Lierde was invited to come to Ironman Hawaii in 1996 without racing any Ironman races, without qualification, and had one of the great races in Ironman history. I believe they missed out on one of the great IMH races by making Simon Lessing qualify at Lake Placid – where he had a dominating race but incurred leg injuries. Just two and a half months later, he raced at Kona and had not recovered. I think the world missed out on a great performance by a great triathlete.
Tim: I always thought that our sport should look at competitive running. Elite runners, world champions at shorter distances, are coveted by big marathon races and given big fees to move up and make a debut at the marathon. I do not see it in our sport, which is too bad. Now I see Matt Reed is doing Ironman Arizona. I said to him talk to Felix [Walchshofer] at Roth. Make your debut at the Ironman distance and come out of gate screaming with a fast time. Instead of going to Arizona, which will not take care of him with appearance money or other considerations that ought to be made for an athlete of his caliber.
ST: Well, they do make it possible for Ironman 70.3 World Champions to race at Kona.
Tim: Yes, and look at performances [from IM 70.3 Worlds winners] Crowie and Rinny and Sam McGlone moved up to the Ironman distance afterward and their debuts were pretty darn good. I do understand the WTC point of view. For WTC it is a business. They want athletes competing at their races. But careers get much shorter when athletes are required to do so many long races.
ST: The best Ironman Hawaii competitors of all time, Dave Scott and Mark Allen, did zero or at most one other Ironman race a year before Kona.
Tim: I think that’s the smart way if you want fast times. To be peaked for Kona you cannot have your best athletes burned out and do races up until September chasing Kona qualification. I understand chasing Olympic points in ITU races in an Olympic year. But to be required every year to do several Ironman races? I think that principle applies not only for Ironman races. Some people do Ironman 70.3s and treat them like Olympic distance races and do them in bunches. You cannot do two or three halves a month and six or seven a year. That is asking too much of the body. Look at Terenzo. [Bozzone] He had an outstanding year, but when it came down to the end of the season at Kona, he did not have enough left for a great performance. That is a reflection of the many races he does throughout the year.
ST: Now that he is 37, you might have made that same argument about Craig Alexander’s season where he killed the fields in more than half a dozen 70.3 races and then had a disappointing 4th at Kona. Whereas Chris McCormack took his age – also 37 - into consideration and did just three or four races before Kona.
Tim: I don’t know. I understand Craig is very professional and he wants to support his sponsors and support his family. But I’m firm in believing that I would never do well in Hawaii without cutting back and focusing on training for Hawaii in the second half of the season. Also, the 70.3 distance is dangerous. People do not realize how much it takes out of you.
ST: What was that experience you had at Hawaii that first year?
Tim: The first year I came as an age grouper I had no idea. I qualified at an Olympic distance race – I was first overall amateur at Memphis in May - and got a slot. So at that point I had no idea what to expect. I thought I better do a half and see what I could do and did pretty well. But I had no aspirations at Kona. All I wanted was to finish. I never did a 100 mile ride. The closest I came was 100 miles in a week.
ST: So what happened?
Tim: It was interesting. One of the guys on my swim team was trying to go to Hawaii and I thought I can do that. I just was through with my swim career at Iowa. I went and had no family and no friends with me. It was 1992, I was 21 and still in college. On race day I had a blast. I came out of the water in the top 10 overall [7th in 49:29] and then I watched all the best pros pass me on the bike. [his 5:12:37 split was 232nd fastest] I watched Mark Allen go by but I did not know the names of all the top guys. So I stayed very controlled and just enjoyed it. I was not prepared to run the entire marathon, so I walked the aid stations [he ran 3:43:36 – 303rd fastest] and finished in 9:45:[42.] It was a pretty good debut for a youngster who had not trained for it at all.
ST: What was the main difference from today?
Tim: It was different back then. There was not so much hype, nor was finishing it a lifelong accomplishment. So I just thought I’ll be back next year and my brother Tony joined me and it was a lot more fun. [In 1993, Tony (87th in 9:18:37) beat his younger brother (141st in 9:32:51)]
ST: Did you have the sense that Hawaii was a legendary place, could you sense it was a place with a powerful spirit?
Tim: I didn’t have any attachment to the legends and myths. The sense that Hawaii was something special didn’t really hit me then. Basically, a real feel for the island didn’t hit me until the first year I won [2001]. When I landed that year, things felt different. My image of the island changed a little bit. When I look back, there were times I felt special – both good and bad -- on the island. That year, maybe part of it was the fact that it was just after 9/11. I drove out to California in September after they opened the skies back up to flights. Nicole and I went to Santa Cruz and stayed a while before going to Kona. I remember landing in Honolulu and we met Peter Reid with Lori and then flew from Honolulu to Kona. I remember looking down at the Big Island and I felt really right being there. I had none of the anxieties you sometimes get when looking at the island.
ST: Did you have a sense of Hawaii as a special geographical place?
Tim: It is amazing. It is a feeling I felt in other places which are similar. I asked Mark Allen about it one time. I told him I had been to a few places around the world that had that special feeling. He said maybe it had to do with volcanic areas. In fact most of the places where I felt that way were volcanic. Lake Tahoe is a place I feel very at home. Pucon in Chile – Nicole and I agree – this is a spot we love. I have been all around the world and very few places give me that feeling that there is something cool about this place. Now Hawaii feels like a second home.
ST: How will you make a living when Kona and all the media attention that goes with it is no longer a part of your schedule?
Tim: I continue to work with most of my sponsors. From years of being with them, I realized I have to do more than race. You have to really ingrain yourself with the company and make sure they make use you. I work with Pearl Izumi on products day in and day out. I enjoyed working with apparel companies – and also Power Bar. I know what works for me and I enjoy helping to improve the nutrition of their products.
ST: Will you take the opportunity to try different events now that Kona is off the table?
Tim: Now I have the opportunity to experiment even more with different events. It was always about testing myself and that is not going to change. I have a lot of races planned for next year. I’m happy to get some other things under my belt. The decision frees up my year to do other races when I do not have Kona to dictate a large part of my training. I am going to jump into XTERRA races. They have a spirit that is back to what I expefrienced when I started. More grass roots, fun people out to have a good time. To me mountain biking is pure. I like to get out and avoid the traffic [on the roads] and I never have a bigger smile than when I roll out in some sweet single track.
ST: It seems as if there might be one big prestigious race in your future. Would that be Maui?
Tim: The last few years Ironman Hawaii is considered a very serious event. Perhaps I lost the nervous energy you have to have to perform well there. Maybe I am getting old and mellow and that leaves me looking for stuff which is a little more fun.
ST: Will you continue to incorporate longer training, such as what you did to prepare for the Leadville 100?
Tim: That is still on the menu. A race like that is still in the works. Right now my body craves shorter faster stuff and I want to feed those cravings. But for sure I will try some longer running races. Before I had the trail running accident and got injured, my body held up well for up to 150 miles a week. Maybe I overdid it. Preparing for Leadville I worked with Tim Luchinske and realized for an event like that I needed more strength work than anything else. So I hit the weight room. I have the endurance to do all I want. But now I am going to do some short fun races first.
ST: It seems as if you love the pure act of running?
Tim: First off, obviously I have a competitive drive. Tony and I thought it was a dream come true to train all day toward racing at a high level. I will never use the word ‘retire’ because there are too many events I want to do and experience. I will always want to get out and test myself.
ST: What other types of races are you thinking of?
Tim: I will do the Alpe d’Huez triathlon and few other events in Europe. I plan to spend a month next year doing some of those races I avoided because travel affects me a lot. I find it very taxing. I understand some guys can do it. Chris McCormack has been racing all over the place. He has good support from family and friends. So he often raced Roth and Frankfurt and Nice. I still feel taxed from travel but I am looking forward to it. This year I plan to pick some events off the mainstream – not WTC or ITU races – but places that put such a big effort into putting on interesting and exciting races. I will be looking into some of the half distance Challenge races, but not the full distance races.
ST: How will this mesh with your sponsors?
Tim: They will get more out of me now. Most companies I work for are not just triathlon companies and have a worldwide market. So I will jump into mountain bike and run races and races in Europe and that will be a good fit for them.
ST: Will you ever compete in Hawaii again in some other format?
Tim: I will if I get an opportunity to go back to Hawaii to do an adventure trip working with Mauna Lani resorts and explore Hawaii’s many climate zones. I am working with my brother Tony at Endurance Conspiracy and will try things that are more like soul surfing. We will be the soul endurance athletes – on bike or skis in other types of sports – and that will be an opportunity we are looking for. Peter Reid flies bush planes in the Alaskan and Canadian wilderness with a bike in the back and will ride a bike in those spots. Pete and I are Endurance Conspiracy investors as well athlete ambassadors.
ST: What do you think about your wife Nicole’s thriving sports business – Skort women’s sports apparel?
Tim: Every day I am amazed by what she does. Skort is in its 6th year. She struggled through the bad economy and excelled. The company is doing great. When she started, people wondered if it would make it or not. But she never had any doubt. She changed women’s running apparel as well. Now most companies knocked her off run skirts and made some themselves. Now she loves it more than racing. For the longest time I thought I had to find something to do after my pro career was over. She is lucky that she has something she has a total passion for, a drive doing what she loves.
ST: How is your contact with your fans these days?
Tim: It is great. I am a quiet guy but if someone approaches me I embrace it. I love to meet new people and now I am recognizing faces I’ve seen five or 10 years ago. It makes for a lot of fun. I am not big into social media, and I do not let people into my world very often. But when I do, it’s nice.
ST: What pleasure do you get from simply running?
Tim: This morning I got out as the sun came up. There is a mountain behind our house and I start with a hike which turns into a run. I just like the solitude of being out there and that is where I get my best ideas or work out problems. I try to work out issues in my own head and that is best done on my feet out there. I love to get my heart rate up and get into the sunshine – it’s total fun. I am an exercise addict and that will never go away. That can be unhealthy at times, but I keep it under control. It makes me who I am.
ST: There seems to be a passing of the generations with Natascha Badmann and Luc van Lierde not making appearances at Kona this year. Have you heard from Luc?
Tim: I have not heard much about him this year. I stayed out of the media world and did not pay attention if he was in Kona. But it’s true. A lot is definitely changing in the contenders at Kona and in the triathlon world. It happens all the time. There was definitely a generation that included me and Luc and Pete and Thomas and Normann that is at its end. There is a new group coming. Who knows who is next but we are all on our way out.
ST: Are you still remembered?
Tim: Back in 2007, I was 4th and he was 8th and it was a lot of fun. When we got off the awards stage, as many people asked for pictures of us as for Chris [McCormack] who won the race. Luc is a legend and still has the Kona record. And his races were some of the most exciting – passing Hellriegel at mile 23 at Kona in 1996 and that race in Roth in 1997 where he set a still standing Ironman distance record. I hope to get to see him and catch up with him.
ST: What did you think of the tactics at the front of the men’s race at Kona this year?
Tim: I expected that this year. I could see that coming on the course when Chris tried to make a break. That was his only option. He knew he had to get away from Crowie to have a chance and he was proved right.
ST: What do you think of Chrissie Wellington and her otherworldly dominance?
Tim: Well, until she got sick in Kona this year, she was otherworldly, as you said. She is a good friend. I am in awe of what she can do and her mental tenacity. She is the most gifted woman endurance athlete in the world today. At the same time, I thought Mirinda’s performance was amazing. There are some talented athletes out there bringing women to the forefront with once-in-a-generation performances.
ST: What do you expect from Chrissie in the future?
Tim: I expect her to come back with the reins in her teeth. She will perform great at Arizona. Why not? She might have a few personal things motivating her. We have no idea, with what she did at Roth, what she could have done at Kona this year. But that is the beauty of sport. Anything can happen, especially at Kona. That is the drama and that is what makes it awesome.
