Craig Alexander topped off his second straight Ironman World Championship with a race-best 2:48 marathon. Images by Timothy Carlson.

Matty Reed again showed that when he’s fresh and ready, he’s very tough to beat in a no-draft oly-distance race. Lisa Norden bested Sarah Haskins for the women’s title

The Slowtwitch Ice Cream Truck was in Dallas for the fifth Toyota Cup stop of the season. This was the series finale, here’s how we called it.

Even more images from the 2009 Ford Ironman Hawaii World Championships bike check-in.

Wellington takes down Paula Newby-Fraser’s 17-year race record with a dominating 8:54:02; runner-up Carfrae breaks CW’s run record with a 2:56:51; Alexander outduels a gutsy, brilliant effort by Chris Lieto on a red-hot letter day on the Queen K.

Friday is pretty much all about the bike check-in and getting rested.

Ironman Hawaii is creeping closer and many people started this day with the underpants run. But there is more to this day.

Absurdist Kona Tradition purportedly designed to shame Euros into wearing something more modest than Speedos while cruising around town during Ironman week.

What are Chrissie Wellington, Yvonne Van Vlerken, Catriona Morrison, Michellie Jones and Mirinda Carfrae thinking on the eve of battle at the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships?

Two years ago, Samantha McGlone was the touted rookie who executed a perfect race but lost by five minutes to dark horse Chrissie Wellington. Today, Wellington is the Queen of Ironman and McGlone is quietly returning from injury.

Defending Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander is the odds on favorite to repeat. As perhaps the man with the most professional approach, he’s not keying off anyone else in the field, but ready for anything.

A very busy pier started Wednesday with a bang and the Slowtwitch gathering at the blueseventy home closed it out in style.

Two-time Ironman World Champion Normann Stadler is coming off two disappointing races at Kona. But marriage and fatherhood have given him new strength and he is ready to tear up the Queen K once again.

After her disastrous 2007 crash on the bike at Kona, six-time Ironman World Champion Natascha Badmann went through 18 months of hellish surgeries, painful rehab, uncertainty and doubts. Now she’s 42 and ready to unleash the Natascha of old.

The young New Zealander who took the Ironman 70.3 World Championship crown last November says Chris McCormack didn’t work on his mind while training together in Kona. “I won’t let anyone psyche me out.”

The Parade of Nations and the opening of the Expo and bike demo were some of the highlights of this day.

Kona’s Ironman Parade of great triathletes and sweetly eccentric behavior. Photo Gallery by Timothy Carlson

The International Triathlon Union issued a six-year ban to Mariana Ohata, Brazil’s top ITU female triathlete, for testing positive for the prohibited substance furosemide – her second anti-doping violation.

Was Timo Bracht a loose cannon, refusing to stop in the penalty box last year at Kona, running it in 5th across the line only to get properly DQ’d? Or was this year’s sensational Frankfurt sub-8 winner just the victim of a misunderstanding?

Looking for a dark horse to challenge Crowie, Macca and Normann? How about this 20-year-old Brit who thinks he might just win this mighty race not just once, but “2-3-4, even 5-6-7 times.”

Of course, you can run in any shoe that you want, but don’t you just love that feeling of a lighter shoe on your feet during the marathon leg of your Kona race? Here are those shoes.

With the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships almost upon us we noticed Forze GPS bars, the Crowie Backstage iPhone app, the Ceepo Katana, Muscle Milk Light and an Art of Tri t-shirt.

Monday is the first big day for the triathletes to arrive in Kona but it is already quite clear that this race is coming up.

The City of Los Angeles Triathlon brings together 2,500 age groupers and the world’s elite to compete on a course that starts at Venice Beach and winds up in downtown LA. Photo Gallery by Timothy Carlson.