By Raymond Britt -- It's the most consistent challenge in all long-distance triathlons: how hard to ride the bike, while still leaving enough in the tank to have a great run. When it comes to balancing the bike and the run, there are four groups: 1. Fast and Balanced; 2. Energy to Spare for a fast run; 3. Left it on the Bike Course; 4. Smooth and Steady for a slow bike and slow run. You want to be #1 or #4. See charts for 2009 and 2010 below; for more analysis, visit our Complete Kona Coverage.
With the best-of-the-best triathletes racing Kona, a clear majority are in quadrant #1 and #4. Outliers in #2 and #3 were either racing too cautiously or rode too hard and suffered on the run, respectively. Kona's bike/run split correlation is more uniformly positive, compared to other Ironman Triathlon bike/run splits charts (Canada, Louisville, Wisconsin, e.g.).