Hawaii Vacation Rentals ~ Big Island Vacation Rentals

Big Island vacation rentals - Aloha Vacation Cottages is now taking bookings for the next 2007 Ford Ironman Hawaii 70.3 June 2nd, 2007 and for the next Ford Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kailua Kona Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 7:00 AM For your accommodations book early, Inquire now!

Ironman Announces Fifth Annual Charitable eBay Auction To Benefit Ironman Foundation For a fifth consecutive year, Ironman will embark on its annual eBay auction, designed to benefit charitable organizations. In 2005, the Ironman Foundation surpassed its $1 million goal by raising more than $1.5 million through the auction for the construction of the first YMCA facility in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. In 2006 alone, Ironman donated more than $160,000 to deserving groups including C Different, The Pediatric Cancer Foundation and the Daniel Robert Sayre Memorial Foundation. This year’s eBay auction will begin on Sunday, April 29, at 12 p.m. EST with four coveted slots to this year’s Ford Ironman World Championship. The auction will include four phases with one slot available per week. The minimum bid for slots to the world’s most challenging endurance event, taking place on October 13, 2007, will start at $10,000. In addition to the opportunity to compete at the 2007 Ford Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, winners will also receive private athlete registration in Kona and four VIP packages, including race-day passes and invitations to race week functions. Funding for the eBay auction does not have to come from one source, fundraising efforts are acceptable. According to Ironman’s President and CEO, Ben Fertic, all funds are tax-deductible and all proceeds go to the Ironman Foundation, which will in turn make donations to the organizations. Ironman covers all administrative costs to ensure all monies raised will directly benefit the selected charities. More information on the specific charities benefiting from this year’s eBay auction will soon follow. Once the auction is underway, a link will be made available on www.ironman.com for easier accessibility.

2007 Ford Ironman Hawaii 70.3 June 2nd, 2007 Would you like to race like Michellie Jones and Chris McCormack on the Big Island of Hawaii? Come to the Ford Ironman 70.3 Hawaii on June 2, 2007, and discover what all Hawaii has to offer. Last year’s Ford Ironman 70.3 Hawaii was perfect training, and perhaps a bit of good luck, for Australia’s Chris McCormack and Michellie Jones. In October, at the Ford Ironman World Championship, Jones dominated the women’s field to capture her first championship title in Kona. McCormack had his best Kona finish yet, placing second with a 2:46:02 marathon, the fastest of the day. Find out what the Ford Ironman 70.3 Hawaii can do for you? Register today at : http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1366530 before it sells out! For more information on the Ford Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, please visit www.Ironman703Hawaii.com

The Ford Ironman World Championship selects 200 athletes each year to participate through a lottery system. Are You Ready To Make the Dream A Reality In 2007? Every year, 200 lucky athletes find themselves with the opportunity of a lifetime at the Ford Ironman World Championship, via the Ironman Lottery Program. Will you be among them? Listen to how the 2006 lottery has changed the life of these athletes forever: "This was my first full Ironman. I arrived in Hawaii as a lottery recipient to race amongst the best in the world. Even after arriving in Hawaii as one of the underdogs, I proved to myself that anything is possible. If you train hard and believe in yourself you can be an Ironman in Hawaii. Hawaii is where memories are made and dreams come true!" - Denise Bruce, Phoenix, AZ "As a 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship lottery winner and Janus Charity Challenge participant, I was both humbled and honored by this experience and to be amongst this elite group of athletes. From different continents, cultures, disciplines, and professions, we were all over-achievers bonded by two things -- our passion for life and committment to goals. Kona's beauty can only be matched by the spirit of the people of whom support the event. This was and will always be an experience that I will embrace forever." - Eddie Blackwell, Cedar Park, TX "No other sport gives you the opportunity to rub shoulders with the best in the world. This was the first time I had entered the lottery. The crowd just carries you those last few hundred yards there is no feeling like it, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I'd do it again in a heart beat. Thank you for making it possible for those of us who got involved in triathlon later in life and may never achieve a qualifying time, not to say we wont keep trying (tri-ing)." - Karen Scott, Goodyear, AZ Deadline for Entry is February 28th, 11:59pm ET. Register now! ** Renewing your membership to the Passport Club enters you for a second chance in the Ironman Lottery Program.

2006 FORD HAWAII IRONMAN TRIATHLON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Big Island, Saturday October 21th, 2006.

Distance: 2.4 mi. swim • 112 mi. bike • 26.2 mi. run

Here are the 2006 Hawaii Ironman World Championship winners!!!

Find great photos and complete results of 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona here. Here are some quotes from the offical Ironman website about this year's Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua Kona, Big Island of Hawaii:

Michellie Jones adds another world title to her already impressive resume.

“My federation thought I had failed at the Olympics,” she said of her silver medal performance. “My expectations are very different to everyone else.” The Australian federation shut Jones out of the 2004 Olympics, which prompted her to start thinking about long distance racing.

While many felt that she should have been disappointed with her runner up finish here a year ago, Jones certainly wasn’t.

“Sometimes you learn more from a race where you don’t win than one that you did,” she said at yesterday’s press conference.

Normann Stadler’s second Ford Ironman World Championship title means more to him than his first, he told at yesterday’s press conference.

“It was bigger than 2004,” he said. “Winning once is a dream. Winning twice – you’re one of the big boys now. I’m so proud myself.”

“You need so many years here to win here,” he said. “It’s easy to win in Germany. It’s easy to win Australia. I won Australia twice, and I got no sponsors. People only know Hawaii, and Frankfurt now.”
All that exposure made Stadler a huge personality in his home country when he won two years ago, and now he’s anticipating more of the same.

“I’ll have a lot of appearances,” he said. “There was a lot of stuff before this race – a lot of attention about the Faris and Normann battle. Now it’s pay day.”

History of Hawaii Ironman Triathlon
Every October, on the Saturday closest to the full moon, about 1,500 of the world's fittest people tackle one of the toughest endurance events, the Hawaii Ironman triathlon.

The Ironman is a day-long event. It starts with a four-kilometre swim, followed by a 180-kilometre bike race, topped off with a 42-kilometre marathon run. Although anyone can enter most Ironman races, competitors at Hawaii Ironman Triathlon world championship have qualified at another event or won a lottery slot.

Surviving the hot, windy and desolate lava fields in Hawaii's Kona region is as much an extreme mental test as a physical one. Triathlon’s roots can be traced back to 1974, Mission Bay, Southern California where a group of friends began training together. Amongst them were runners, swimmers and cyclists and before long training sessions turned into informal races. Directed and conceived by Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan the first Mission Bay Triathlon was held on September 25th 1974 and welcomed 46 athletes. Triathlon’s foundations had been set!

In Hawaii, 1978, an argument arose regarding which of the three disciplines required the greatest endurance. At that time Hawaii hosted The Waikiki Rough Water Swim (2.4 miles), The Oahu Bike Race (112 miles) and The Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles). Originally events in themselves, they were rolled into one to become the ‘Hawaii Ironman Triathlon.’

The event attracted 15 athletes and of them only 12 crossed the finish line. By 1982 the Hawaii Ironman gained extensive coverage on ABC World Wide Sport and participation levels had increased to 580 competitors. Last year over 3000 athletes completed the grueling challenge. The fastest women finish the course in just under nine hours and the fastest men finishing in little over 8 hours.

The next Hawaii Ironman Triathlon World Championship takes place in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Big Island on October 15, 2005.

WHAT:
A 2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bike race and 26.2-mile run. Competitors have 17 hours to finish. Cutoff times are also applied to the swim (2:20 after start of race) and the bike (10:30 after the start of race.)

WHERE:
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The swim segment begins and ends at the pier in Kailua. The bike race travels north on the Kona Coast to the small village of Hawi, and then returns along the same route to the new transition area at the King Kamahamaha Hotel. The marathon course travels through Kailua and onto the same highway used for the bike race. Contestants run back into Kailua-Kona, coming down Alii Drive to the cheers of more than 25,000 people at the finish line.

WHO:
Up to 2,000 competitors, ages 18-80, compete from 50-plus countries and all 50 states. Upwards of 50,000 competitors attempt to qualify at Ironman qualifying races worldwide. Another 4,000 enter the race lottery, which awards 150 slots to U.S. citizens and 50 slots to international athletes. In recognition of their athletic accomplishment, age group champions automatically qualified for the next year's race. Read more http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/vnews/985623550

We recommend to our guests who’d like to experience this ultimate endurance test ‘live’ to either leave their cottage early in the morning around 5am in order to find a parking lot in Kailua-Kona and a good position in Alii Drive for watching the most spectacular scene when thousands of participants jump in the Pacific Ocean at 7am sharp for their 2.4mile swim…or if they are not early birds but still would like to get a glimpse of the participants and feel the heat of the competition (and Hawaii!), drive their car about 5 miles from our cottages to the junction of Hwy 19 and Hwy 270 to cheer the triathlon bikers on their way to Hawi. The Hawaii Triathlon World Championship on the Big Island of Hawaii is a once in a life time experience you don’t want to miss.

Here are a few photos taken by our German guests at 2004 Hawaii Ironman event in Kailua Kona, Big Island.:

Hawaii Ironman Triathlon	Spectators waiting for start at 7 a.m.	Over 1,700 athletes are getting ready
first leg - 2.4 miles ocean swim	Bike start	athletes jump on their bikes
bikers leave Kona town	Kawaihae - Kohala Coast	bikers turn onto Hwy 270 to Hawi
Historic town Hawi greets bikers	Norman Stadler on his way to victory	Germans cheer their countrymen

If our amateur photos don't satisfy your expectations, find more professionally taken photos of the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon or other wordclass Triathlon events at Digital Triathlon.

FORD HAWAII IRONMAN TRIATHLON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Big Island, Saturday October 15th, 2005.

Here are the 2005 Hawaii Ironman World Championship winners!!!

Here are some quotes from the offical Ironman website about The 2005 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua Kona, Big Island of Hawaii:

"At this year's Ford Ironman World Championship, we were witness to more than 16 record setting times.
A Championship like no other …
Madame Pele must have been in a good mood here in Kona today. Instead of pounding the best endurance athletes in the world with brutal winds and scorching heat, she left out the winds and went a bit easier on the heat. And the best endurance athletes in the world took note, and put on quite a show. In today’s Ford Ironman World Championship, we were witness to more than 16 record setting times.
We saw 45-year-olds finish a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a marathon run in 9:11.
We saw Sister Madonna Buder become the oldest woman to ever finish an Ironman. She’s just 76-years-young! She managed that feat in an impressive 15:54:16
We saw Robert McKeague become the first 80-year-old to finish an Ironman. He did that in just over 16 hours!
We saw Sarah Reinertsen get that unfinished business finished.
We saw Johnny Blais become the only athlete with ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease) to finish an Ironman."

2004 Hawaii Ironman Triathlon World Championship
took place in KAILUA-KONA,
Big Island on October 16, 2004.

Here are the 2004 Hawaii Ironman World Championship winners!!!

Our Aloha Vacation Cottages guest Steffen Rada from Berlin Germany accomplishes an excellent placement in his first time participation of the Hawaii Ironman. Good job, Steffen!!! Hope to see you again for another Hawaii Big Island Ironman.

Ferienwohnung in Hawaii - Komfortable, preiswerte Ferienwohnungen in Hawaii - Hawaii Ferienwohnung & Hawaii Ferienhaus - an der sonnigen Kohala Küste von Big Island. Unsere deutsche homepage für deutschsprachige Besucher!