Yesterday was another good, long day at IM Hawaii. The day started bright and early on this end—Waldek (aka Captain Coffee) said we needed to be up at 3:30am, and since he was my only real pre-dawn transportation option to the venue, I figured I'd better join him in the rental car.

Setting the alarm for 3:30am is never ideal.

But, truth of the matter, watching the sun come up over the island on race day morning is always spectacular.

And while it was still pitch dark on Saturday morning, I had the pleasure of spending a little pre-race time with TCB athletes Chris McCormack and Linsey Corbin. There's a sort of surreal calm-before-the-storm feeling when one spends the early morning with two top-tier triathletes preparing to compete in a very grueling race as soon as the sun comes up.

Both Chris and Linsey are such classy, down-to-earth athletes that even right before IM Hawaii they were calm and welcoming—even laughing and joking around a bit. I enjoy watching athletes have a good time with their sport and it's always nice to see that side of pro athletes—we're talking about sport and play, after all.


However, when the race finished on the chalk-covered pavement of Ali'i Drive it certainly hadn't been a day full of fun and enjoyment for Chris or Linsey. Neither athlete had the day he/she was looking for. But as any athlete knows, that's just sport. It's that very uncertainty of it all that makes sport so dramatic, inviting, inspirational and at times so rough.

Those familiar with the TEAM CLIF BAR program or with these two particular athletes know that we work with Chris and Linsey because we know that regardless of the outcome on race day, we've got athletes out there flying the colors in a way that truly makes TEAM CLIF BAR proud.


4th and 11th at IM Hawaii in anybody's book certainly isn't too shabby but Chris and Linsey both came to Hawai'i gunning for more.

In the big picture, though, race results only mean so much. A 4th and an 11th place finish, or any other race result, are such a small part of the whole story.

As always, we can look forward to another season of worthy stories from both Chris and Linsey in 2010.

That's the scoop on this end.

It's 4:30am again and I need to go find Captain Coffee.