Iron Bob conquers Hawaii

Stanwell Park triathlete Bob Meers has fulfilled his dream of completing the Hawaii Ironman, finishing in the top half of his age group with a time of 11 hours 48 minutes.

This year’s event was considered to be the toughest in the past 10 years due to the scorching heat, 95-degree humidity and strong winds, reaching up to 80mph.

About 200 triathletes out of the 1800 who started failed to complete the race, with many of the elite athletes realising the conditions were too arduous.

“It’s the hardest one day event in the word,” said Bob, admitting that he did feel like stopping during the 42km run.

“But I’d done the training and I came through. It had taken a lot of years to qualify and, when I crossed the finish line, I knew I had finally reached my goal.

“It was an awesome thing just to know you’re racing against the best in the world.”

The 47-year-old finished 56th out of 130 in his age group.

The 180km bike leg took him an hour longer than usual due to the high winds coming off the ocean and battering the riders.

“It was really tough,” said Bob.

About 14 friends and family accompanied him to Kona and his wife, Janice, surprised him by printing up supporters’ T-shirts for everyone.

“It had Bob Meers on the front and, on the back, it said: ‘It’s about time’.”

Bob has been trying to qualify for Hawaii since 2000 and only narrowly missed out after the New Zealand Ironman titles last year.

While he felt okay a day after the Kona race, when the family traveled to Maui for a holiday, Bob couldn’t move from the pool lounge.

“I was mentally drained from the build-up and how long I had been trying to do it,” he said.

“I just spent five days besides the pool reading and went nowhere.”

Bob reckons it’s time to start exercising again now his body has had time to recover.

“I’ve put on a bit of weight,” he joked.

Despite achieving the pinnacle of the Ironman circuit, Bob is still keen to give it another go and will probably do it all again in another three years.

“It wouldn’t be the same as the first one though.”