Kona 2012

Here's my predictions for Kona. The event is tomorrow am, and I'm anxiously awaiting to see who comes out on top. The biggest bummer is that Lance Armstrong can't compete. Although USADA has done a tremendous job smearing and ruining his name, I still think he's a champ. Anyways, back to the predictions.

Men's podium will have (maybe not in this order)
Alexander Craig
Chris McCorrmak
Andreas Raelert

Women's Podium
Mirinda Carfrae
Leanda Cave
Caroline Steffen

I think that Crowie will have a battle on his hands, but that ultimately he'll pull off the victory. Andreas has been pretty consistent over the last few years on the island, but I don't see him being able to stay with Crowie. The wold card is Macca. He's been off the Ironman gig for a while in his attempt to get an olympic spot this last year. Meaning that he's been racing the shorter, but way faster, ITU circuit. He's slimmed down and had a chance to rebuild his speed. He's also had plenty of time to prep for this event since he knew way before London that he wasn't on the team. He's got two Kona victories under his belt already, and tomorrow might prove to be his third. After all, he did win the last time he raced there.

On the women's side, I see Carfrae taking the top spot. She's been working on her bike speed all season, and trying to keep her run speed the same. She came back from a 14+ min deficit to take 2nd last year behind Chrissie Wellington (who's not racing this season). So long as Carfrae hasn't lost much on her run, I think that she will be extremely hard to beat. After the title, the race is too close to call on where the rest of the women will finish. I don't think that Carfrae will beat her own marathon record this year, but I think that she'll still take the win.