220 Triathlon

The Iron War is won

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Mark Allen and Dave Scott first introduced themselves on the bike course 50km into the 1982 edition of Hawaii. Dave Scott won the race. Year after year, Allen came back to the lava fields to try and trump Scott. And failed each time. Cut to Hawaii in 1989 and the Kona title count read 6-0 to Scott, but Allen was in formidable form after winning nine races in the season, including the debut ITU World Champs. Scott, meanwhile, had broken the Ironman record in Japan. The 13th edition of Ironman Hawaii took place on 14 October and, as in 1987, the pair were inseparabl­e until late on the run. Over to Mark Allen. “We raced together the entire day, neither of us wanting to give up an inch. It became clear that the key was going to be the final uphill on the marathon. But Dave was the strongest and at the half-marathon point I was ready to give up. I’d been there six times before and never won, and now it was looking like Dave would continue his string of victories.

“But then I recalled the image of a 110-year-old Huichol shaman. He had a peaceful but powerful look that said, ‘I’m happy just to be alive’. And suddenly, I was just happy to be racing with the best guy in the world!”

At 35km, Scott started to succumb to Allen’s metronomic pace. By 40km, he was being tailed off as Allen made his move. With an American flag in hand, Allen crossed the line for his first Hawaii win in 8:09:15.

Competitor magazine’s Bob Babbitt soon christened the race Iron War, entire books were devoted to the showdown and the protagonis­ts are routinely being asked about it 30 years later.

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