Peaman asks, "Who's going to finish first in 1998 Ironman ?"

Who's going to win the Ironman? While most experts would try to give you the name of a certain triathlete to answer that question, I'll make it much easier. This year's winner will be every single athlete that crosses that finish line.

The Ironman is much more than just a race, it is an experience of a lifetime. It's a tremendous accomplishment to finish such a daunting task and everyone who covers the 140.6 mile course is definitely a winner!

Now, if you want to know who's going to cross that finish line first, that's a much more difficult question to answer. There are just too many mental, physical and mechanical variables that can happen during the long day. The race has evolved to a point where the champion has to have an almost perfect day. It has also become almost a sprint rather than an endurance race.

So who do I think will swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles the fastest on October 3rd? Well, let's just say that any of these ten superb athletes could end the day as the 1998 Ironman Champion.

I'll start with the German Invasion, Thomas Hellriegel, Jurgen Zack, Lothar Leder and Rainer Muller-Horner.

Hellriegel has been incredible here in Kona. He placed first last year and second in both 1996 and 1995. So far this season he has placed 6th at Ironman Germany, but that was in July and Hellriegel has peaked perfectly for Hawaii the past three years. His 1996 second place time of 8:06:07 remains the second fastest of all time.

Zack has also raced very well in Kona over the years. Since 1989 he has placed in the top fifteen 9 times in a row with his second place finish last year being his best race yet. In July Zack proved that he is still in top shape by winning Ironman Germany with a time of 8:03:59.

Leder hasn't been around as long as Zack but last year he placed third overall and ran his way to the day's fastest run time of 2:49:15. Leder placed second behind Zack in July's Ironman Germany.

Placing fourth in Germany was Muller-Horner. Most people have forgotten about him but in 1995 he placed third here in Kona behind six time champion Mark Allen and Hellriegel.

The popular choice in most magazines has been Luc Van Lierde of Belgium. In 1996 Van Lierde burst into the spotlight by winning the race in his rookie year. Along the way he set a new course record with his time of 8:04:08 but most notable was how easy he made it look. Since then he has been riddled with injuries but looked to be very fit recently while winning the World Long Distance Championship in Japan.

Peter Reid of Canada will be out to improve on his fourth place finishes the past two years. Reid's season includes a win at Ironman Australia. In that race he finished just seconds ahead of another top ten contender, Chris Legh of Australia. He was in the top five here in Kona last year until about 200 yards from the finish where his body finally shut down. Legh's performance in Australia showed that he's still willing to push his body to the limit, which is what it takes to win here in Kona.

Christian Bustos of Chile has four top ten finishes here in Kona. He placed fifth in 1997 and is known as one of the best runners in the sport.

Cameron Widoff of Boulder, Colorado, finished sixth last year and was in the top fifteen each of the two years prior. Widoff is my sentimental favorite. Look for him to once again improve in time and placing with a strong run.

Wrapping up my top ten contenders is Ken Glah of West Chester, Pennsylvania. At only 34 years of age, Glah has placed in the top fifteen 12 times and 9 of those were in the top ten. His consistency here in Kona has been awesome. In last year's race he placed 7th and so far in 1998 he has placed first in Ironman Brazil.

The battle for the few remaining spots in the top 15 is too close to call.

The German invasion is very deep and strong and any of these six athletes could place very high: Holger Lorenz, who was 8th in 1997; Alexander Taubert, 9th in 1997; Matthias Klump, 15th in 1997; Andreas Niedrig, 17th in 1997; Tobias Behle, who was 20th ; or Wolfgang Dittrich, who placed 21st.

Belgium's Jean Moureau, France's Rene Rovera and Switzerland's Pierre-Alain Frossard all placed in the top 15 last year and could very well be back there this year.

Denmark's Peter Sandvang arrived here in Kona early, which is just about the smartest thing you can do to race well here in Hawaii. Earlier this season Sandvang took first at Ironman New Zealand.

Our American team looks to be strong with Widoff and Glah leading the way. Our other top contenders look to be the DeBoom brothers, Tim and Tony. Tim took 11th last year and 10th in 1996. Maryland's Troy Jacobson also should be up there as he looks to improve on his 25th place finish in 1997.

What American list would be complete without Scott Tinley? Simply put, he is a living legend and a Hall of Famer.

Tinley has won this event twice and placed in the top 3 eight times between 1981 and 1990. Overall, I believe he has 17 finishes and is still going strong and having fun! Tinley is a wonderful example of what this race is all about.

Wrapping up my top 15 contenders list are two of our Big Island athletes, Luis De La Torre and Brent Imonen, both of Kailua-Kona. De La Torre placed 28th last year in his first Ironman with a great time of 9:11:49. He has raced well in his third season as a professional and qualified for this year's Ironman at the Buffalo Springs Triathlon.

Imonen, who made Kona his home earlier this year, has been a regular at Ironman since 1991. He has finished the race 7 times in a row and has a personal best time of 9:04:58 that he set in 1996.

They will be heading up our Big Island list that includes 27 other men and 7 women, which I listed in last week's column.

Starting with the 25-29 age group, Kona's Matty Cunningham will be out for his second finish as he tries to improve on his 1996 time of 10:56:27. Joining him will be Mike McCary whose Iron rookie year will be shared with his father, mother and sister.

The 30-34 gang is led by John Westergaard of Kailua-Kona who finished once before in a great time of 10:57:22. Erik Winkler and Tim Robinson will be out for their third Ironman finish each while Jim Prescott's lottery luck makes him an Iron rookie.

In the 35-39 group Peter Bartsch is the veteran with finishes in both 1996 and 1997. Bartsch's best time was 13:22:19 set last year. He will be joined by a trio of rookies, Tim Alspach, Chris Cornelius and Tony Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick will be competing along side his two sisters Maggie Grenier and Shannon Oliver. I believe this trio is the first group of tri-plets to ever compete in the Ironman.

The 40-44 group looks strong with Holualoa's Carl "Da Gecko" Koomoa topping the list with five finishes. John Santana will be looking to ad another finish to his list of three.

Gerry Murphy and James Sakai both finished last year. Larry Davis and Bill Hall will both be shooting for their first finisher's t-shirts.

The 45-49 men have a lot of experience with Dard-Vader Aller's four finishes and Dick Campbell and Michael Hargrove's three each. Aller's best time of 12:48:26 came just last year.

Don "Jolly Green" Johnson of Kailua-Kona heads a strong group in the 50-54 category.

Johnson has four finishes under his belt with a best time of 12:57:53 set back in 1992.

Dane Decker has finished the past three races and has gotten faster each time. Dusty Roads has been a coordinator with Ironman for years and is now finally ready to cross that finish line himself.

Our 55-59 crew is led by Dr. Frank Ferren who has finished this race an amazing 15 times. Iron Frank's best time of 13:26:12 came back in 1993. Pat "Muskrat" McCary will join him with his two finishes.

He will be out to beat his wife, daughter and son, to the finish that is. Lee Bowen rounds out the crew as he shoots for his first Ironman finish.

Our final duo are Leonard Peddicord and Stephen Shimada in the 60-64 age group. Peddicord has finished the race three times and has gotten up on stage for an award twice. His best time of 12:18:17 came in 1994 and just last year he clocked in at 12:26:37 which placed him fourth in his age group. Shimada also raced last year and clocked in at 16:06:24.

Well, there they are, our 1998 Ironman qualifiers. You can cheer for them and over 1400 other world class triathletes Oct. 3. Start time is 7 a.m. at the Kailua-Kona Pier.

This past weekend's main event was the Kealakekua Bay two Mile Training Swim.

Each year this little event attracts a very fast field of swimmers, most of which are here for the Ironman.

The swim took place on Sunday and, as usual, a strong international field turned out.

The swim starts in the water just off Napo'opo'o Beach and heads out one mile to the Captain Cook Monument and back.

A good sized south swell made getting in and out of the ocean a bit tricky but, after all, these are Iron people. The race for first was close right from the start.

Ironman New Zealand champ, Peter Sandvang of Denmark, Juha Barck and Mika Luoto of Finland led the way with a strong pack of Kona's Steve McElrath, Steve Bobko-Hillenaar, Canada's Len Gushe and Hilo's Jim Mellon close behind. As they blazed towards the monument, Mary Bergen of Los Angeles and Australia's Jan Wanklyn moved to the front in the ladies race.

Shortly after the lead men reached the half-way point, Sandvang began to pull away. He was chasing Cameron Widoff's course record time of 39:55.

At the finish, Sandvang clocked in at 41:19. Finland's Barck and Luoto took second and third at 41:49 and 41:52. Fourth went to McElrath who topped our Big Island finishers with his time of 42:30.

Canada's Gushe followed in fifth at 42:41. Mellon took sixth in 42:42. Seventh went to Bobko-Hillenaar at 42:54. Just behind him was Mary Bergan who had pulled away from Wanklyn to make eighth overall and first for the ladies in 42:56.

Monroe Roos of Keaau took ninth in 42:57. Pennsylvania's Ken Glah closed out the top ten in 43:02.

Wanklyn followed Bergen in the ladies race to take 11th overall and second for the women at 43:15. Hilo's Merceda Rivera was next in 44:10. Her sister, Aleja Rivera, took fourth in 44:36.

Loke McMichael eased in for fifth with her time of 47:11.

This Sunday brings us the final tune up event before the Ironman, the 13th Annual PATH Run-Walk will take place at 7 a.m. at the King Kamehameha Hotel.

You can choose between 3.1 or 6.2 miles.

A pancake breakfast is included in the entry so come join the fun, support PATH and meet some of the world's best athletes. It's like having our own little Olympics right here in Kona!