On Oct. 12, 2013, at a poolside table behind the King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel, still sweaty and salt-stained and slightly hoarse from a savage day of racing, Craig “Crowie” Alexander confirmed that he did not intend to race again on the Big Island. The three-time Kona champion and his wife Neri had long planned to end the family’s annual pilgrimage fro m Aust rali a t o th e N orth ern He mis ph ere—ho me bas e f or Alexander’s Ironman World Championship preparation—once son Austin started s chool. And , admittedly , the 40-year -old’ s body was balking under the ruthless demands of the Kona course, and a back injury sustained decades earlier had been flaring up . Bu t in J anu ary , after making a family deci sio n to hold Austin (then 4 ½) back a year from school, the door to Kona again creaked open, and Alexander couldn’t resist peerin g thro ugh . H ere , th e e lde r s tates man in this year’ s fi el d (as of press time Alexander was confirmed to race) shares his motivations for returning to Kona and how he hopes to find the right formula to be competitive at 41. CROWIE’S RETURN TO K ONA FORMULA 41 BY HOLLY BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHS BY NILS NILSEN
On Oct. 12, 2013, at a poolside table behind the KingKamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel, still sweaty and salt-stainedand slightly hoarse from a savage day of racing, Craig “Crowie”Alexander confirmed that he did not intend to race again on
the Big Island. The three-time Kona champion and his wifeNeri had long planned to end the family’s annual pilgrimage
from Australia to the Northern Hemisphere—home base forAlexander’s Ironman World Championship preparation—onceson Austin started school. And, admittedly, the 40-year-old’sbody was balking under the ruthless demands of the Konacourse, and a back injury sustained decades earlier had been
flaring up. But in January, after making a family decisionto hold Austin (then 4 ½) back a year from school, the doorto Kona again creaked open, and Alexander couldn’t resist
peering through. Here, the elder statesman in this year’s field
(as of press time Alexander was confirmed to race) shares hismotivations for returning to Kona and how he hopes to findthe right formula to be competitive at 41.
[on returning to Kona]Last year after Kona, I thought it was thelast time. I did. But when Austin didn’tstart school, straight away I got it in mymind to race Hawaii, which is why Ijumped into Melbourne. You don’t justjump in and do an Ironman for the sakeof doing it! I didn’t want to come outand say, “I’m going to Kona,” because Ididn’t know—and I didn’t want to stealthe limelight from the people who hadearned the publicity. I just wanted to leavethat door open.
[on the naysayers]A lot of people have been positive, anda lot of people have told me that I’m cra-zy, that I’m not the athlete I was. That’sfair enough; everyone’s entitled to theiropinion. But it’s something I want to do.I don’t feel obliged to do it or like I’m
being forced to do it. It’s just somethingthat I want to do because I love the sportand I love that race. It’s not negativelyimpacting my family and it’s not nega-tively impacting my health—I’ve had allthe checks that you do, especially as youget older. It’s not even taking a spot away
from anyone else–as a past championmy spot is in addition to the rest of thefield. So I don’t see how I’m negativelyimpacting anybody. I mean if I suck, theonly person that’s going to suffer is me.I’ll have to get around that 26 miles in90-degree heat!
[on leaving a legacy]Back in March when I was getting ready todo Melbourne, Lucy [Alexander’s oldestdaughter, now 9] said to me, “Are you go-ing to do Hawaii this year?” I said, “I wantto, sweetheart, but it will be very hard.I’m getting older and it’s getting harderand harder.” She said, “Well it’s meantto be hard, isn’t it?” And I thought: Yeah,it is meant to be hard. A few people havesaid, “Don’t you dare go back. You’ll tar-nish your legacy.” To me, that’s a bullshitword. I don’t mean to be rude, but whatis that word? Whatever I’ve been luckyenough to win or whatever I haven’t wonisn’t going to change depending on whathappens in October. And what kind oflegacy am I passing on to my daughter andmy family if, because something is hard,I decide not to do it? My legacy is to the
people who are going to be around me forthe rest of my life—the people I see everyday and always try to do the right thing
by. So I’ve found my own reasons andmy own motivations for wanting to race.
[on the ghost of races past]It’s hard not to be influenced by your mostrecent performance, but I also know thatsometimes your fitness doesn’t reflect inthe result. The fittest I’ve ever been goinginto Kona was 2012, but I hurt my back.Other years I feel I’ve overtrained a little
bit or been a little underdone and had
great results. Last year obviously wasn’ta great race; I got a flat tire and I’d been alittle sick going into it and I finished 21st.I was probably lucky to finish! It’s easy to blame age, isn’t it? I started well in Konamy first five years—I had a second, twowins, a fourth and a first. Then the last
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that aspect and think: The best thing I can do is get to that finishline as quick as possible!
[on the formula for success at 41]They say every year presents different challenges. As a youngathlete, you eat, sleep and breathe your performance. You’reintense and focused. I think as you get older you haven’t gotas much time to devote to the sport and you’re not like a bull,chasing a red rag the way you once were. But that doesn’t meanyou’re any worse. Maybe you’re more experienced. And you
find motivation in other ways. Like setting a good examplefor your kids by finishing what you start and showing themit’s not just about the end result, but about the things you doevery day to prepare. It’s a different formula–you’ve got to letgo of some of the ways you’ve done things in the past and trustthat you can do them differently.■
CANDID CROWIEAlexander speaks openly about changes andtrending topics in the sport that he loves.
[on losing his “lifetime”
Kona qualification]When I won Kona the firsttime, for me the biggestthing was not the money—itwas that I never had toqualify again. When thatrule was changed I wasupset. I liked the fact thatas a champion you wereinvited for life. It was likein the Masters—it addedprestige to the event. Peoplemight say that’s an unfairadvantage, but to get thatadvantage you had to win.You had to earn that privilege
and put in all the hard workand make all the sacrificesthat led up to that win.
[on gender equity inthe sport]We live in modern times. Let’sgive women an equal numberof Kona spots and equalprize money. And if five yearsdown the track, for whateverreason on the women’s orthe men’s side, the depth isdecreasing or the standard isnot improving as you shouldsee in a sport, let’s address
those issues then. But I thinkequality is the common-sense starting point.
[on the need for distinctlyseparate men’s andwomen’s and pro andamateur starts]Above all else, when there’sprize money up for grabs andworld championship titles onthe line, the integrity of therace has to come first. Youdon’t want a situation wherethere are questions aboutthe age-group men getting
involved in the women’s race
or the pro men drafting off
each other. So do whateveryou have to do to be surethat the races are run fairly.Then, whatever obstaclesyou face logistically oroperationally, face them.
[on prize purses, up-and-coming athletes anddevelopment opportunity]The sport doesn’t oweanyone a living. It’s meantto be tough. We want tomake sure that we’re notexcluding talented kidswho are coming through
and that there are enoughopportunities out there, butI don’t see how loweringthe standard helps them. Ifyou’re a developing athleteand you go to these regionalchampionships that paydeeper and you get to raceSebastian Kienle or FrederickVan Lierde or Rachel Joyceor Rinny, you’re going to getmore out of that than goingto some backwater race andwinning. Winning is good foryour confidence, but what’salso good is testing yourself
against the best. Those arethe hard lessons and howyou realize where you needto improve. When I startedin the mid-’90s in Australia,every race you turned upto you had Greg Welch,Brad Bevan, Miles Stewart,Spencer Smith, SimonLessing, Hamish Carter—itwas sink or swim. And seeingthose guys close up wasmuch different than readingabout them in the magazinesor watching them on TV.When you actually felt the
