I find it very fun watching the pro triathletes go at it at the Ironman World Championships in the big island of Hawaii.  Every six to ten years you find ten to fifteen guys fighting for precious spots which experts call "world's elite top three".

Every few years, two or three athletes fall out of contention and the game.  But then, two or three new guys come in to take their place and on and on the sport goes...just like any other sport.

I have to say the sport has changed ever since people learned how to train in a more refined way and be smarter about how recovery is the number one factor alongside nutrition in endurance sports.

We now see very good athletes in their early 20's as well as some other ones in their early-to-mid 40's racing for the top spots.

I have to start by mentioning the reigning champion from Australia, Craig Alexander.  Most people would ask, does he still remember what it takes, not just training-wise, but actually craving being a first time champion?

Trust me, there are a lot of guys in the top ten that have the experience they need, their training just right, and they would do anything to get that feeling Craig has already felt. I also think he needs to want this like he has never won before.

A lot of past champions come with the wrong approach.  Hawaii is not like any other Ironman.  As far as we have seen this year, Craig was not able to have as stellar of a season like last year leading up to Hawaii.  Many would say it is good and many would say it is not...so the question remains until October 10^th.

Another top contender for 2009 is Alexander's fellow countryman, Chris McCormack.  We all know he can race any distance anywhere and be a challenger for the win.  On top of it all, he is a former world champ himself and he was unable to defend his title due to mechanical problems.

I have a feeling that his experience could be just enough to feed him the right motivation to come out and show people he is not only a past champion.  Why?  Because, people say a true champion are the ones who can defend their title at least once...and we don't have many in history as such.

McCormack is a true math titan and knows just how much time he can give away on the bike to put a perfect marathon in the right zip code.  His competitors will not just have a hard time to clock the same numbers but, do so off the bike.  McCormack learned that years ago when he fell just shy of being a champion when Germany's bike record holder and two time former world champion, Normann Stadler, was able to put together the perfect race to win just over one minute after having a big lead over the Australian.

Can McCormack overcome the outside problems and get in the game patiently once again? Or, will he come just short from first place like Ironman Frankfurt this past July?

When you speak of past champions you have to talk about a two-time former world champion and the father of a baby girl not long ago.

A lot of people say, "he just doesn't have the motivation anymore".  The German star with a very high temper and emotionality about his work in the lava fields, one Normann Stadler, might just want to prove once again that he can ride like the powerhouse that he is and show people he can run off the bike.

Believe me, he can run very well and I have yet to see him run what he is capable of.  I have seen all of these guys train very closely and trained with them myself over many years.

Normann, once again a little pressure-free, meaning he is more dangerous than ever before.  Dangerous not just by having the experience it takes to win, but having the urge to prove something...something to which he loves.

Another German that people don't talk much about, they call him "the quiet man", has proven himself in several races including a top five Ironman Hawaii finisher.

Timo Bracht's most recent Ironman in Frankfurt was a success.  He scored a big win in big style by taking down big names, if not the biggest guys in the sport, by stealing the lead from Chris McCormack and Eneko Lanos in the last miles of the marathon.

Timo Bracht is a very consistent triathlete and now a true Hawaii contender.  The question is, did he spend all his bullets this year and will he have challenges like his German counterparts, Lothar Leder and Jurgen Zack, and never win the big one???  He has a big heart, but for Hawaii you need much more than that.

As for Spain, they have never had a real contender with a real shot until now.  Eneko Lanos is not only a good runner, but he can bike and swim with the best in the sport.  He shows he is more consistent than most over the past 3 years.  This consistency could get him the ticket everyone has waited for years...the big win on the big island.

Just like the other competitors, Eneko Lanos has raced a lot of big races and we wonder if he saved anything for the big show in October.

Belgium has produced very fast triathletes, actually the fastest of them all.  If you check the record books, you will find a guy named Luc Van Lierd who holds the fastest-ever time recorded in an Ironman distance ever.   Additionally, Van Lierd is a former two-time world champion.

Another Belgium still in the game is Rugter Beke.  Still trying to find his perfect race in Hawaii, Beke is one of the fastest runners.  Unless he improves those couple of minutes that cost him on the swim to make it to the right bike group, Beke may still remain searching; otherwise...stamp his name in Hawaii forever.

Beke may be running out of time because, while you can train all you want, the problem is you can't really train to be younger.

Argentina will be watching the man named Eduardo Sturlla.  He is at the right age and on the heels of great races. Sturllas advantage also stems from proving not only to others, but to himself, that he can place in the top ten in Ironman Hawaii.

Sturlla feels now that he is not just a contender in his own mind, but he has proof in the history books.

Has he truly learned that Hawaii takes much more than just history to climb significant positions to call himself and what the elite's world call: TOP THREE??

Switzerland has had very good triathletes in the past but nothing close to what they truly have now.  Most people don't even know his name yet, or they say they don't, but if you ask the top competitors they can tell you.

Ronnie Schildknecht is the real deal.  I have seen his improvements since his first ever year as a triathlete.  He for sure has the blood of a champion.  His Grandfather was a top 3 Tour de France rider a few years in a row years past.  Schildknecht lives that very same lifestyle by doing training camps all over Europe including the Alps.

Ronnie Schildknecht is more motivated than any of the top guys I spoke to leading up to this race out of the top ten and has follow-through that goes much deeper than just being motivated for a win in a big race.

Ronnie Schildknecht has stamped not just 3 consecutive wins in Ironman Switzerland, but also three straight consecutive wins at 70.3 Switzerland.  He is where most top ten guys want to be...in 4^th place.

People say the 4^th place guy has the least amount of pressure going in to the race, but with a real shot in shocking the Triathlon World in the world's most prestigious race.

Now at age 30, he knows what it takes mentally and physically ever since he ran the 2^nd fastest marathon last year and rode only 6 minutes slower than Norman Stadler.  To go from top hundred out of the water to ten off the bike, and we all know that if you can run and you are in the top ten off the bike, chances are you will not just pick up the competitors, but your moral will shoot to the roof.

Having said all of that, he is the most complete athlete I have seen.  He sticks with his plans and most importantly pays close attention to nutrition, recovery...never over-trained like 70% of the athletes on the start line.

Have I mentioned he improved his weak point which is the swim? I guess he was really listening when Mark Allen said that you can't win Hawaii with a good swim but that you can for sure lose it with a bad one. He can now come out of the water in the main group...which is his ticket to the win.

We also have names like Faris Al-Sultan in the mix and I would love to see him get close to a top five finish again.

Alongside Faris, there is Patrick Vernay, a very complete triathlete if you check his splits in any race he has entered.

We also have a super experienced Cameron Brown from New Zealand.  How much more experience can he get is the question to finally lend him the win he has been trying for for years.  His best was Second years back.  Scary thing is, that could be it and in the past forever because I will be surprised if he can match that this year.

Lastly, we have Andy Potts who is a true potential American to be able capture a win like Mark Allen and Tim DeBoom have and possibly defend it too like those guys did.

For now I will give you my top Fifteen.  And, like every year, there will be a surprise to these names.  Look for my comments about the women later this week.

Let's not forget how the Ironman Hawaii has left many defeated even before the gun went off, there are to many elements that the island brings the week before and specially on race day, that no one can predict.

1.  Ronnie Schildknecht
2.  Eneko Lanos
3.  Chris MacCormack
4.  Andy Potts
5.  Craig Alexander
6.  Timo Bracht
7.  Normann Stadler
8.  Patrick Vernay
9.  Cameron Brown
10.  Marino Vanhoenacker
11.  Ain Alar Juhanson
12.  Stefan Riesen
13.  Mathias Hecht
14.  Eduardo Sturla
15.  Michael Lovato