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The most EN-esque Kona win ever? Gotta be Smyers, '95

Dave TalloDave Tallo
in Community Forum 🏠

Rewatched that race a few days ago.  Everybody will always remember it for Paula's meltdown, which is unfortunate, because Karen executed (or seemed to execute, as portrayed by the NBC coverage) the perfect EN race.  swim?  steady.  Mile 10 on bike? steady.  Mile 56 on bike?  steady.  Mile 1 on run?  steady.  Mile 10 on run?  steady.  Mile 25.9 on the run?  steady. 

Ok ... she might have been going at z3 all day with a much higher "could" pace and effort than any of us could ever dream of, but the fact that she ran down the then 5- or 6- time winner BY NOT SLOWING DOWN to win a WC is huge. 

It's funny - the whole narrative of that race and the mythology around it is "it was Paula's, and she blew."  After watching with the EN lens, I see that it was Karen's all day long. 

Comments

  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    Sorry Dave - Paula lost that race far more than Karen Smyers won it. She went to Kona in 1995 with 7 wins already and this was to be her retirement race. Yes, she made the hydration error and Karen deserved to win, but few would/could say that Karen was the better athlete. So Paula comes back in 1996 and wins #8. Smyers came back in 1996 as defending champion and was crushed by over 12 minutes finishing 3rd. Just another piece of evidence that in 1995 Paula lost the race. This is not to say that Karen wasn't a great athlete, because she was. But she was nowhere in Paula Newby Frazer's league.
  • robin sarnerrobin sarner
    I love those older races. I have all the kona's on dvd. I'll keep plugging in a hopefully karenesque way.
  • Dave TalloDave Tallo
    @ Paul - I agree that Paula was the superior athlete of the day - but that's the point. The ENesqe win is, in my opinion, racing steady-smart and letting potentially faster racers blow up - whether that's expressed at the FOP as the champ melts down in the final stretch, or as we race MOP/BOP as an AGer and grab dozens of bib numbers in the last 6 miles!
  • mgraffeomgraffeo
    Sorry, Paul, I couldn't disagree more. Just re-watched that race a couple weeks ago. What's stunning is how Karen was going to win the race whether or not Paula actually collapsed. Karen pats her on the back less than 10 seconds after Paula starts stumbling. On that day, given the same set of conditions, Karen put together a better race. Paula was certainly a greater athlete with some historical perspective, but saying that Paula lost that race is disrespectful to the awesome race Karen put together.

    Of course, what nobody talks about on that day was the fact that Paula ran straight into a volunteer and crashed to the ground in the last few miles. That had to really jack with her, too.
  • Al TruscottAl Truscott
    It's somewhat ironic that the lesson PNF publicly proclaims to have gained from that race was to not skip even the last aid station when at Kona (which she did, as she felt Karen gaining on her, and which to which she attributes the collapse) ... A decision (skipping the last aid station) that allowed Macca to sail to victory past Raelert in'10. Which pro's example should we follow? I guess Dave and Mike are saying Smyres, who never raced outside of her zone, and so didn't need to be to concerned with any one aid station.
  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    @ Mike - we agree to disagree. Coming in with 7 wins, I think it is flip to say that Karen had it in the bag from the get go. Paula may just have had an off day because she proved many tomes that she knew how to execute. I doubt Karen thought she had it won until Paula collapsed. That kind of luck is not a race strategy. And by the way, when Paula crushed Karen the following year, she did it with a 4 min penalty too.

    @ Al - I agree with Macca. At the point that food or water cannot reach the cellular level before you reach the finish line is the time to pass aid stations. That is probably about 15-20 mins from the end. At that point, any water you take would probably have a greater and quicker effect going on your body than in it. Paula was pretty far gone for a drink to have made the difference, but the cooling effect of a couple of cups of water over the head might have helped.
  • Dave TalloDave Tallo
    On the Macca example, it might very well be the case that his cramping might have contributed to the choice to bypass water stops. But at that stage of the race, and at that margin, I honestly can't begin to imagine how somebody could be moving forward at the pace they are hitting while still making rational decisions. Superhumans.
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