Thursday, October 9, 2008

 

Today was another day in the VIP suite.  We had many more famous faces lounge and talk in the suite throughout the day.

 

The highlight of the day was by far the welcome dinner, or “Aloha.”  The backdrop of the large main stage featured 3 big screens that displayed vibrant images of torch-spinning Hawaiian men and the sound of intense, heart-pounding music accompanied by cinematic narration.  It truly was an amazing performance.  After revealing the race’s most interesting statistics (52 countries represented, youngest athlete 18, oldest 79, etc) we were treated to a special 30^th anniversary video produced by the WTC’s own Peter Henning, which showed the progression of the Hawaii Ironman over the years.  Let’s just say that my eyes weren’t exactly dry by the end.