The week before the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii is known as “Kona Week,” and it is a tense time for the athletes racing. In this chapter from Iron War, Mark Allen and Dave Scott make their final preparations and race predictions.
It is one minute before three o’clock on the afternoon of October 14, 1989, and something is about to happen. Read the first chapter of Matt Fitzgerald’s Iron War.
An image gallery of some of the photographs from the 1989 Ironman World Championships featured in Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen and the Greatest Race Ever Run.
Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and the Greatest Race Ever Run has received more praise than perhaps any other triathlon history book.
How were Dave Scott and Mark Allen able to push so far beyond the illusory limit of Dave Scott’s 8:28:37 event record in their unforgettable Iron War?
“For any triathlete or endurance athlete, or anyone who wonders what it takes to be the best in sport, Iron War is an excellent read.“
Research in exercise science has demonstrated that human beings are able to perform at a significantly higher level in sports activities when in group situations than they can when alone.
What motivated Scott and Allen to embrace the agony they did in their epic showdown?
Paul Tyler of TriEssential.com has interviewed best-selling author Matt Fitzgerald about his experience researching and writing Iron War for Xtri.com.
“Iron War is really a book that should be on your bookshelf if you have even the slightest interest in the sport of triathlon, but it also is a great read for anyone looking for inspiration in general.” — Slowtwitch.com
The Iron War was great because Scott and Allen were such fascinating figures individually and such stark opposites in their personalities.
A true page-turner about a too-little-known great moment in sports.
How did Dave Scott and Mark Allen both complete Ironman Kona in under 8:10? Mind over matter.
“This is the best endurance-sport book I’ve read since Born to Run and Duel in the Sun.”
“Iron War has had such a huge impact on me, that I intend to explore some of the main themes in the book in more detail,”
“For any triathlete or endurance athlete, or anyone who wonders what it takes to be the best in sport, Iron War is an excellent read.”
One of my goals in researching my newly published book about Iron War was to discover what motivated Dave Scott and Mark Allen to reach so deep in that race.
Dave Scott and Mark Allen had very different personalities before their Iron War showdown.