Chasing Kona: From back of the pack smoker to racing the Ironman World Championships in Kona

I think this is my first review ever on Amazon, and I'm doing it simply because I just read Chasing Kona, and was surprised to find it had no reviews, which I felt it deserved. Overall I found this book to be the quick and enjoyable read that I had hoped it would when I ordered it. I've read a lot of endurance sports books over the years, and while this isn't "Born to Run" or "Iron War," it doesn't try to be and still delivers enough in-race action where I found myself rooting for the author along his journey. Actually one of the things I liked about this book was the amount of time detailing the various races and competitions the author took part in leading up to his Kona qualification. I think if the book had turned out to be primarily about the story of his life with the Kona race as the climax I wouldn't have found it as enjoyable as getting to go along for the ride, or run, or swims along the away. If you are into endurance sports there's really no reason you won't like this book. The author is humble, transparent and demonstrates that with truly hard work and commitment, we can achieve the goals we set out for ourselves.

My daughter recommended this book. I appreciated the story. Those of us who are not serious athletes can relate to the importance of setting goals, following a training schedule, and bouncing back after a setback.

Love that this is written by a true athlete. I'm new to the triathlon racing and found this to be a great read. Rob's love for the sport is shown in this book and is very motivating.

This is one mans tale of his journey to the world championship of Ironman at Kona.The author does a decent job of telling the story, but I somehow felt disconnected at times.I cant really pin down exactly what seemed to be missing, but I never really got sucked into his story.The book is good, and the material is helpful for anyone with Kona ambitions.

I have seen the inspirational YouTube video of Rob and I have actually met him at his Wheelworx store. I bought the book for inspiration, but came away thinking this guy's priorities are out of whack. Ironically, his original motivation for the Ironman was seeing Dick Hoyt's super human effort to do the Hawaii Ironman with his son, Ricky. Ultimately, at least the way the book reads, Rob picks training for the Ironman over his first wife and kids. Pretty sure that makes him the opposite of Dick Hoyt. Sorry, but Rob could be world champion and I wouldn't put him on a pedestal. In the end, his story isn't inspirational, but sad in a selfish & screws up priorities kind of way. Such a shame.

Being an English teacher, this was a very hard book to read because the editing was AWFUL. I would not recommend it. I liked the idea, though.

Such a badly published book. It's full of errors throughout, from spelling mistakes (even in the blurb on the back page) to paragraph formatting. Did it even get a proof read? Such a shame as it spoils what should have been a good read!

Good read

I assume given there was no publisher listed but that it was printed by Amazon, means it didn't go through the usual proofing process, there were spelling mistakes etc. throughout which was a shame, also it could have been longer, especially in the last sections. That said, I really enjoyed it, it was cool to read another age groupers emotions, challenges etc. hope to make it to Kona one day myself.