This petition helped stop the 2-day Ironman race go back to one day because Ironman did not consider how adding another day of racing would affect the community's lives on the Big Island in 2022.

Read what happened to many locals and visitors during the 2022 Ironman race because their stories are below. 

Join https://www.facebook.com/BigIslandSupport/ and https://bigislandsupport.com/ Mahalo!

This petition is now to tell Ironman they need to compensate ALL businesses that lose revenue during their race as well as their employees because this is not a village anymore. 

This petition is also a place for locals to voice how the Ironman race has affected their lives. Please get your voice heard in the comments. 

Please sign this petition to support locals on the Big Island to be able to have consideration and respect if this race is to continue on the Big Island.

Comment to voice how you feel about the Ironman race and why.

Locals, here's your chance to voice what happens to you during Ironman. 

We want to keep this going to help show the city council and Ironman how locals feel about this huge event that was started when Kailua Kona was a small village many years ago. 

The petition information below is what happened when Ironman decided to have 2-days of racing in 2022 without considering the Big Island community. Our mayor and city council heard us and now the race is back to one day. 

Please help us bring to the attention of Mayor Roth, Big Island City Council and Ironman of our recent concerns regarding the 2-Day Ironman 2022 competition here in Kona in an effort to seek the return of the race back to 1-day with the same number of participants before COVID seemed to change the Ironman race for Kona. We are asking that 2023 and beyond return the race back to what it was before 2018.

Please join Facebook page Big Island Community Stand to stay informed on this issue and others https://www.facebook.com/CommunityStand/

Go to this site to learn more about what is happening to the Big Island and how you can support the island https://bigislandsupport.com/ Mahalo!

Kona has hosted Ironman since 1981, after Waikiki hosting from 1978-1981.  West Hawaii was specifically chosen due to its ability to set the course causing the least amount of impact on the community and try to reduce the traffic hazards.

The Big Island and Kona town has grown a lot since then and a lot of local businesses are now being seriously affected by the race. One local business lost $87K just in this last race alone. Will Ironman please look at this?

Because of Kona’s legendary course, attendance grew from 400 participants in 1981 to 2,500 participants in 2018 and the island has commercially developed a lot since the first race as well, (last race was 2019 and this stat needs to be verified) and this year we’ve been told over 5,000 participants were registered, shattering all previous participation records and they took 2-days for the event, instead of 1 because they wanted to separate most of the men from the women.

Ironman does not have a 2-day race anywhere else in the world. How was this approved safe for the Big Island, it's business community, as well as the local community, visiting tourists, and athletes? Did Ironman consider Kona town's small infrastructure? Didn't look like it.   

 Ironman participants also brought their support teams which inundated Kona with over 20,000 estimated visitors all at one time!  This would be like 5 mega cruise ships arriving in Kona on one day and staying a week!

This inundation of people, although very exciting for the athletes has a flip side.  Local residents and a lot of local businesses are greatly impacted some very positively and a lot very negatively. The town has very few parking areas because it is an island, and could not accommodate the number of extra people that were now on the island.

Regular customers and tourists could not find parking during this time so they could not support their local bars, and shops as usual, and the small two-lane roads in town had significantly more traffic as well. Locals and tourists were stuck in hours-long traffic because the island roads are not made for a high population.

Some residents leave the island because it is extremely overwhelming, but most don’t have this luxury, especially as we come out of covid, are desperate for workers, and in many cases, our local businesses are hanging on by a string since covid.  As Ironman has traditionally been run on the second Saturday of October every year, local businesses and residents often were able to maneuver around this “inconvenience.”  

This year, however, was quite different as business owners and residents had to contend not only with a second race day, but the second day being on a traditional work day… Thursday.  Many businesses were forced to close due to lack of access, there was no place for employees to park in order to go to work.  

Some businesses that closed told their employees they would only get paid for the closed days if they used their accumulated PTO days.  Reported losses by some local businesses are up to and over $10,000 per day, per business and when you add the employees who have lost pay not being able to work, the figures rise dramatically.  

All the business's and resident's expenses still have to be met during Ironman, but the income typically used to meet those expenses had been taken away from them because the majority of the people on the island were here for most of a week and mostly here for Ironman's two races. This impacted a lot of our community negatively.  

A very unsafe and inhumane fact that happened was that local police couldn't do their regular jobs because some were hired by Ironman, for the very first time it was not voluntary. This meant some cops had to drive 2 hours to Kona from Hilo on top of their 12-hour shift and then got behind on their regular job as well because of being hired by Ironman.

One cop mentioned that they were not provided bathrooms, water, or food. The humane necessities that every employer is supposed to provide. He mentioned that some cops had to pee in bottles because there was no bathroom around.

That kind of treatment was disrespectful and inhumane and those cops would have every right to take Ironman to court for those kinds of working conditions. Ironman needs to know that every person matters not just their athletes. 

Also, what about the safety of the community while the police were working Ironman? How was that good for the island?  See the News link below

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/10/25/police-union-security-needs-extended-ironman-event-resulted-required-putting-investigations-hold/#l9oqoaqhnbxg9sg8xci

On an even more basic level, having over 20,000 people in town (with their cars) locals have had difficulty shopping due to the lack of parking, and store shelves were so depleted, that basic food items were not available. The community is still trying to recover from what we are told.  

Another fact is there is one landfill on the Big Island, and it was closed due to ironman for 3 days. This had big propagating effects. Did Ironman think about this? Doesn't look like it. See the county-provided website for the Ironman-related solid waste facility closures link below.

 https://www.hawaiizerowaste.org/events/solid-waste-facility-closures-due-to-ironman-triathlon-road-closures-starting-thursday-october-6-2022/?mc_id=1471

We hear that Ironman brings in $100,000,000 dollars to Kona… Read more in this link https://bigislandnow.com/2022/10/03/ironmans-two-race-format-could-pump-100-million-into-local-economy-but-is-it-worth-it/#:~:text=In%202006%2C%20an%20economic%20impact,in%20excess%20of%20%24100%20million

And does it help all the local businesses and residents?  Or does it just boost the bottom line of corporate businesses at the expense of our community?

A not very generous note, at their volunteer party, they gave everyone one small bag and one paper poster of the Ironman race. They didn't have many dinner items for vegans or vegetarians or even pescatarians. They gave away prizes not by doing drawings that had people's phone numbers so they could call them if they won a prize, but they had to be there to win and then they played a lot of games before giving a lot of prizes away so most people were gone by the end of the evening before a lot of prizes were given away. How was that showing serious appreciation to volunteers who volunteered their time for 2 full days this year to seriously helped them during their 2-day race?   

We need to work together to find a solution long before the 2023 Ironman event because a lot of businesses in town lost many thousands in revenue, their employees lost a lot in wages and a lot of other residents could not get to work on the Ironman days due to being in traffic for hours because of having to be rerouted.

On another note, the local buses were also in traffic during the Ironman races for at least 3 hours or more. This meant the taxis were as well and tourists who did not take this into account most likely missed their flights out. This happened for 2 days instead of the usual 1-day race because somehow this race was approved for 2-days without truly considering the effects on the community and visiting tourists. 

Nurses have mentioned that the one and only hospital on the island was overwhelmed. How is this okay? Hawaii needs to report on how the 2-day race impacted the one hospital on the island. 

Another fact, some swimmers also lost their swim caps while swimming and now turtles, dolphins, and fish most likely will mistake these colorful caps for food. We ask that swimmers' caps be more secure to protect our marine life. Swimmers should be docked time if they lose their caps because it can kill our marine life. 

Next year the 2-Day races they want to hold are being held during school days, which means schools will most likely be closed down for their race days and parents will also miss out on work due to having to stay at home with their kids. How is this okay? 

What started as a bar bet, was the beginning of the 1st Ironman Triathlon which commenced on Oahu in February 1978. In 2-short years, the 580 participants of this annual event became overwhelming for the City and County of Honolulu to manage. A decision was made by local officials to move the event to Kailua Kona.

Kona’s 1st Ironman, February 1981, attracted 580 Ironman participants which negatively impacted Big Island businesses during Kona’s peak tourism season. The community voiced their concerns and petitioned for the event to be scheduled during a slower tourism season. To mitigate the issues, a decision was made to move the event to October in 1982, then, one of the slowest tourism months of the year attracting 850 Ironman athletes. In 1982 Kailua Kona’s population was 17,713.

Fast forward 40-years to October 2022, holding two Ironman Triathlons this October brings 18k – 20k Ironman Triathletes, family, friends, trainers, sponsors, staff, broadcasters, merchants and volunteers. Kailua Kona’s population is now 43,045, with little to no change to our infrastructure of 1982, especially our small road infrastructure and parking which cannot accommodate a high population.

Why is Ironman not taking these facts into account for their race? Why did the state of Hawaii, the mayor, and the city council all approve this 2-day race with adding thousand more athletes without considering all these facts for the safety and the wellbeing of the Big Island community, visiting tourists, and the participating athletes? 

Ironman annually hosts over 170 IM TRIATHLONS WORLDWIDE expecting an annual income of $730M for 2022. Below are IM events held in the United States, demonstrating participants based by population and size of city. Clearly, Kona is overwhelmed, smallest land area, smallest population and the largest number of participants.  It’s no wonder our community is exasperated and they are only having a 2-day race in Kona, how is this okay? A 2-day Ironman race is not held anywhere else in the world. 

 

IRONMAN  RACE          PARTICIPANT'S      POPULATION     CITY BY SQ MILES               

Ironman Waco, TX              2,000       137,779               8,896 

Ironman, Tulsa, OK             2,600         783,000             570

Ironman Sacramento CA    3,500           503,482             99

Ironman, Woodlands, TX    2,300            644,000             43

Ironman, Tempe, AZ           2,500           185,000             40

Ironman, Panama City, FL  2,500           34,045               29

Ironman, Kailua Kona, HI   6,000           43,045               19 

Ironman Triathlon has outgrown our charming Kailua Village and it would be great if Ironman started looking elsewhere for their huge race because Kona's population of 43k, to 20k triathletes, and their entourage, plus Kona’s 100k monthly October visitors is not safe for Kona's small infrastructure. Also, this kind of race is not safe for the community, its tourists, and the athletes. The island is not made for this kind of population increase. Please look at what happened to the community.

What we need:

· Environmental Impact Assessment needs to be done

· Economic Impact Statement needs to be done 

· One-day race only or Ironman start looking at other places around the world that are not as developed because your race has grown too big to be safe for Kona town in many different ways

· Limit participants, go back to the number of athletes in 2018

· Limit Ironman to every other year with limited participants. This is a great option to help the Big Island local businesses that are forced to close not lose so much in revenue every year that Ironman is in Kona. 

· September and October are the busiest seasons for Cruise Ships. Two cruise ships were not permitted to port in Kailua Kona and were turned away because of Ironman. Those thousands of people did not get the opportunity to see or experience Kona town or support the local tourist shops that athletes don't really support because their athletes and not tourists really.

How was that okay? Ironman needs to respect others and does not have the right to turn anyone away because they are on the island. They don't own this island. Kona should be shared when they are here and not force cruise ships away when those tourists will support local businesses and give those visitors the right to experience Kona town. If Ironman keeps to the number of athletes as in 2018 and one race then others can safely enjoy Kona as well.

· 10 water bottles per person x 20k visitors daily = 200k x 7-days = 1,400,000. Have athletes bring their own water bottles and somehow secure them on their bodies. Have water fill stations because it is an island with only one landfill. We need to start supporting less rubbish on the island and the planet.

· Miles of plastic banners, covering historical sites and shop signs, down Ali’i Drive. Ironman we should not have to tell you this, but it looks like we have to because of how you have treated this town. There needs to be more respect for these sites and local shops. Ironman, you should not take down local business signs and not put them back up. There needs to be more respect for our business community. 

Like a delicate ecosystem, Hawaii and Ironman need to look at what is best for everyone and not just what is best for Ironman. We all live here year-round and Ironman comes once a year, the community needs to be respected and validated.

We stand to have IRONMAN go back to ONLY 1 race day with the same number of athletes as 2018. TWO-DAYS are too much for a lot of business owners and the entire community on the Big Island. 

We stand and demand an Environmental & Economic Impact Statement Report be done during Ironman’s presence on the Big Island’s. A report on the island’s infrastructure, businesses, environment, and safety to learn what is the safest way to handle this race for everyone. 

To just put as many athletes as Ironman wants with extra days and not consider the impact is not safe for the athletes, the island, its businesses, it’s community or it’s visiting tourists. 

We also stand and ask all swimmers to secure their swim caps in a way that they will not accidentally come off to be left in the ocean for marine life to find. Swimmers should be docked time if they lose their caps because it can kill our marine life. This is a serious matter.

We stand and ask the law officers not to be forced to work Ironman but have it be voluntary like it always has been in the past.

Please join Facebook page Big Island Community Stand to stay informed on this issue and others https://www.facebook.com/CommunityStand/

Go to this site to learn more about what is happening to the Big Island and how you can help support the island more. https://bigislandsupport.com/ Mahalo!

Please help the Big Island, its community, and the marine life, and sign this petition. Mahalo!

Please make comments about how you feel and what happened to you during this Ironman time. I will make sure to share your comments when the time comes to move forward in this process and get our voices heard! 

This petition was written by 4 Big Island local business owners.