MY (the) Power family!!!!!!!!!!

December21

I wrote this post almost 3 months ago but I could not post it because of a computer virus. Anyway here it comes…

It’s amazing how great people make a wonderful place, a paradise.

I have such good memories from one of my favorite place on earth: Kailua-kona, Hawaii. I first came to Kona back in 2002, it was the third time I qualified but it was the first year I took the slot. Crossing the finish line in 2002 was all emotions, it was a dream of mine for so many years and all those sacrifices I did came across my mind and made me the happiest man in the world. It made me realize that if we really want something and work hard for it, anything is possible.

I came back a year later and my expectations were high but I did not have the race I dreamed off. In 2004 and 2005 even thought I qualified I did not took the slot because I had other priorities in my life.

In 2006 everything changed. Before 2006 Kona was beautiful, Kona was ironman, Kona was hot, humid. But from 2006 Kona became as home for me because I met the incredible Power family, thanks to an amazing friend from Switzerland: Susanne. She found me my Hawaiian home and Hawaiian family.

Some people would say I was lucky, some people would say I was in the right place at the right moment… I don’t know what it was but I certainly don’t believe in luck or bad luck. My life was plenty of obstacles since I was young but those obstacles made me find a way in which I met fantastic people. Sometimes big things are hidden behind high mountains. We just need to keep going, go for it and never, never give up.

I don not have words to explain how happy I’m to have had the chance to meet Tanya, Lowrey, Nia, Jessi, and lately Koa. The Power’s made me feel as their family since I first met them in 2006. Every year since Kona feels like home to me thanks to them. I spent a couple of weeks every year and I visited almost every spot from the beautiful beaches in Kona to the Volcano National Park.

Kona is much more than the Ironman World Championship; it is a paradise that I share with a great family, good friends, fantastic neighbors and one of the best weathers in the world.