08/10/2025
It's Ironman World Championship week in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, where I have lived for close to 40 years. Yikes, where did the time go? I first came to Kona to do the Ironman as one of the first women, and Pooh and I were one of the first couples to participate and finish. I always say we are one of the reasons there became a cutoff time!!!! Our gol was to finish and spread our "say nice things about Detroit" message. Fun to have a moment with interviewer Diana Nyad on the ABC Wide World of Sports Ironman show.
We became very involved in the early days sharing with the owner of Ironman and some members of her team what we had learned as founders of the Emily Detroit Run. It was back in the 1980's and we were all learning as we were doing about staging events in communities.
This is an Emily T Gail Talk Story show from 6 years ago with John and Judy Collins, founders of Ironman back in 1978. Their son Michael is with us with his own experiences with Ironman.
Yesterday, I was picking up my media credentials, and while talking with others, I realized how much of the history of the early days is lost as time goes on.
So, in retelling my own stories, I hope you enjoy and find some of the stories we share in this show interesting. And I am going to focus on sharing more stories. Emily T Gail
It is Thursday evening before the Saturday start of the 2018 Ironman in the historic village of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. Celebrating 40 Years...
