![]() ![]() There is a singular moment when the missile enters your consciousness, as if it all happened in an instant. Suddenly a missile breaks through the surface and shoots towards the sky. To hear his interviews with more than 500 endurance legends, visit you’re gliding along a vast, glass-smooth ocean. We knew we’d get to watch Dave Scott race.īob Babbitt is the co-founder of Competitor magazine, the co-founder of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, the host of Competitor Radio and an inductee into the Ironman Triathlon Hall of Fame and USA Triathlon Hall of Fame. I always loved the Ironman, but when a certain somebody was on the starting line, the buzz factor went through the roof. Dave Scott was constantly pushing the Ironman envelope. When he lost to Mark Allen in 1989, he went 8:10:13, taking 18 minutes off of his own course record, and running the marathon in 2:41:03. He broke the course record by nearly two hours that day and proceeded to become the first to go under 11, 10 and nine hours, and to dip under 8:30. His first Ironman title came in 1980, when he was 26. In his career in Kona, he won six times, took second three times and fifth once. That year, at the age of 40, Dave Scott ended up finishing second to Greg Welch and adding to his legend. I’m here in Kona for one reason: to watch you race.” I vowed right then that if you ever raced again in Hawaii, I would be here. You called me three times while I was in the hospital to see how I was doing. Jim: “I’m sure you don’t remember, but I was in a car accident four years ago and a friend of mine asked you to call me. Hmm.ĭave: “So, what brings you to Kona, Jim?” Jim wasn’t racing, no one in his family was racing, he wasn’t here doing reconnaissance. No one I know is racing.”ĭave: “Are you thinking about doing the Ironman someday?”ĭave Scott was stumped. Jim put a poster in front of Dave, who looked up, smiled, shook hands and started the interrogation:ĭave: “Jim, are you racing this year?” said Scott, felt-tip marker at the ready.ĭave: “Is someone in your family racing? Your wife? Your brother? Your dad or mom?” Dave’s interaction with the scarred man back in ’94 exemplifies the champion’s character. Dave Scott is happy to be there and is as anxious to meet you as you are to meet him. They’ve waited in line to meet Dave Scott, not just to get a scribbled autograph from someone who is fulfilling an obligation and not very happy to be there. He takes the right amount of time with each and every person. “Dave, I need to get home before my 6-year-old graduates from college.”ĭave Scott couldn’t care less. “Dave, my clothes are going out of style,” they’d say through clenched teeth. At the end of the day, everyone else has packed up and headed off to dinner while the line to meet Dave still stretched from here to Newark and back. He asks about you, your family, your ancestors, your dog, your dog’s ancestors and about that great sandcastle you built back in the third grade.įor people working the booths, he could be maddening. He likes to know the people he is signing for. From the long lines, it was obvious that “The Man” had lost little in the way of popularity even though it had been seven years since his last Ironman victory and five since Iron War, the 1989 showdown that he had lost to his nemesis, Mark Allen.ĭave Scott does not simply sign autographs. ![]() Scott was 40, but he certainly didn’t look it. I was standing behind the six-time Ironman world champion as he signed autographs and chatted with his fans prior to his comeback race, the 1994 Ironman World Championship. The owner of this distinctive mark was named Jim, and he was next in line to meet Dave Scott. ![]() The jagged, red scar started under the hairline on the right side of his face and traversed his forehead before plunging south in front of the right ear and coming to an abrupt halt just below the chin. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! ![]()
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