You are an Ironman!
The voice behind these words belongs to presenter legend Mike Reilly. Since 1989 he has greeted the athletes at the Ironman in Hawaii and many other events with this magical sentence at the finish. He has accompanied over 200 Ironman races as the "Official Voice of Ironman", over 350,000 athletes heard Mike Reilly's redeeming voice at the finish line. A legend now puts down the microphone.
End of 2022 is over
Mike Reilly will lend his unmistakable voice to five more Ironman races this year: first, of course, at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii (October 6-8), then IM California, IM Florida, IM Arizona. After IM New Zealand in December, Mike will finally put down the microphone.
A working day in the life of Mike Reilly
Race day is about a lot more than standing with a microphone and shouting the names of finishers. Mike's 19-hour day typically starts before 5am, where he oversees the transition from swim to bike while athletes are in their final prep. It provides vital information about late changes, course conditions and the down-to-the-minute schedule needed for a smooth swim start. He is then responsible for guiding the athletes into the water and giving instructions on the details of the launch protocol. After the swim begins, Mike updates viewers on the positions of the leaders and then announces the athletes' names as they finish the swim and head onto the bike leg. As the race progresses, Mike positions himself at various locations to watch the athletes as they arrive on their bikes and reach various points on the run course, and keeps the spectators updated on race progress, current standings, split times, distances and course conditions . Mike then takes his regular place at the finish line, where he will spend over nine hours greeting each athlete in the race at the finish and providing as much personal information as possible. During the final hour of the race, as the clock ticks down to the 17 hour cutoff mark, Mike comes down from the announcement booth and moves right next to the finish line. At this point, he'll do whatever it takes to energize the crowd and keep the last struggling finishers motivated to make the cutoff: he'll yell, dance, wave a towel, and even run into the finish well to alongside an exhausted one Athletes to run and shout encouragement. As they cross the line, they're treated to the cutest sound in the sport: Mike screams "You're an IRONMAN!" at the top of his lungs, as he's done 2,500 times that day.
Source: mikereilly.net
