Angela Naeth has been waiting for this day since she was 10 years old.
On that day at her home in Prince George she watched the 1992 Ironman world championship in Hawaii on TV and that planted the seed.
She decided then she wanted to be a triathlete.
Twenty-one years later, Naeth is in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii today, about to compete in the toughest race of her life -- the Super Bowl of triathlons. She's entered in today's Ironman world championship.
If all goes according to plan, she'll be racing for nearly nine hours in extreme heat and humidity trying to finish ahead of the pack in a race which involves a 3.9 kilometre swim, a 180 km bike ride and a 42.2 km run.
Naeth lives in the dry heat of Las Vegas with husband Paul Duncan, but has been in Kona for the past month training for the punishing conditions expected for the race. That approach paid off for her in May, when she arrived early and trained several weeks in hot humid weather at The Woodlands, Texas, site of the North American Ironman championship. Naeth won that race, the Texas Ironman, and as a continental champion she automatically qualified for the world championship.
Her time in Texas -- eight hours 55 minutes 19 seconds -- was quicker than her three previous Ironman distance races.
Naeth, 33, missed qualifying for the world championships by one spot last year. She's watched the Hawaii race in person the past two years and knows the course well. She's one of four first-time pro qualifiers for the world championship. her coach is Jesse Kropelnicki.
Now sponsored by Red Bull, a life-size cardboard cutout of Naeth racing her bike while leaning over her handlebars in a tuck position features prominently in a Red Bull display in Honolulu grocery stores.
Naeth started out as a mid-distance runner in high school at Prince George secondary school. Her love of running with the Prince George Track and Field Club led to a scholarship at the University of Missouri, where she earned a degree in physiotherapy while also competing in road races with the school's cycling club.
In 2007 at age 24 she traveled with her mom Heather to Hinton, Alta., to race her first triathlon, an indoor Olympic distance event which drew about 500 entrants, and won the women's race.
Naeth has been racing as a pro since 2008 and began racing full Ironmans in 2013.
She's dominated the 70.3 (half-Ironman) pro circuit since 2010. That year she posted seven second-place finishes in the 70.3 series.
Cycling is Naeth's strongest event. In her most recent race, the Timberman 70.3 on Aug. 16 in New Hampshire, Naeth, the pre-race favourite, took control of the lead on the bike segment and finished the 90 km course as the fastest rider in 2:18:26. She won the race by almost four minutes in 4:16:14.
In July, she finished second overall at Ironman 70.3 Racine in Wisconsin, completing the course 4:30 behind winner Heather Wurtele of Kelowna. Naeth captured her first full Ironman distance event in Chattanooga, Tenn., in 2014.
Today's race starts with the pro/elite men diving into the warm ocean at 6:25 a.m. in Hawaii (Prince George time is three hours later). Naeth and the other pro/elite women start at 6:30 a.m.
Naeth will be wearing bib No. 112 for today's race. Her progress can be tracked through the Ironman world championship website, ironman.com.
