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Triathlon’s Wedding Of The Year: Luke McKenzie & Amanda Balding

Published: Oct 25th 2010 5:09 PM EDT by Competitor.com

Luke McKenzie and Amanda Balding tie the knot in Kona days after Ironman World Championships.

Written by: Tawnee Prazak

Luke McKenzie was devastated about pulling out of the Ironman World Championships due to injury. However, his time in Hawaii was anything but depressing; McKenzie had something even bigger to celebrate. On October 12, he married his fiancé, pro triathlete Amanda Balding, at a private home overlooking Keauhou Bay. Family and friends from all over the world were in attendance. Between the Aussie crowd and triathletes fresh off Ironman — aka athletes ready to let loose — it was quite a celebration.

The happy couple on their wedding day. Photo: Larry Rosa

Luke and Amanda are one of those couples who are clearly meant to be together; it’s easy to see that after spending just five minutes with them. They’re fun-loving and always full of smiles and laughter. The same can be said of their friends and family. So it’s no surprise that their wedding was as good as weddings get. It was casual but sophisticated and classy – fine food and wine, but shoes optional. An all-star triathlete crowd was in attendance, with guests including Mirinda Carfrae, Craig Alexander, Linsey Corbin, Hilary Biscay and her fiancé Maik Twelsiek, Terenzo Bozzone, Samantha McGlone, Belinda Granger, Ben Hoffman, Matt Lieto, the K-Swiss folks and more.

Triathlete.com talked with Luke about his big day and how his decision not to race played a role in everything…

Triathlete.com: What was it like to pull out of the race and deal with that while still looking forward to your wedding? 

McKenzie: That was a tough one for me. I guess it never crossed my mind that something like that could happen having the wedding just three days after the race. As the race got closer and I realized my back wasn’t getting better I started to worry. I was really excited to be racing in front of all of our family and friends that had flown in from all around the world. I even had 70 “Team McKenzie” T-Shirts printed for them to wear on race day. I wanted to have them line Palani hill!

Unfortunately on the Tuesday evening before the race after a week of very limited swim and bike training and a lot of treatment on my back I went for a run to see how it was feeling. I literally couldn’t even run a single step. My heart sank as I knew at that point I had no hope of racing.

I had made my decision not to race and my family and friends began arriving for the wedding and having their support really lifted me. I felt like I was letting them all down by not racing when in the end they had made the trip to see us get married first and foremost. Initially it was hard to let go of the fact I wasn’t racing with everything going on around town but by focusing on having time with our wedding guests it made me look beyond the race and be excited about the wedding.

Triathlete.com: How did Amanda help you get through that low/high?

Both McKenzie and Balding are professional triathletes. Photo: Larry Rosa

Mckenzie: Amanda was amazing. We sat down over dinner on that Tuesday night when I knew I wasn’t going to make the start line and talked about all the possible scenarios. I was pretty depressed knowing all the hard work I had put into this race preparation would be for nothing. So I began to think maybe I could still swim and ride as I didn’t have too much pain while doing either. But then what happens if I had myself in a good position off the bike? Maybe I would try and run and do more damage?!

When I told Erik my sponsor at K-Swiss he offered me a seat in the car he was driving on the course and told me that he wanted me there to learn how to win this race. That really struck a chord with me and I knew he was right. I had to make this into an opportunity to see the race from a different angle. I would get the birds eye view and see the dynamics of the race from the luxury of a car rather than on a bike or in running shoes. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing after-all?

Triathlete.com: Describe what kind of wedding you planned — the venue, the guests, the style/vibe, etc?

McKenzie: I actually googled “Places to get married in Kona,” and one of the properties that came up was this beautiful house on Keauhou Bay. We went to see the house on a previous visit to Hawaii and knew that was our dream place to have the wedding. It was perfect with several bedrooms for our wedding party, a huge catering kitchen and on a massive block of land that gave us several options to have the ceremony, dinner and the party after. Having the house for three days we got to utilize the property for things like swimming, snorkeling and stand up paddling as well.

Our guests were a great mixture of family from Australia and mostly friends from both Australia and the U.S. We had a few people that came all the way from the U.K., Europe and even a couple from Brazil! We are so blessed to have friends from all corners of the glob and to have them travel all the way to Hawaii we are forever thankful.

The style and vibe of the wedding was Hawaiian, Beach, Luau. Amanda and I are not religious people but definitely spiritual so the ceremony made references to the Hawaiian Islands and then creation of the earth and humanity. We wanted everyone to dress casually, and all of our wedding party went barefoot (as did a lot of our guests). We had an amazing spread of food courtesy of our friend Dhedra that flew in all the way from Miami, Florida! We had fun local Kona band, Leche de Tigre who had us rocking on the dance floor well into the night!

Triathlete.com: Did everything go as planned?

McKenzie: It did! Considering we only met our celebrant 10 minutes prior to the ceremony and we didn’t do a rehearsal, it still went off without a glitch. The only thing that was out of our control was we weren’t allowed to have our awesome band play after 9 p.m.; because of noise restrictions we had to shut them down. I am sure we all would have been dancing till 3 a.m. if it wasn’t for that rule!

Triathlete.com: What was the most memorable moment? What was a particularly funny moment/occurrence?

McKenzie: Too many to list!

1. I think the first would be that I “kissed the bride” before I was suppose to. That was funny and embarrassing at the same time.

2. Ten minutes after the ceremony when we went around all our family and friends getting high fives, hugs and kisses was a very special moment.

3. Justin Granger getting absolutely blotto (Aussie for drunk) well before dinner was hilarious too. I would have had my money on Belinda over Justin any day!

4. My dad, Peter’s, speech was hilarious and had everyone rolling around laughing.

5. Everyone dancing on the lawn as the band rocked away!

Germany's Maik Twelsiek and the United States' Hilary Biscay were in attendance. The recently engaged couple will be the next pair of triathlon stars to walk down the aisle. Photo: Larry Rosa

Triathlete.com: Despite not racing, it seems like last week was your best week ever…. true? Tell me why?

McKenzie: Without doubt the best week of my life! Like I keep saying to people: There will be plenty more Hawaii Ironman races in the future, but I only plan on having one wedding, and to share it with the our best friends and family in such a beautiful location I wouldn’t trade it for the world! I have married the woman of my dreams. How could it not be the best week ever?!?

I think it’s about having a good balance in your life of not over-obsessing about triathlon ever single second. You have to take the opportunities to let loose every once in a while, enjoy your surroundings and live in the moment. I am not just talking about your wedding day but also after an Ironman or big race you have completed. Don’t let triathlon rule your life; enjoy having triathlon be part of your celebration for life!

Triathlete.com: Now that you’re back home, what’s on the agenda?

McKenzie: We are finally home in Noosa, Australia! It’s been a long six months away living and racing overseas. We are so happy to be in our own apartment in our own bed. Top of our list is to get my back right and then we can make a game plan on what races I can do over the coming months. I really had my heart set on racing the Asia/Pacific Ironman 70.3 Champs in Phuket at the beginning of December, but that might be a little too soon? We will see over the coming weeks. For now besides the injury recovery it will be about enjoying life at home and catching up with friends.

See also:
Kona Training Log 2010: Luke McKenzie
Kona Cuts: Luke McKenzie

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Filed under : News
Read more about :Amanda Balding, hawaii wedding, Ironman World Championship, Luke McKenzie,

220 TRIATHLON MAGAZINE. OCT/NOV ISSUE

KONA 2010 - competitor.com

KONA 2010 - slowtwitch.com

Written by: Herbert Krabel
Date: Thu Sep 30 2010

With several Ironman wins under his belt Luke McKenzie is looking to step up a few spots in Kona this year from his 15th place in 2009. The Aussie has been in Kona for about a week now and has settled in nicely.

Slowtwitch: How are you adjusting to Kona?

Luke: We arrived in Hawaii about a little over week ago straight from Cancun. Cancun was very steamy, so it made arriving in Kona a lot more bearable. We had a cold snap in Oregon just before I was about to leave and I was worried I wasn’t getting the heat acclimatization I needed, but now I am here in Kona I feel like I have adjusted really well. I love the heat.

Kona itself, well Amanda and I love every minute we spend here and never have a problem adjusting to the Aloha life.

ST: Is it any different from before?

Luke: We spent a lot less time here in the build up to Ironman than last year where we were out here a good month before the race. Because I wanted to get one last tune up race in Cancun that delayed getting here until three weeks out. There were already a big bunch of guys out here well before me this year, some as long as seven weeks before the race!

Earlier in the year Amanda and I based in Kona for a month preparing for Ironman Brazil. We have done the same camp leading into the Hawaii 70.3 each year and we thought we may as well follow the same formula and make the stopover on the way to Florianopolis. I think the hard time trialing on the Queen K set me up well for a strong bike in Brazil.

ST: Your frequent flyer account should look quite dandy.

Luke: Yes, this year has probably been our biggest travel year to date. That is definitely the part of the job I don’t enjoy at all. In and out of airports and planes lugging bikes and bags, but having said that we have been extremely lucky to race and train in some incredible places in 2010. We really enjoyed a change this season with the trip to Europe. The original plan was to do some racing but after Ironman Brazil the body and mind wanted a rest so it was good to spend six weeks just enjoying training without the pressure of a race looming. We have to thank all our friends in Italy and Spain for making that trip possible.

ST: After all this time there, does Lava Java still have its lure and fascination?

Luke: Funny you ask because I find myself going there less and less. It’s no doubt an icon and a great location but I tend to gravitate towards the more low key places these days. I have found several other great coffee shops around Kona so I am not always at Lava Java.

ST: Your season has been going quite well again. How do you think it compares to the years before?

Luke: This year has been a good one, although I am not sure it was as good as 2009? (yet). My win at Ironman Brazil was my best ever race over the distance but last season I had strong wins at Ironman Malaysia and Ironman Japan, then got pipped at the post at Ironman Louisville by just 30 seconds and finished with a top 15 in Kona. It’s always going to be hard to top a year like that. I feel better for not having had that mid season Ironman in July or August and I am going into Kona a lot fresher this year, so if I can get myself a top ten placing I would say this would be my best season to date.

ST: What is realistic for you this year in Kona?

Luke: Realistically I need to improve my marathon by 10 minutes here to be a factor at the very front of the race. I feel I have been working hard on it and only race day will tell. I really want to finish in the top ten this year. It’s been my goal for the past two attempts and I felt I should have been there last year but I ran terribly from the energy lab to the finish line and dropped several positions. An improvement on my 15th from last year at the very least has to be the goal.

ST: You have been spending time with Crowie and some other top ranked pros in Kona. What have you learned?

Luke: I have been lucky enough to train with some of the best athletes in the sport since I started triathlon way back in the mid 90’s. In 2003 I made my first trip to San Diego to base for the summer and that’s when I first lived and trained with Crowie. He has always been very helpful since then with his advice and even in the past week or two when we go out for rides and runs around Kona we are constantly talking about the race and tactics. I think the one thing I can take away from training with him is that the only person you can control is yourself. No doubt a lot of guys are going to employ different tactics to try and blow the race apart this year but if you can remain confident in yourself and run your race then that’s going to produce your best result.

ST: Anyone particularly who has put you in the hurt box? Or vice versa?

Luke: Just last weekend we did a solid brick session where we did some hard TT’s on the bike followed by a run out to the energy lab. I was strong on the bike and riding well but Crowie, Terenzo and Tyler Butterfield laid it down on the run. The pace they were running was very impressive and in the end it left me groveling to the finish. Those boys had me in the box that day!

One of my training partners and sponsor Guy Crawford of BlueSeventy is someone I enjoy putting in the hurt box. He is a good swimmer and we both enjoy smashing each other in swim sets!

ST: How is that new Plasma 3 working out for you?

Luke: Absolutely loving my new ride. Scott has produced yet another masterpiece with this new bike and I am sure there are going to be some fast bike splits made on this bike between the Commerzbank team, Linsey Corbin and myself over the coming year. We have it really dialed in to suit triathletes now, given it was initially designed between Scott and the HTC Columbia TechDev department for pure Time Trials.

In my first race aboard the Plasma 3 I managed the fastest bike split in Cancun against some strong cyclists, so hopefully she allows me to ride somewhere near the front out here in Kona.

ST: Any other new gadgets and toys we should know about?

Luke: Yes! Keep you eye out for an announcement on Monday for a new edition to my website www.lukemckenzie.com. I have been working with a group from California that is going to be doing some very cool things for the race (and race week) through my site. It’s going to be very interactive and hopefully give you a great Hawaii Ironman experience from anywhere around the world. There are going to be plenty of prizes from my sponsors too so it’s worth a visit! Follow me on twitter. www.twitter.com/lukemckenzie to be in the loop!

ST: When is the rest of the McKenzie clan arriving?

Luke: Team McKenzie arrives in just 5 days. Mum and Dad make it their annual vacation each year. My dad lives and breathes triathlon and wouldn’t miss it for the world. Amanda and I are getting married three days after the race so this year we have over 60 people making the trip to Hawaii to see the race and celebrate the wedding. My mum has organized Team McKenzie T-Shirts for all of them, so check out Palani hill on race day, hopefully we will have most of it covered.

ST: Final words?

Luke: I am just looking forward to being part of this whole event that gets the triathlon world buzzing each year. This race is everything I love about our sport!