Legend Patrick Lange, three-time Ironman World Champion here on the magical (and challenging) Big Island, is back one final time for the last dance.

It is always bittersweet watching the greats of our sport call time on an incredible career, with this Kona followed by Roth 2027 set to be Lange’s final races. There is sadness in imagining how much we’ll miss their presence going forward, yet gratitude – and awe – for the mark they’ve left on the sport. Not only through rewriting record books, but through how they did it and, more broadly, who they are as human beings.

Here’s a look back at Lange’s storied Kona history ahead of his final race here.

A Kona Career for the Record Books

Lange made his Kona debut in 2016, coming off the bike in 23rd place before running a remarkable 2:39 marathon to round out the podium in third. In doing so, he broke Mark Allen’s 27-year-old run course record from 1989. Talk about a rookie year: a podium, a run course record, and some serious foreshadowing of what was to come.

In 2017, Lange took his first Big Island victory, setting a new overall course record of 8:01:40. He swam 48:45, biked 4:28:51, and ran another sub-2:40 marathon, clocking 2:39:59. This was the race where he came off the bike in 11th and surged through the field, eventually overtaking Lionel Sanders at the 37km mark of the marathon with the Kona run that was rapidly becoming his trademark.

Then, in 2018, Lange won again, this time becoming the first man to break the eight-hour barrier in Kona, finishing in 7:52:39. And then, just for good measure, he got down on one knee at the finish line and proposed to his girlfriend.

Another interesting tidbit: Kona was Lange’s only victory of 2018. While of course an all-round talented athlete, he seems to have an exceptional gift for putting everything together on this island when it counts, amidst conditions that have been the undoing of so many other great athletes.

Following the 2017-2018 double, six years passed before Lange’s next – and most recent – Kona victory in 2024, when he reclaimed the world title at the age of 38. To become world champion again that many years later, with the level of the sport only continuing to rise, was a remarkable testament to his longevity and continued pursuit of excellence.

And this wasn’t simply an older Lange finding a way to win. He was faster than ever.

Lange shaved more than 16 minutes off his previous winning time on the island, setting yet another course record of 7:35:53 and running a 2:37:34 marathon along the way. What a feat.

One Last Dance

While Lange is not widely regarded as the favourite to win this year, if history has proven anything, it’s to never rule him out. He is exactly the kind of athlete you don’t want chasing you down on the Queen K, when the miles are hot and lonely and Lange somehow still makes them look effortless.

So perhaps that’s what we’ll savour most this final time in Kona: that unmistakable stride making its way across the Big Island one more time.

And if you happen to see Lange running by this weekend, give him an extra cheer. We won’t get another chance to watch him race here.