The excitement is mounting, the weather is providing an added challenge to the 3 sports which triathletes already face. Here’s the word on the grounds of Kona in Hawaii in anticipation of the Ironman World Championships this weekend.

Here’s some reaction from the professional triathletes.

Sebastian Kienle (GER), 2014 IRONMAN world champion:

“Yeah it is that time of the year again, athletes, sponsors, media and photographers firing on all cylinders.”

Jan Frodeno (GER), 2015 IRONMAN world champion:

“Everyone talks about the wind on the bike. Today it got ugly on the run. Sprinting into the wind and not really going anywhere.”

Daniela Ryf (SUI), 2015 IRONMAN world champion:

“When you just have to follow your nose you know you are riding on QueenK.”

Heather Wurtele (CAN), 6x IRONMAN champion:

“A lot of training runs in Kona are about perseverance and toughness, but some are actually enjoyable!”

Mirinda Carfrae (AUS), 2010, 2013, 2014 IRONMAN world champion:

“I want to do something no one else has ever done.”

Timothy O’Donnell (USA), 3rd 2015 IRONMAN World Championship:

“Checked all the boxes to get this point… now off to the Big Island to chase some dreams!!”

How to watch #IMKona Live

The live coverage—both a live blog and video stream—will begin on Saturday, Oct. 8 at approximately 6:25 a.m. HST (GMT+8 1:25 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur).  Male pros will be followed by the female pros five minutes later. The race will have separate age-group starts, with the men beginning at 6:55 a.m.(GMT+8 1:55 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur) and the age-group women at 7:10 a.m.(GMT+8 2:10 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur)

The video stream will be available to watch on demand following the race at Ironmanlive.com. If you’re following a friend, the enhanced Athlete Tracker tool on Ironman.com now includes multiple time splits for the bike and run.

Read more on: Ironman.com