Petr Vabroušek - hundred times crossed the Ironman finish line

Thanks! The thing that is most special about being in Texas is that I have my son Filip here with me. He is a big fan of NASA and came to check out the NASA attractions in the town. We already visited Cape Canaveral 2 years ago and that had a huge impact on him. My wife is not with us for the first time, as we are expecting our daughter next month. It will be nice to have 100 under the belt, but I never aimed for any particular number, just love to race and race as often as it comes handy to me and my family.

 I was planning on racing here to take Filip with me. I also always enjoy doing new races. This round number just came with my racing history. The Woodlands look great though and I am looking forward for a great race in super tough field!

What do you know now that you wish you had known entering your first Ironman distance event?

Nothing really. In 1999, when I flew to Australia to do my first Ironman, I had no idea, that 12 years later, I would have 100 finished. I was just excited about my first race and hoped to finish in the top 50 (ended up 7th). The excitement is still there and I am always looking forward to doing my next race (not only IM distance - I did over 200 long distance races, including 70.3 and O3 distance + running and cycling marathons and probably over 500 shorter distance races). I still do this sport out of pure enjoyment and get way more enjoyment from training to race then from training itself. I don´t do any training camps and train exclusively at home through tough middle European winters with my longest training rides averaging only 3 hours…

Great atmosphere and excitement of fellow athletes, volunteers and spectators. It is similar to big city marathons and bike marathons, but Ironman gives me all three disciplines in one nice package. The longer the race, the more time I can spend with my family without training in the weeks around it!

Any race I win, of course! In total, I won 13 Ironman distance races and have placed in the top 10 in 80% of them. My first big IM win was Ironman South Africa in 2000, followed closely by Ironman Korea and 2nd place at Ironman California that year.

There is a plenty of great races around the planet and my favorites would be Ironman Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Korea, Lake Placid, and Canada. Back in the Czech Republic it would be my hometown race www.moraviaman.cz or a great combination of Xterra and IM distance race in 2 days in Prague: www.czechbigman.cz. There is also a lot of 70.3 and shorter distance races in the Czech republic and you are all invited to come and see! You will find them at www.czechtriseries.cz.

This is my last big international race for a while, as we are expecting a second child in June/July and I will keep racing around the house to make sure, I am there, when it happens and when I will be needed most. Following Texas, I should have enough points for my Kona Pro Ranking to be secured. You might see me at Czech and Slovak races through the summer.