Slowtwitch: Thank you for your time Guy.
Guy Crawford: Thank-you Herbert, anytime.
ST: Or should we call you Captain Awesome?
Guy: I think you should, off to Depol tomorrow to make it official.
ST: Who actually first used that nickname for you?
Guy: Arhhh things might get a little awkward now. Is it still cool if it was self-proclaimed? However Luke McKenzie may have helped instigate that one a few years back. I’ve had a few nicknames over the years but this one has stuck and I like it!!... I'm even lucky enough to have a Kit with my name on it. Thanks Wattie INK
ST: I guess it is about time to return to the Southern Hemisphere after a long summer in North America.
Guy: Yeah each year after Kona, Kate and I pack up and ship out. The weather here in Boise goes from really hot to really cold in like a day. Once it gets below 50 degrees we have to get out. We have definitely become soft after so many years of following the sun!
ST: So we will see you in Kona?
Guy: You certainly will. I will be on the Coffees of Hawaii boat every morning from 6:30am dishing out blueseventy goggles to those who can bring me sand up from the bottom. But please don’t blow out any ear drums. Also I will be working with blueseventy at the expo, we have everything you need to PR that swim. I’ll be doing a bit of work with my other sponsors during race week at the slowtwitch gathering. Always a very busy but fun week!
ST: When are you headed over there?
Guy: I arrive on Monday the 7th and will be floating around. Find me if you can.
ST: Looking back at 2013 it would appear that you would be content with your racing season.
Guy: It was definitely a good start to my season early on in Australia. I came to the US the fittest I’ve ever been and went well in some races early on, however I’ve had a bit of a rough patch lately with a few things going wrong. But the good news is there is always another race round the corner and I’m hoping the next few races are the start of my redemption.
ST: What was the highlight?
Guy: A few things, winning the Albany Half Ironman in Australia. Although that didn’t come without its controversy when Matty White got a DQ for littering. Then competing in the first Challenge Taiwan Full Iron distance race where I came 6th and backed it up a week later with 70.3 Busselton. Ouch.
ST: You also raced your first XTERRA race recently. How did that go?
Guy: It was awesome, but tough backing up so quickly after Lake Stevens 70.3! There were some points on the bike course where I felt like a drunk man trying to round up cats on a motor bike - out of control. I was probably riding 10% above my ability level at the time. The good news is my bike skills have come a long way since July and I’m looking forward to racing more XTERRAs.
ST: The race twitter handle has a somewhat unfortunate name if I recall correctly.
Guy: Ha, funny of you to point that out. @Xterralesbois I’ll leave it for the readers to work out. Don’t let that stop you from coming to do the race next year, it is great and the weather is always fantastic at that time of year!!
ST: Word has it that Boise is worth a trip either way.
Guy: Boise is amazing - it has a lot to offer for outdoor people. The single track mountain biking is amazing, the people are great, the bars are awesome and everything is well priced. It’s my 3rd year coming back here and there will be many more years to follow.
ST: I bumped into you this summer at a wedding in Winston-Salem, NC and you looked quite handsome and dapper in your tuxedo and that was true for Big Sexy McDonald too. Plus Kate Bevilaqua looked absolutely beautiful. Do you think there ought to be more dress-up occasions for Pro triathletes?
Guy: Absolutely I do! It was a lot of fun to get out of the swimming, biking and running gear and putting on a Tux. Our lives revolve around sweat and tears and sometimes it’s great to get out of the triathlon mold and roll a Tux. I think triathlon could do with a few more dress-up events. Just don’t be the guy or girl to show up in a t-shirt wearing compression socks because you won’t be allowed in.
ST: Would you be the bouncer to control that kind of crap or do you have any recommendations for triathletes who could fill that job?
Guy: Have you seen my arms? I couldn’t bounce anything. I think we might need to employ the guy or girl your most scared of in triathlon. This could be another slowtwitch article in itself. Who has the thickest skin? Who comes from a martial arts background? Or maybe we just put Bryan Rhodes out there. He’d get the job done for sure.
ST: Mixed martial art fighter Nick Diaz does triathlon too, and he could likely handle any unruly folks. But the person at the door needs to be mostly a person of good taste as most triathletes don't tend to be unruly.
Guy: Hmmm… ok, I’ve decided we just need to hire out. Out-sourcing is always the best option. No-one messes with a 300LB cage fighter.
ST: Your fellow wedding usher Chris McDonald stormed to a big win at Ironman Lake Tahoe. Was he inspired?
Guy: Chris has been on a great roll of late. It is inspiring for me to see a friend going so well. Was he inspired? Well I think he was happy! Happy for his friend John getting married and happy in himself. Happiness breeds success and his two Ironman wins lately have to be proof of that. Right Chris?
ST: Have you raced since that wedding?
Guy: As for me, I started Ironman Louisville, but due to a few mishaps along the way I had to pull out. I hadn’t put in the necessary work for an Ironman I also lost all my nutrition over a set of railways and then got a penalty for it. I had to laugh, sometimes it’s really not your day. Not to worry though, Kate came through for the win. So it ended up being a happy day.
ST: You have been with Kate Bevilaqua for quite some time now. How did you two meet?
Guy: Ha, well we first met when I was the sponsorship manager for blueseventy. But I don’t think that’s the real question here. So I’ll answer with ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.’ We thank Luke McKenzie and Amanda Balding for that one! It was obviously a great weekend and a few months later I had moved to Perth, Australia and now together we split our year between there and Boise, Idaho, 3 years and counting.
ST: Do you work out much together or do you do your own things?
Guy: We do probably about 50% of our training together or at the same time. We swim in the same squads and will run together 2-3 times a week. We balance it quite well, I have some great age group triathletes that I also train with and Kate has her Compi trainer that she’s addicted to. If we have Time Trials or some type of speed work, she starts in front of me and my goal is to catch her and hers not to be caught. We have fun with it, although we are both very competitive!!
ST: So what is next?
Guy: Next up is 70.3 Taiwan, 70.3 Mandurah and finally Ironman Western Australia in December.
ST: I meant with you and Kate.
Guy: Herbert, what are you doing to me? Maybe we’ll adopt another cat or rescue another animal. Or maybe I need to grow some and pop the question? Another one for the readers to answer!
ST: Anything else we should know?
Guy: I don’t like cooked pineapple, and we adopted a stray cat here in Boise and now she’s back to Perth Australia. She’s gone from homeless to extremely expensive.
ST: Does anyone like cooked pineapple?
Guy: I think there are those odd balls out there that like cooked pineapple or maybe they just like a Hawaiian pizza. Not me, I will pick all that cooked pineapple off, it freaks me out! I also have a list of other phobias but now’s not the time to get into them.
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