Thursday before a Saturday IRONMAN event means a few things. First, athlete check-in is over at 5 PM. And second, race preparation by the operations team is nearly complete before the heavy duty lift of race day itself.

That's no different than what you'll find in Kona. Here's what we saw, captured by Korupt Vision.

The pier is ready to accept over 2,000 bikes during bike check-in Friday. Stay tuned for counts.

Thursday also saw our annual Slowtwitch Gathering.

Early attendees got to enjoy some quiet time pool side.

But, naturally, as the afternoon went on, more folks filtered through the door.

Some interesting goodies inside the front door of Slowtwitch's Kona HQ.

Everywhere here is just in sight of the ocean.

The Gathering always brings together an interesting bunch -- racers, industry veterans, and more. Zoot's Shawn O'Shea was one to join us for a while.

We're not the only ones working at the party, either.

Time to wrap up. Back at it for Friday.