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NBC Sports will be airing taped coverage of the 2009 Ironman Triathlon on Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 4:30 PM ET. Al Trautwig will provide the commentary, Here is the press release issued by NBC Sports earlier today.

IRONMAN TRIATHLON, SATURDAY, 4:30 PM ET

NBC Sports presents taped coverage of the Emmy Award-winning 2009 Ford Ironman Championship, this Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.  The show highlights 1,800 triathletes from around the world competing for the coveted Ironman title.  Coverage will feature Australia's Craig Alexander and Great Britain's Chrissie Wellington who will both be defending their 2008 Ironman titles.

The race consists of 2.4-miles of swimming through tough ocean waves and 112-miles of biking, and a 26.2-mile marathon run through challenging lava-covered terrain. Only 100 professional triathletes are competing for the title. The rest are amateurs who are competing to either win their age group or competing just to finish.

The truly compelling and inspirational stories come from the pool of amateurs. Two stories are those of Rudy Tolson-Garcia, a double amputee who's trying to finish the Ironman and Elizabeth Thompson, who was unable to walk 2-years ago after suffering a stroke.

Al Trautwig provides commentary.