COAL VALLEY, Ill. — A 'Road to Kona 2.0 Trivia Night' event will take place on Saturday, April 20 to benefit local athlete, Matt Jackson, as he prepares to compete at the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i.
The trivia night will be at The Rock at 302 1st St. in Coal Valley, Illinois. Doors will open at 5 p.m. with trivia beginning at 6 p.m.
Entry costs $80 per team and players can have up to eight people per team.
On top of an evening of trivia, there will be a cash prize for the winners, along with raffle baskets and a 50/50 drawing.
To reserve your table, or simply to donate to Jackson's efforts, you are encouraged to Venmo @RoadtoKona or email mjacksonmultisport@gmail.com. Please include your team name and captain name in the Venmo description.
All drinks must be purchased at the venue but guests are allowed to bring in their own food.
This is Jackson's second time competing in Kona's Ironman. Back in 2022, he finished 30th in his age group with a total time of 9 hours, 23 minutes and 14 seconds. WQAD followed Jackson during his preparations for that run, including his indoor Ironman at the Two Rivers YMCA in February 2022.
Jackson runs several ironmans, marathons and triathlons throughout the year. You can keep up with all of his race musings on his blog, 'The Road to Kona: Promoting a healthy lifestyle.' In it, Jackson often documents his mental struggles, physical hurdles and moments of beauty throughout his training and races.
Fresh off a run at the 2024 Boston Marathon, Jackson stopped by News 8 to talk about finding healthy mindsets, prepping for Kona and his upcoming trivia night. You can watch the full interview in the above video.
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