Becoming an Ironman Isn't for the Faint of Heart

Becoming an Ironman doesn't mean you forge steel in Pittsburg, or press sheets of metal in Detroit. I don't even think it's about riding a bicycle for 116 miles after a 2.4 miles swim. It takes these two elements and finishes it with a 26.2 mile run after you are already exhausted. 

I witnessed my first Ironman event in Chattanooga, Tennessee on September 25, 2016. My nephew, Brad had entered the race and was one of about 2700 athletes/participants. 

Because I live near Nashville I decided to drive to Chattanooga the morning of the event. So I set my alarm for 3:30 am (CDT) and headed out the door at 4:00 am. It was about a 2 hour drive to downtown Chattanooga.  I lost an hour (it was 7 am EDT) and was still dark when I found parking at a nearby lot, not far from Ross Landing.

My nephew, brother and others had arrived earlier and on Saturday had picked up his Bib (number), checked-in his bike and other gear. I contacted my brother, Richard who had already taken the shuttle to the Swim Start point. He told me to find the Swim Finish point. There wasn’t much I would be able to see and photographing my nephew would be nearly impossible. Athletes started in waves. I estimated he would began his swim at approximately 8:15 am.

I suppose most of the athletes woke up around 3:30 or 4 am, as did my nephew. They and their support crew had to not only make their way to the Transition area for “body marking” but also to take the shuttle to the Swim Start point.

Around 9:20 am Brad finished his 2.4 mile swim, a 1 hour and 4 minute time. From there we positioned ourselves to watch him begin the 116 mile bicycle course. We weren’t sure what was happening at this point because he was out of the water long before he showed up on Ironman.com athlete Tracker website. At any rate, once Brad began the bicycle portion of the race, we walked to the hotel where my brother and Brad, several friends (Brad’s girlfriend Elizabeth, Brad’s sister, Rachelle and Richard’s friend Clarice) were staying and began an hour and a half long drive to Menlo, Georgia and then on to the point we would see Brad. They had previously scoped out the race route on Saturday and determined that at mile 32.5 of the bicycle course (the junction Hog Jowl Road and West Cove Road) would be a great place to cheer-on Brad. Since the bicycle course passed this point twice (a two lap affair) we could wait here and cheer him on a second time.

 This was a beautiful rural setting in north Georgia. The point at which the athletes would pass by was as they descended a hill on West Cove Road and make a hard turn onto Hog Jowl Road.  It was about 10:30 when he rode past us. He looked pretty good and my brother said he was pretty much on the pace he expected. It was warm at the time but not the 97 degrees it would get later in the day.

Once Brad went by us, we had a few snacks, watched other bicyclists ride by and pray no one crashed on the treacherous downhill just before the turn. Around 1 pm Brad rode by the second time. He still looked good. I managed to capture an image of him with the sign "Trust your training.”

The sign reminded me that these athletes spend hours and hours training in order to compete in an Ironman. Brad had previously competed in 3 Ironman events. In those he had trained by completing in numerous half-Ironman events and marathons to build up to this particular day. It typically takes two years to prepare and it is both a mental and physical challenge. One must be totally committed.

He finished his 116 miles at 3:10 pm near Ross Landing. I almost missed him. His “split” times were not showing up in the Ironman Athlete Tracker website as they should. So when there were a number of other athletes finishing at the same time, Brad among them, I didn’t see him ride in. But I did manage to get a photo of him from behind. It was now “hot.” Period. He left his bicycle with a volunteer and made his way to the transition area to begin the 26.2 mile run.

At about 3:30 pm he had begun his marathon. My brother was a bit worried about him because of the heat. I thought he still look pretty good. I became a bit more concerned when we began to walk to our next spectator viewing point, the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge. It was far from the marathon starting point for us, but it was about 13 miles into the race for Brad. On the way to the bridge in a parking lot I saw several athletes that had given-up. One was telling her parents, while tears ran down her face, she simply couldn’t do it, but oh how she wanted to do it. They were tears of sorrow and disappointment. I believe she was broken by the heat.

Brad’s support team found some shade and a curb near the bridge and waited. At about 6:50 pm he came running by us. He now looked tired in the afternoon sun as did so many others. Many athletes were walking. It was for many of them, not a matter of putting together their events into one package and preforming well, or maybe even a personal Ironman best, but simply finishing. The oven-like day had drained them of everything they had. There wasn’t much left.

From there we all went to a restaurant for supper. I suppose I felt a little guilty eating a personal pizza and a lot of Coke knowing Brad was still running or walking out his last 13 miles. When he finished it was dark. We checked the map to determine which way we needed to go to our next spectator point. It was at the foot of the Veterans Bridge. There was water there, facilities and a medical tent at the point. It would be 9:10 pm before Brad came. It wasn’t running. He was a little over 20 miles into the marathon. He had about 6 more miles. Could he make it?

After he passed by us, we walked over to Ross Landing and the Finish point. We scattered along the last one or two tenths of the marathon to take photos. About half of athletes jogged by us as they put all they had into the last of this race. The other half walked, simply wanted to finish. Brad jogged by me and Rachelle at about 11:10 pm.

 In the background we could hear the names of athletes and the announcer say, “You are an Ironman.” Rachelle and I made our way to the finish line and I took a photo or two which were terrible because it was night.  After that I called it a night and drove home.

The news the next morning was that approximately 25 percent of the 2200 athletes who started did not finish (DNF). Over 600 athletes and spectators were treated for heat-related illnesses. Others were treated for lacerations, minor orthopedic injuries, muscle injuries and chest pain. 

Scripture

Proverbs 22.6 – Train a child and he or she will do as they have been trained.

Romans 12.2 – Renew your mind regularly.

Galatians 2.2 – We do not want to run a race in vain.

I Corinthians 9.24- We should run to achieve our goal.

1 Timothy 4.7 – Physical training is of value.

Hebrews 12.1 - Before a large crowd of witnesses, run with endurance the race that is before you.

1 Peter 1.13 – We prepare to respond to the challenge.