2008 Ironman Wisconsin

This past weekend I competed in Ironman Wisconsin. It took place in Madison, WI which is an incredible town that I am sorry to say I have never been to before. This was my fourth ironman and as was the case in the others it was a tough day but an overall great experience that really tests your limits.

Instead of doing a regular race report like most bloggers do going into great detail about everything that happened during the course of the day I am going to talk about what I hope to remember from this race. It actually has nothing to do with me but has left me inspired, motivated and somewhat emotional since it happened.

The greatest thing you can ever see in a sporting event, bar none, is the finish line of an ironman from 9pm until the final cutoff time of 12am. It is awesome and if you ever have the chance to see it I highly recommend you do so. Every time I have been at the finish line during this time slot (this was the fifth time I have been at the finish line, one time I just went to watch and didn't compete) I have seen the most incredible things. I am talking about people from all walks of life who have been slugging it out through weather and terrain and mechanicals and blisters and sprains and aches...well you get the picture it is one hell of a hard day. In any event at this past weekends race there was 15 minutes left until the 17 hrs was up and whoever wasn't finished was disqualified. The finish line announcer, whose name is Mike Reilly, got on the loud speaker to tell everyone who was there that the last runner had one mile left to go and would have to run it in 15 mins. or she wouldn't make it. He said there was a spotter with her who was trying to keep her moving so she could realize her goal. The crowd rallied behind this unknown runner and even though she could not hear us yet the cheers started. Literally everyone there wanted this person to make it in the worst way. With 7:30 secs left Mike got back on the loud speaker to tell us that he had just talked to the spotter to tell him he needed to keep her moving there wasn't much time left and he repeated that the spotter told him he only needed five minutes and he could get her there. Well the reality was that he needed a little more than five minutes but with only 4 secs to spare this woman crossed the line realizing her dream in front of hundreds of wildly cheering people. Call me crazy but that feat, and the crowd support, overshadowed (by a long shot) anything I accomplished that day and I will carry it with me for a long time to come. Congrats unknown lady who accomplished with only 4 secs to spare what most people can't even dream of accomplishing....you rock.

Thats all for now.