According to legend, the Ironman Triathlon started about
30 years ago, when a bunch of Navy SEALs got in an argument
about who was the fittest athlete. They devised a race
that combined the two-mile Waikiki Rough Water Swim, the
Around Oahu Bike Race and the Honolulu Marathon. Do it
all in a single day, they reasoned, and you can call yourself
an Ironman.
Triathlon has taken on a life of its own since then. There
are sprint distances, Olympic distances, Half-Ironman races.
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SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT: Kristi
Judd,
an EMU professor of biology,
is all smiles after
completing the
Wisconsin Ironman Sept. 12. Judd
placed 10th in
her division. Photo
provided courtesy of Madison.com
|
But the Ironman remains the gold standard of individual
endurance races and, this fall, two Eastern Michigan faculty
joined the ranks of Ironmen — or, in this case, Ironwomen
— who've swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and run 26.2 miles
in a single day. It was the first Ironman for both women,
but probably not a last.
"It was actually kind of fun," said Kristi Judd, an assistant
professor of biology who raced in the Sept 12 Wisconsin
Ironman in Madison, Wisc., and finished in 11:24.56, good
for 10th in her division. "I though it would be fun to
train for and fun to have finished, but (the race) wasn't
nearly as bad as I though it was going to be. There were
people cheering whole way. One thing that stood out to
me was how much work goes into one of these. There are
so many volunteers. You know the course is 140 miles and
cones line the entire way."
Marketing professor Tammy McCullough, who raced in the
Aug. 29 Louisville, Ky. Ironman had a similar reaction.
"I loved it," said McCullough, who finished 33rd in her
division with a time of 12:33.13. "I had fun the whole
time. There was a little struggle on the bike, but overall
I really liked it. I've already talked to my kids about
whether to do it again, and they're all for it. I haven't
talked to my husband about it yet..."
McCullough's sons, Ryan and Reid VanDiepen, made up her "IronMom
Support Team," along with her husband, Ron VanDiepen. Seeing
family members at different points along the course was
an immeasurable lift, she said, but their support also
goes back over the six months she spent training for the
race. There was no family vacation this past summer, and
lots of plans had to be adapted to her 10-to-20-hour-per
week training schedule.
 |
ON THE RUN: Tammy McCullough, an
EMU professor of marketing, receives
encouragement from her son, Ryan,
during the 26.2-mile run portion of
the Louisville, Ky. Ironman
competition Aug. 29. |
For Judd, a former college swimmer, training for the Ironman
gave her a good excuse to do a lot of running, biking and
swimming throughout the year. She commutes to EMU by bike
from her home in Ann Arbor, so some of her training is
built into her workday. A mysterious shoulder injury has
kept her out of the pool a lot lately. She wasn't even
sure she'd be able to complete the swim portion of the
race. But her swimming background allowed her to cruise
through that part of the race in relative comfort, even
after being bopped in the nose by someone's flailing limb
at the start.
"The crowdedness is definitely a little scary," she said. "There
are so many bodies going around the first buoy. It's like
this vortex that pulls you around."
Judd, 36, said she's been competing in triathlons off
and on since she was 15. She kind of figured the Ironman
was something she'd do once, just to get it out of her
system. But the top four to five competitors in her division
qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
In a division with 116 people, a 10th- place finish has
left her thinking about Kona.
"I thought this was a one-time deal, but I think I'll
do more," she said.
McCullough, 44, competed in her first triathlon in 2004.
A former softball player, she'd never entered a race in
any of the three disciplines before that first triathlon.
"If I got a really good hit, I'd run to third base, but
that was about it," she said. "But, I'd just had two kids.
I wanted to get back in shape and I like doing those things.
So, I signed up."
The top three in McCullough's division qualified for Kona,
and, looking at their times, she said she's just not in
that class. But, she can imagine a long future for herself
in a sport where athletes wear their age almost literally
on their sleeve. Race staff mark triathletes' age on their
leg, where it's easy to see whenever they pass someone
or get passed themselves.
McCullough said the 60- and 70-something competitors she's
seen in races inspire her.
"At the Ironman, a 67-year-old man passed me," she said. "But,
I didn't feel too bad about that. He had a Kona jersey
on, so I figured he probably knows what he's doing. I paced
with him for a while."
