More than 3,000 people will head to the Boulder reservoir early next Sunday morning to participate in the largest Ironman race ever held anywhere in the world.
Some might say it’s fitting the biggest race in the history of the Ironman brand would take place in Boulder, which has become a training hotbed over the years for elite athletes from all over the world. It’s really no surprise the race sold out here in less than a week more than a year ago. This community seems to be filled with people who love to challenge themselves after all.
And make no mistake, a full Ironman at a mile high altitude in the blazing August sun figures to be the mother of all challenges.
Competitors will attempt to conquer a 2.4-mile swim at Boulder Reservoir, a 112-mile bike ride that will take them near Fort Collins and back and a full marathon course through the streets of Boulder and the countryside of Boulder County. They will have 17 hours to do it.
So who are these people and are they nuts?
Some always have been driven, type-A personalities. Others used to be couch potatoes. They range in age from teenagers to well into retirement and they have different motivations for wanting to push their bodies to their physical limits.
This much is certain. There are moments for every person who undertakes an Ironman in which doubt creeps into their mind and they begin to question themselves. Sometimes they’re questioning whether they can get through their next training run. Sometimes they’re questioning whether they can reach the next telephone pole a tenth of a mile up the road. Sometimes they are questioning their next step or pedal rotation or swimming stroke.
A key ingredient to finishing these torture tests is being able to find a way to fight through those moments when they are on the brink of quitting, said Dr. Julie Emmerman, a Boulder-based clinical sports psychotherapist who has been practicing since 2000 and is also a competitive cyclist.
For some, there might be dozens of those internal battles on race day.
The beginner
Susan McNamee is a 62-year-old mother of four and grandmother to three. Having given birth four times, completing an Ironman isn’t quite the toughest thing she has accomplished in her life, but she says it’s not far from that experience.
McNamee was never much into sports or competition growing up. She took up running in her 40s and completed three marathons before she stopped running for 13 years. A few years ago she started up again and completed four more marathons before she started looking for a fresh challenge.
“I’ve always been driven and I love a challenge,” she said. “I’m competitive with myself. I like to prove that I can do things.”
She forced herself to start taking swimming lessons in 2012, though she admits she often skipped them because she was uncomfortable feeling judged. She decided to enter her first triathlon last year still needing serious work on her swimming. She figured the racing would force her to learn and she admits she had to stop and hold on to several kayaks to make it through.
McNamee, who makes her living in publishing, quickly pushed herself to new levels. Her fourth triathlon ever was her first and only Ironman last summer in Wisconsin. She finished the swim portion 15 seconds before the cutoff, she finished the bike with 5 minutes to spare and crossed the finish line in 16, hours, 58 minutes, 45 seconds. That is 1 minute, 15 seconds before the deadline.
“There are people who come and run alongside of you,” she said. “And there are people on the course who are encouraging other athletes and spectators. That’s what got me through and that’s what will get me through in Boulder. It’s the other people who are spectating and cheering and encouraging. That’s what it’s about for those of us who aren’t hardcore athletes who can’t do it in a short amount of time.”
Her kids range in age from 25 to 43 and along with McNamee’s mother, who is in her 80s, want her to stop. They’re worried she is pushing herself too hard.
“It has become a lifestyle and I really, really enjoy it,” McNamee said. “So many people have said that I’ve inspired them and motivated them because you don’t have to be the fastest, you don’t have to be the youngest. My motto is you’re never too old to start.”
The not-so-ordinary Joe
Kristina Jensen says she used to be 30 pounds overweight back in the late 1990s when she shared a Chicago apartment with a friend. In 1997 that friend began running and training for a marathon that she ultimately completed.
Jensen admits she initially thought her friend had lost her mind when she first started pushing herself through those runs, but after seeing her friend reach her goal, it inspired her to do the same.
Nearly two decades later, Jensen has completed 63 marathons and seven Ironman races in her free time beyond her 40-hour-a-week job at Morgan Stanley. Her times are three hours from the pro level, but she said racing at the pro level never has been her goal.
“I just do it for the fun, the complete 100 percent fun of it,” she said. “I smile the whole time. I encourage other people to smile. I don’t like complainers. I can’t stand when somebody gets done with a race and starts ripping themselves apart and their time apart. I don’t wear watches anymore.”
She completed her first marathon in 1998, began cycling in 2006 and started competing in triathlons in 2008 even though she didn’t know how to swim at the time. Jensen now blogs about her racing at Ditchthetiara.blogspot.com and is a contributing writer for several websites.
Jensen’s goal for the Boulder Ironman is to finish in the daylight for the first time. Her best time in her previous eight Ironman starts is 12 hours, 45 minutes. She did not finish a race last year in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, because she suffered hypothermia.
Jensen has Raynauds syndrome, which affects her circulation. She said she can’t swim in water less than 70 degrees. Even in water 72 degrees her right hand will go numb.
“There are meltdowns. There are absolutely meltdowns,” she said. “How in the world am I going to finish this? Why do I do this? Why do I think this is fun? Absolutely. You need those moments to then be able to turn around and have the best time of your life on race day.”
Jensen gets through her rough patches by turning her thoughts to the desire to see the smiling, proud faces of her parents who are often waiting for her at the finish line.
“I really draw on the joy that I feel other people have watching people like us do what we do. Being able to motivate them maybe not to do an Ironman but to get up off the couch and go walk a half a mile. I reflect on what I did other times to get myself out of it and a lot of times I think about other people.
“I think the biggest thing I have realized in the last few years is my worst day could be someone who has MS or someone who was born without legs, my worst day is never going to be their best day so I need to be out for them, too. So I figure it out and I go get it done I guess.”
The professional
Richie Cunningham completed his first full Ironman race five years ago in Arizona finishing in fourth place. He recently called his decision to participate in that race a mistake because he wasn’t ready for how grueling the experience would be even though he’s been racing 70.3 Ironman events for years.
Cunningham, a redhead from Gold Coast in Australia who has called Boulder home for three years, hopes to win the first full Ironman held in Boulder next week at the tender age of 40. Part of the bike course will take him and his fellow competitors zooming past his house on Jay Road.
“I said never again,” Cunningham said. “Five years later I’m probably making the same mistake again, but I think I’m a little bit older, little bit wiser and a bit more ready for this longer distance.”
Cunningham has been competing professionally as a triathlete for 14 years. He has won 10 Ironman 70.3 events, which is a half-Ironman in all three disciplines. He was ranked top three in the world in 70.3 in 2011 and 2012 and now has his sights set on trying to reach the same lofty heights in full Ironman competitions with the dream of competing in the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
“There is no other sporting event that you can jump into and test your body and your mind in that way,” Cunningham said explaining why he does it.
For Cunningham, swimming, cycling and running are his livelihood. He makes his living through prize money and numerous sponsorship deals. He spends his days training for the next week averaging between 25 and 40 hours a week of training depending on the time of year.
He is up and in a pool by 6:30 a.m. and usually completes a bike ride by lunchtime. In the afternoons or evenings, he gets in his running. His hobbies are often ignored. Sometimes dishes in the sink or weeds in the garden are, too, simply because he lacks the energy to get to them. It’s this consistent training and dedication to the lifestyle that will allow Cunningham and his fellow pros to complete next week’s event likely in less than 9 hours while most of the field will require 12, 13, 14, 15 hours or more.
“I know I can finish an Ironman,” Cunningham said. “That’s not an issue. For me it’s about being competitive and being the best person there on the day. So that is where that extra sacrifice has to come in. If I wanted to do this just for fun, I could have a lot of fun and just enjoy life doing it. I could have a nice coffee and hamburger or something and go home and you’re still going to get through the race. But for me, it’s all about performing.”
