Advertisement:

Chicagoans Tackle Ford Ironman Wisconsin

By Awesome Barb, September 16, 2010 at 8:30 pm

This past weekend, my friends and I had the opportunity to witness and volunteer at one of sports most awesome and amazing events. The Ironman.

For those of you unfamiliar with the race...Ironman is a triathlon. A triathlon on crack, in fact. A 2.4 mile swim. A 112 mile bike. Followed by a 26.2 mile run. The rules are simple. Everyone begins at 7am...and you have until midnight to trek the 140.6 miles and cross the finish line. If you don't make it, all those endless months of training are chalked up to a bunch of lessons learned. The pros will start reaching the finish line a little over 8 and a half hours (holy crap!) and there's usually a handful of athletes that come sprinting in those last 10 minutes. And the most beautiful part? Each athlete receives the same amount of fanfare, if not more, than the individual who wins the race. The finish line is a party, and it continues to gain momentum as the evening draws closer to midnight. Simply stated, the crowd electrifies the night. 
 
This race is hands down one of the most awe-inspiring things you can witness. Are the participants crazy? Undoubtedly. You sort of have to be to tackle this kind of challenge. But each and every one of them is fiercely passionate and have the drive to go the distance and hear their name proclaimed an Ironman. We saw a 61-year old blind athlete, who completed the entire race with the help of a guide. An amputee. A woman completing the race with a broken foot. A gal who had crashed on her bike, busted open her lip and bloodied her face horribly, only to have medical tape her up and continue on with the rest of her day. She later needed to get multiple stitches. We witnessed athletes who missed the midnight cutoff in 2009 turn the corner of the Wisconsin State Capital and have their eyes flood with tears of pride and joy. During the course of a 17 hour Ironman...you witness it all. And then some.
So this past Sunday, September 12th, more than 2500 athletes (including 200+ folks from the Chicagoland area) found themselves treading water in Lake Monona waiting for the starting cannon to fire while listening to U2's beautiful day serenade their sunrise as the crowd roared cheers of good luck. The images that follow are a small fraction of what ensued after the cannon sounded. The experience is simply too awesome not to share memories of the day with all of you...and frankly, words can't do the day justice. So please, enjoy...
If you were hoping to register for the 2011 race, it's already sold out. In fact, Monday at noon when registration went online the droves of Ironman hopefuls caused active.com to crash. Multiple times. Yes, there are that many people crazy enough to take on the challenge. And when the site was finally stable, it was full within 30 minutes--and even then you had to attempt to register several times.
So congratulations to everyone who toed the line on Sunday and a special high five to everyone who found their way to the finish line by midnight. And of course, massive congratulations to ChicagoNow blogger Eat Right Around Chicago for taking on the challenge and being our resident badass. You, my dear, ARE AN IRONMAN!!! 
The Wisconsin State Capital towers over the finish line on MLK Drive in downtown Madison.
The view of the finish line from the final turn...it takes athletes 2-3 minutes to make this final stretch and the finish chute is lined with a thousand spectators who are cheering just for them.
The hardware at the finish line...140.6 miles for one of these babies!
Photo by Melissa Bastian Black
Wisconsin's Jenny Wimmer is all smiles as she can hear the finish line from a half mile away.
61 year-old Douglas Powell round the final bend and can hear the crowd roaring as they welcome him home to the finish line. Simply amazing!!
Advertisement:
Chicago's Elizabeth Carlson finishes her first Ironman race...she's a good friend of mine, and my husband and I arranged to "catch" her as she crossed the finish line!
Chicago's Elizabeth Carlson crosses the finish line feeling like a million bucks!
Maggie Manning of Schaumburg keeps herself warm with a foil as she walks through the finishers chute to collect her medal.
A group of men cheered on the ladies of Endurance Nation in hot pink speedos. Apparently the group was positioned at mile 18 and lit up the faces of athletes on their final loop of the run course.
Captian Ironman drew laughs from weary athletes as they ran on late into the night.
Advertisement:
Volunteers help distribute special needs bags that were made available halfway through the run. Many athletes put long-sleeved shirts, notes from family and scrumptious treats as a pick-me-up to keep going.
...even truer!
So true...
Runners press on during the 26.2 mile marathon.
Photo by Flickr users scanna823
Ken Zuber from Buffalo Grove keeps his spirits up on the run.
Photo by Melissa Bastian Black
Advertisement:
If this isn't awe-inspiring, then I don't know what is...
Photo by Melissa Bastian Black
Chicago's Mike Loehrke celebrates a daylight finish with his coach Maurice Wills of Infinity Multisport.
Chicago Triathlon Club's Criss Chang sprints down the line for an 11:14:48 finish time.
Kimberley Oliver of Chicago squeezes across the finish line in a hair under 11 hours at 10:59:59.
A family of spectators cheered on their team with a little Chuck Norris mojo...
Advertisement:
Cyclists ride over motivational messages left in chalk on the street.
Photo by Flickr user scanna823
Beth Schwindt of Chicago works hard during one of the climbs on the challenging Ironman Wisconsin bike course.
Photo by Endurance Nation
Athletes cycle through Verona during the 112 mile leg.
Photo by Flickr user JonBloy
A friend runs along next to an athlete as he climbs a hill...and yes, he is sporting a bright pink speedo!
Photo by Endurance Nation
Cyclists continue to bike along the course.
Photo by Traci Knowles
Advertisement:
Evan Eggars from New Hampshire grabs his bike and heads out of the Terrace for the long ride.
Photo by Flickr user scanna823
The transition area filled with bikes...
Family and friends leave messages to their athletes in the windows of their hotel rooms.
Courtney Thomas from Aurora stops and hugs her family as she runs up the helix and into the terrace.
Blind triathlete, Douglas Powell, of Falls Church, Virginia is led by an a guide athlete from Chicagoland's Vision Quest Coaching.
Jeff Whitecotton of the Endurance Management Group in Kansas City, runs his way up the helix in the swim to bike transition.
Libertyville's Kim Yessian (in red on the right) takes her wetsuit off with the aid of some wetsuit strippers.
Photo by Melissa Bastian Black
The "strippers" help the athletes get their wetsuits off in a flash.
Photo by Melissa Bastian Black
Spectators line the helix to watch the athletes swim and cheer them on as they run up in transition.
Photo by Melissa Bastian Black
A view of the swim from the top of Monona Terrace.
Ironman hopefuls start their race as the sun spills over Lake Monona.
Dustin Johnson came from Kansas to cheer on some friends and to volunteer and sign up for the 2011 race.
Advertisement:

Filed under: Chicago Happenings, Sports

Tags: Amputee, Bike, Blind, Blind Athlete, Capital Building, Chuck Norris, Endurance Management Group, Endurance Nation, Ford, Infinity Multisport, Ironman, Lake Monona, medal, Monona Terrace, motivation, Race, Run, Sim, Spectators, Triathlon, Verona, Vision Quest Coaching, Volunteers, wetsuit, Wisconsin

Comments

Leave a comment
  • jtithof said September 17, 2010 at 12:00 am

    Oh my word. I can't even imagine. Love Captain Ironman and the wave if you're peeing sign. Bet things like that really keep these participants going. Didn't know anything about strippers. Interesting stuff.

  • RunningJayhawk said September 17, 2010 at 12:00 am
    In reply to jtithof:

    The spectators truly make all the difference, Jackie! On the bike course, fans line some of the most challenging hills like the participants are doing the Tour de France. It's absolutely AMAZING! And beyond awesome. You should check it out and volunteer next year! You look at some of the people doing it and think, "I'll never say 'I can't' ever again."

  • janismarie78 said September 20, 2010 at 12:00 am
    In reply to jtithof:

    Doug Powell is truly an inspiration to all. I am proud to say that his guide was fellow Chicagoan and resident "bad ass" #2, John Janiszewski. Watching them come through the finish line was AMAZING!!!

  • RunningJayhawk said September 20, 2010 at 12:00 am
    In reply to janismarie78:

    John - My friends and I had several conversations about what you did that day and we all take our hats off to you. I'd love to learn more about how you became involved in this incredible experience!

  • RunningJayhawk said September 20, 2010 at 12:00 am
    In reply to RunningJayhawk:

    Janis...please feel free to pass along that message to John!!

Leave a comment