|
February 2005
Running down Alii Drive to the
finish line has to be the highlight of some athletes’ lives…
it can also be a nightmare!
The Dance. C’mon, you know what the dance is,
don’t you?
You train for months on end to accomplish a
goal we set ourselves for personal and athletic reasons, and
then you get to dance across that Ironman finish line. But
sometimes the dance ain’t so pretty. I know I should be
writing positively, but if you know me, then you’ll
appreciate a good laugh when you read this.
At Multisports.com, a coaching company in
which I have been coached and now guide others, uses a term
loosely . . . “the dance of a thousand headless monkeys”
(now why do I see John Duke in my mind yelling out at the
top of his squeaky voice at some poor finisher?) Its funny,
I mean it is really funny. You see, for some athletes, you
know what it feels like to not have good day, or to
experience the bonk. For others, it’s all about forward
progress.
Case in point:
Do you remember 1982? Thought not. Let me set
it up for you. Julie Moss passes another woman competitor
to gain the lead on the run. The young lass from Cal Poly
San Luis Obisbo has now seized the lead of the Ironman
Triathlon World Championship, now all that stands between
her and a victory is a port-a-potty (KIDDING). The young gal
now extends her lead over Kathleen Macartney, a San Diego
native looking for a win in the sports greatest prize, the
Ironman.
Anyway, just when Julie hits Alii drive, now
in darkness, thank goodness, she starts to get the wobbles,
her legs heavy, her pace slows and eventually she hits the
deck like a ton of bricks. Julie loses control of her body
and finds it hard to go on. Now, I know athletes are a tough
bunch, but just this one particular moment in the sport’s
young life was responsible for putting Ironman on the map,
for very good reason. It is tough.
Julie picks herself up off the ground and
continues, wiping off (well we wont go there), wiping off
all doubt about not finishing and just getting to the line,
then suddenly, down she goes again. It’s agonizing - how
much do you really want this Julie?
Julie struggles to her feet and starts to
walk. She has 15 meters to run-walk-crawl, whatever (c’mon
Julie, happy hour is about to end!), and she’s passed, not
that she knows it at this time, not that she cares. Kathleen
McCartney makes the pass like Dave did to Mark one year, on
the other side of the ABC-TV truck.
Julie crosses the line to finish second in a
moment that defines guts, and most of all GLORY.
Now, I know I started out fairly tough here,
but the early season goals we all set need true meaning,
after all, you are going to train all year for a goal race,
whether it be a North American Ironman or Down Under and
European Ironmans. I want you all to know of some of the
depths that athletes will delve into – it’s quite
remarkable.
Julie Moss revisited—1997. The famous crawl
before you walk. Like Julie Moss in 82, Sian Welch was
hanging onto 3rd place before making the famed
right hander onto Alii, still looking OK and making
progress. Sian sees some friends just into Alii Drive and
starts to get the wobbles, but she pulls herself together
and starts to run with form again. However, 50 meters before
the line, Sian falls to the ground a la Julie, and has a
hard time getting up. Fernanda Keller runs by to collect
third place (again!)
Now Wendy Ingraham is in the picture, she
pulls up on Sian and offers encouragement, but as she offers
it, she too falls to the ground. Now, I thought it may have
been a sick joke, almost “in your face” stuff, but Wendy had
lost it completely too.
I was standing behind the line with Wendy’s
other half and we were a little concerned to say the least.
The girls were now just trying to hit the line. I was having
flashbacks to the coverage of the ‘82 race, and it wasn’t
pretty. Just then Wendy got up and hung onto the fence. Sian
then rose, then they both fell again. Wendy just then
started to crawl and Sian followed suit. Wendy finished 4th
and Sian 5th in what has been labeled the “Crawl
of the Century.”
It can happen to anyone, believe me. I had to
laugh . . . at the awards, Sian was announced as 5th
place winner, she got to stage left, then fell to the ground
and crawled to her position on stage, quite amusing as she
saw the other side to it.
1995—PNF. Now the Queen of Kona needs no
intro here, but let me say this… how could you not have your
heart ripped out about this one.
That very corner again, the old HOT corner.
Paula has a minute lead over Karen Smyers, it’s less than a
half mile to go, it’s in the bag!
What did I just say? Its never over ‘til it’s
over (I’ll never say “Its never over ‘til the fat lady
sings” anymore cause I’m sick of getting slapped up side the
head).
Paula was finding it a little rough. Going
for a record 8th title, she was just running out
of steam. Her words were, “I reached deeper than I have ever
gone, went to another side of myself and left part of it out
there.” Man, those are some pretty heavy words. The respect
the Ironman demands is to be regarded as top priority,
whatever Ironman it is, Kona, or ?
I am writing this for laughs and giggles so
don’t take me too seriously. I’m sharing things that some of
us are not very proud of, but have a laugh ourselves.
I have seen many age group athletes hunched
over in pain, or fall to the ground or sprint their way to
the line. I have witnessed tears streaming from my own face,
embracing strangers I don’t know with a giant bear-like hug
in congratulations. I have seen Dick and Ricky Hoyt raise
the roof on more than one occasion, and have been inspired
by John Maclean eventually make the cut off and crush the
finish line, in a wheelchair.
But I have never seen anything like this:
1997 again, Chris Legh, an Australian
Journeyman, an Ironman winner, twice actually - California
and Idaho. Chris was making his way down Alii Drive in 6th
place, suddenly things went way wrong. He stumbled, and
instead of running in a forward motion, he began to traverse
Alii Drive.
Chris poured everything into this day, which
would have equaled his best finish. With 100 meters to go he
lost control like Julie, but on this day would not progress
any further. I’ll leave it there because Chris got back up
and won another Ironman.
The season is now upon us and our goals are
inching ever so close. These stories I share with you are
intended to motivate you, show you that “Anything is
Possible” provided you want to come to the party, become a
part of the family, and ultimately, do the dance.
See you at the races.
Greg |
