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By
Greg Welch for Ironmanlive.com on Tue, Dec 6th 2005
Photos:GregWelch.com
Greg Welch puts together a list
of great memories from the year of Ironmanlive coverage in
2005 … a great way to wrap up a busy year of coverage!
During the year I travel to
many Ironman races and I never ever walk away unmotivated,
uninspired, and without having made new friends. This year
was an incredible year, possibly the most exciting yet.
Ironmanlive’s
first video stop was New Zealand.
Cam Brown was chasing history
yet again. He was trying for his fifth consecutive win, and
got it. For Joanna Lawn it was her third in a row … must be
the clean crisp air! I was fortunate enough to interview
Scott Johnson from North Carolina. Scott’s no ordinary
triathlete: he had a double lung transplant a few years ago,
and now finds himself doing the toughest race in sport, the
Ironman. He didn’t finish, but kudos to him for trying.
At last years event it was
Tracey Richardson, an overweight mother tending to her sick
children. She had seen the Ironman and thought that it could
change her life. Well, that it did, but her effort has
blossomed – now her Ironman racing raises awareness and
money for Cystic Fibrosis. She heads the race for CF
campaign and in her first year they topped the $100,000NZ
mark.
She was hand picked from an
amazing amount of special interest stories to compete in the
Ironman World Championship, 2004. Tracey certainly has made
an impact, she lost a ton or weight and she completed the
race, running the final 100 or so meters with her 2 children
and brought the house down. Tracey is an incredible person
who sacrifices herself day in and day out for her family,
and has now written a book, a must read of course.
We then traveled to Australia
to Forster for the very last time. This was the site of my
first ever Ironman in ‘87. It will be strange to not go back
there, but I believe that Port Macquarie will be a fantastic
destination and a great race will be run.
This year it was Chris
McCormack and Lisa Bentley defending their titles again,
with Chris taking his fourth and Lisa her third. This race
was known also for its post race party with the RSL club
firing up for a blow out night. I almost thought there would
be fireworks, but to no avail.
Long live Forster Tuncurry,
thank you for the memories.
The next stop for us was Coeur
D’Alene, Idaho, now a popular stop in the Ironman North
American leg. For many reasons this race was always going to
be fantastic. It was the men’s only North American
championship, with eight Kona spots on offer and double the
normal prize money. Most of us were looking at Simon
Lessing, for the win and to grab a much needed qualifying
spot, but it was Victor Zyemtsev, using his weapon-like run
leg, who took the victory from Finland’s Tom Soderdahl. This
race is beautiful with a great location and a magical event.
Ironmanlive
then moved onto Austria and Germany minus myself (minor tune
up procedure on the ticker), but these races again showed us
why we love our sport so much. The spectators were crazy.
They came out in masses. I’ve seen nothing like it. Austria
and Germany are two of my favorites, Klagenfurt for its
beauty and Frankfurt for its dramatic finish line, and it
still blows me away how Kurt Denk and his team in Germany
can pull this huge event off in such a large city. The
crowds are mind blowing.
Lake Placid, New York. Ahhhh,
the east coast. Hills, mountains, and you can hit any
weather at all. I have seen the most beautiful day, a windy
day, and a rainy day, but always a great race. The women had
their chance to show themselves off with a women’s only pro
race. All the pre-race talk was about Desiree Ficker being
absolutely psyched up and ready to go, but Heather Fuhr gave
it to her, taking her fifth title. Heather was pushed all
the way by Kim Loeffler, and special mention goes to Tony
Delonge who took first across the line honors in a very
respectable sub-nine hour time. This race also had double
Ironman spots for pro’s and double the money.
Off to Penticton, Canada, for
my first ever trip there. There is no wonder why this race
is probably the most popular in North America. Set in the
mountains, Penticton is a four hour drive from Vancouver, or
a short hop in the plane. When you arrive here the fever is
apparent with shop fronts showing support by showing
displays with anything triathlon. Many of the locals have
roots with this race, Dave Bullock the race director and
Steve King are just two people I have known for a long time,
and have never visited their race. I must say to these two
gentlemen: thank you for your efforts, you guys are great.
The race itself is different
from the modern day Ironman. It has a one lap swim, a one
lap hard bike ride and a one lap run. It’s all very
beautiful, though. A beautiful day they had, too, with Chris
Lieto and Karen Holloway capturing their first Ironman
titles. The wind swept up around noon which presented an
interesting run, but soon died off again. A record setting
bike time set Lieto up for his win. A real homey feel here.
Wisconsin, PARTY!! Ok, this
University town has it all. The set up is perfect with the
swim straight out front of the transition area in Lake
Monona. The spectators are really treated here thanks to the
Lake Monona Terrace, which provides the perfect viewing
platform, and is swarmed with thousands of screaming fans in
the morning. After the swim they can board a bus and cruise
out to Verona, and watch the riders make two loops before
heading back to Madison. For the run, the athletes are
cheered on by over 45,000 students ready to scream for the
athletes. (Sure, they might be hungover, but they’re
enthusiastic!). The run winds its way through the university
grounds and returns to town taking in one of the most
photographed and most beautiful sights, the State Capitol.
The finish line here also hops with Mike Reilly and Tom
Ziebart rockin’ the house.
Which leads me to Ironman. The
best race in a long time, I thought. Wow, Faris Al Sultan
has arrived. The powerful, yet unassuming, German claimed
the title, and now I believe he is the man to watch on the
Lava Fields. OK, Normann had rotten luck and will be back
next year. What a ride that’s going to be with Sinballe,
too. Browny ran a gallant race, and Peter Reid, the three
time champ, gave another 100% performance to grab third. A
changing of the guard perhaps?
The women’s race was
unbelievable. Michellie Jones, in her debut, took it to the
veteran. Would you expect anything else? NUP. MJ is the
“winningest” female ever in Olympic distance racing, and
switched to the longer distance last year. She was snubbed
by her country thanks to a ridiculous selection criteria
that saw her miss the Olympics in Athens. I would have loved
to have seen her win there after seeing the woman who
finished ahead of her in Sydney, Bridget McMahon, test
positive for EPO earlier this year. HMMMMMMMMMMM.
Anyway MJ, you gave us all a
race to talk about. You got second, and earned more money
than before. You also ran away with the Timex primes, and
nearly stole the raceJ
You’ll be back.
Kate Major was the big mover on
the run with a 3.02, charging into third place only 49
seconds behind MJ, and only just over 3 minutes behind the
“Swiss Miss”.
Natascha
Badmann now joins Mark Allen and Dave Scott as six-time
Ironman World Champions. That is certainly a dominant
career, and she ain’t done yet. Like Newby-Fraser in ‘96,
Badmann spent four minutes in the bin, then went on to run a
3.06 (really a 3.02) to lay claim to her win.
The years best stories? There
are two of them:
The Blazeman, John Blais. This
guy has heart! He should be afraid, scared, and possibly
traveling and spending time with his family. This story
ripped me to shreds November 12th when I was
glued to NBC’s Ironman show. When host Al Trautwig explained
his disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s) I could hardly contain
myself. This is a grown man, facing death. Have you ever
faced death? Probably not, I myself have seen a darker side,
that’s why I felt compelled to write this. John is my latest
hero. There are many heroes, including my fast wife Sian
(10.02) – not bad for a mum and a full time worker – but
John is the epitome of “Anything is Possible”. No disrespect
to our NBC directors, but where was the bloody tissue
warning at the beginning of the show? When John’s father was
interviewed, you could see the love, the passion, the
heartache, the inevitable “one day they will lose their
son”. One thing in life is guaranteed … yep … death. John is
living proof that anyone can get off their butts and do it.
John is living proof that you only need a good strong mind
to compete, to fight, to hurt. John struggled throughout the
race with limited use of his hands. Having yielded to the
course on several occasions to stretch, he carried on. His
parents waited and waited. He struggled into the night, but
determination did not fail this young man. He reached that
line, and there was not a dry eye in the house. What can I
say, other than: John, you are my hero! I have prayed for
you every night since, you will always live, my friend.
Sarah Reinertsen, Hippity
Hoppity Hooper. I once told Sarah that she should seek
sponsorship from IHOP! In my accent, Sarah was slow to it
but then it clicked, I was waiting for a slap across the
face, but not from Sarah. Sarah is one of the nicest young
ladies you will ever meet. Not to be denied, Sarah, from a
young age would get stuck into anything, preferably sport.
Sarah had her left leg
amputated just above her knee when she was seven. She took
up triathlons only a few years ago. She already holds world
records in running, but that wasn’t good enough for this
highly motivated whipper snapper. She stands 4 feet 10 or
so, depending on what prosthetic she sports at the time. (I
know that’s your story Sarah, stick to it honey!) She packs
a punch of epic proportions.
Not one to quit is Sarah. In
2004, at the Ironman, she missed the bike cut off by a short
14 minutes thanks to some of the heaviest winds the Kohala
Coast had dished up in a decade. Devastated, Sarah and her
crew packed up and left very unhappy, saying that she had
“Unfinished Business”.
After towing 10 TV stations
behind her, 2005 was an amazing year. She validated her
qualification earlier in the year in the Honu 70.3 distance
in June, leaving her plenty of time to prepare herself for
the sport’s “gnarliest” test. Cannondale built her a special
bike (I would have asked to put some horsepower in the
cranks while they were there) pink in color, and a size to
almost fit my 4 year old, it was really cute.
Until this day no woman amputee
athlete had completed the Ironman, this was a big deal. Too
right it was! Sarah had worked her butt off under the
watchful eye of Paul Huddle who guided her through a rugged
training regime.
Race day for Sarah went
perfect, swimming just where she wanted, crossing the bike
transition mark an hour and 20 minutes faster than last
year, and eclipsing the finish line with a 15.05.
On stage the next night a
gentleman from Cannondale, wearing a t-shirt that read
“unfinished business”, presented her with an award. She took
out a sharpie, and crossed the “UN” on the t-shirt with a
smile on her face as wide as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, OK,
the Golden Gate Bridge. GET IT?
From time to time, we drift
from the realm of triathlon, slip into our shells, and go
away. It’s normal. Ironman is tough and although we never
want to see a season end, how good is it to finish on such
high notes from all the wonderful performances of ’05, and
especially from John and Sarah.
Have a great off season, see
you in 06’
Greg
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