Ironman St George

Now when Ironman St George was announced in 2009, my dad's eyes lit up. He had been contemplating Ironman ever since I had signed up for Ironman Arizona in late 2008. St George has special significance for the both of us because that is where our racing career began. Together we ran the St George marathon in 1998 and many subsequent years since. To this day, it is one of my most treasured memories. Without my consent, he signed me and him up for IMStG. I was committed.

St George marathon 1998.

My dad has one big problem. He has an extreme fear of swimming. So for the past year he has dedicated a lot of his time learning how to swim. He has read books, done drills, attended total immersion swim classes, done open water swim practices, some smaller triathlons, etc and yet still just has this extreme fear of the water. He got to the point where he could swim the distance but was slow and was not able to sight so he does not swim very straight. Now triathlon is an individual event but that doesn't mean that someone else can't help. That's where my race begins.

I painted my shoulder and a stripe down the side of my wetsuit so that he could see me and I swam on his right side. This way he did not have to sight, I did. So one problem solved. Now the time cut off, a huge unknown!

Since my dad spent so much time working with the swim, he spent less on the bike and run training. So again, making the bike cut off, a huge question mark, especially given the difficulty of the course and the wide speculation of weather conditions.

I was not worried about his run. He has ran 20+ marathons, boston qualifier. He knows the distance, he can get it done. I just had to make sure he got to this point!

Swim 2.4 miles 2:16:18

Before Swim

It was a beautiful calm morning out in Sand Hollow. Couldn't have asked for a better day really for Ironman. There were tons of spectators and support. The water was a brisk 59 degrees. The gun went off. My dad and I waited until some of the faster swimmers went and then we started swimming. He got about 200 yards and then panicked. He pulled up his head and said "oh no, there's no way!" When he said this, I thought "Crap, what do I do?" I told him to take a deep breath, he did and just started swimming. I was relieved. By the time we got to the first turn-around buoy we were toward the very end of the swimmers. When we got to the second turn-around buoy there were still some swimmers behind us. At this point I asked a kayak guy how we were doing on time. He assured my that we were doing alright. By the time we got to the final turn-around buoy, there maybe a few swimmers behind us. We had about 20 minutes to get to the top of the boat ramp. It was going to be close. I poked my dad and told him to give it everything. We got to the ramp and my mom was there cheering. Guess what? 2:16:18 <2:20!!!!!!!!!!>

Out of swim, my dad is awesome!

T1 9:01

Happy to be out of the water, we grabbed out bags and headed to the change tent. SInce we were the last ones out, we had it all to ourselves not to mention like 2-3 volunteers each helping us with our stuff. We got our bikes and then onto the course!

Bike 112 miles 7:43:38

Mounting for the bike course

Just happy that we made it to this point, we got on our bikes and I had him go out first. (Since we had to be several bike lengths away to avoid drafting) I knew that it was going to be a very long ride and we again were up against the clock. Going out to the main road, I past him and tried to set a little stronger pace. He told me as I was passing to go ahead and go because he was 'probably not going to make the cut off and he didn't want to ruin my race' Really, dad? You said that in the swim too. Guess what, if I have anything to do with it your gonna finish. So we made it, to the start of the first loop. About 1 minute after we had pros passing us already on their second loop. And then more and more people. Wow we still had another loop and we hadn't even done the first! haha Anyway we plugged away at the hills and descended down Veyo reaching speeds of 40+ Even with going that fast our average was 14 something an hour (We had to average 14 mph to make cut off) It shows you how tough that front side of the loop was. Now we were on to the second and the winds were a lot stronger. I was mildly panicked. We did not have a lot of time to spare, we were right at cut off pace from my calculations and I'd push and then my dad would fade and then when I let off he would just come on strong. He was so courageous and literally gave everything he had. Going up 'the wall', while almost all were walking their bikes, he pushed through all the way to the top. We got up Veyo and drilled the down hill again. Turning off to the last couple of miles, we saw mom and Bri. They said that we would make the cut off. I was soooooooooooooooo relieved! I can't even tell you. I knew, at least I was pretty confident that we would now finish! Then we cruised on into bike dismount with 15 and change to spare.

T2 7:25

This was a pretty chill transition. We came in, got our bags and I put my stuff on and helped my dad get all his stuff together. We were off to the run!!!! YEsssssss!

Run 26.2 5:30:50

Running.. I think on our way back to the second loop

I was excited to be here, now my dad might say otherwise. He had given everything and more on the swim and bike. His tank was pretty dang empty, at least that's the impression I got. When we walked the first half mile, I started to worry..a little. But I got him to start an easy jog. This lasted maybe one hundred yards and then we walked again. Eventually he found what was left of his legs and we were able to pick spots to run to and then walk. Then we would walk a lot of the up hill and jog the down hill. During a section of downhill, I ran into an old friend Scott. He helped us maintain a pace for a little bit as we chatted. Eventually we developed a 3:1 cone method. We ran to 3 cones and then walked a cone. This helped us maintain a 12:30ish pace, I think. My dad, being the positive person that he is said, 'We're probably the only ones on our first lap of two' MMMM no dad that's not true, AT ALL! So we get to special needs and down a red bull and turn to the second loop. We maintained the best we could. At about mile 16 ish we got a glow stick (from Brian, he got put on glow stick duty hehe). We plugged away slowly and was so happy when we got to the last turn around. A friend of mine, Kylie was in the band that was play there and to I got to wave and she called out my name through the speakers.. That's right, I know people haha. Just after this point my dad had said that it was the hardest thing that he has ever done. The course was tough but we plugged through it. It was either all up or all downhill, no flat areas. We got down to the round about and headed for victory!

Kevin and dad, you are Ironmen! I was pretty emotional coming across the finish line. It was one of those things that you wouldn't trade for a million dollars. And it is ours forever!

Total time 15:47:12 (my dad beat me by one second...I guess it's payback for when I beat him by one second in our first marathon!)

Finish stretch!

Aftermath and comments

The race was superb, well organized and beautiful! It will be as my first marathon, a treasured moment that I will never forget! The volunteers and community were outstanding and welcoming. I love St George for this! Thank you volunteers, thank you St George! The course was exacting and just. I would do it again. I would recommend it to anyone that loves a challenge and is willing to really work to get there. I would not recommend the course to first timers who just want to do an Ironman. They are all hard, so why not pick a less demanding course?

For more pictures, click here.