News
Mary's (2008) Ironman Hawaii Race
Posted October 14, 2008 05:31 PM
Mary is my 61 year old coaching client who overcame a really tough spring/summer. She had her big toe broken in a swim class this past April, and the same foot was reinjured in June. Her dreams of completing her first Ironman on August 24th were almost derailed many times in those months, but Mary persevered and never gave up hope. Mary is an incredible marathoner having competed at the Boston Marathon a few years ago. Despite the fact that (a) she hadn't completed in any triathlons since the late 90's (and only short distance ones back then), (b) she hadn't raced at all this season due to her injured foot, and (c) that her longest run pre IMC was 1.5 hours just over a week before the race, Mary persevered and on the day not only was able to run the entire marathon, but won her age group, set a new age group record and qualified for the World Champsionships in Kona.
After a intensive pre-Hawaii prep weekend spent here in Victoria in September, (where Mary was given a crash course in all things IMHawaii...) she flew to Kona 10 days pre-race for the final part of the taper and to acclimitize somewhat to the heat and humidity there.
Mary had an amazingly great swim and exited the water in 3rd place (of 18 in the W60-64 age group). The bike ride proved to be very hot and extremely windy with buffeting sidewinds on the smaller highway to/from Hawi and spirit numbing headwinds on the Queen K Highway back into the Kona. Mary persevered with a very strong ride and came into T2 in 4th place. Heading out onto the run Mary was in her element and the phrase "it's a runner's world" was never truer than during this race. Mary ran down and passed the third and second place women and was breathing down the leader's (Cherie Gruenfeld's) neck. Cherie is a legend in the sport of IM racing having raced at countless IM and 1/2 IM races and competed at the World Championships more than a dozen times winning her age group on a number of occasions.
In the end Cherie crossed the finish line in 13:11 with Mary coming across in second only 4 mins 12 secs later. An absolutely astonishing debut race in Kona!! As it turns out, there is a great deal of truth in the statement that transitions are the 4th event in a triathlon, as Cherie's T1 and T2 times ended up being a total of approx 6 mins faster than Mary's.
Mary's marathon was the fastest of the day in the W60-64 age group and I believe may even have set a new age group record. It was a blazing 4:24 (and that's after 7:15 of a tough bike ride and a 1:20 swim!)
To see Mary's race stats go to the following link and type in "309" when prompted. Scroll down and click on "Watch me Finish" to see Mary coming across the finish line (looking as fresh as if she's only done a short 10km race!!)
http://ironman.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship/?show=tracker&rid=172&year=2008
It has been such a pleasure to be Mary's coach this year and to have helped her in her journey to become an Ironman. She is an amazing talent and is a real superstar in the world of triathlon in my books. I am confident that we can take what she has learned this year and build upon it for next. The crown of W60-64 Kona age group winner is waiting for her!
