IRONMAN in Lake Tahoe: A Spectator’s View

By Paula Peterson

Even the name IRONMAN tells the story. After watching a day of swimming, biking and running it was proven to me that these athletes must be made of iron, or, at least, something different than my composition. Even having the trademark name in all capital letters gives one a sense of strength.

I ventured to the North Shore on Sunday to watch my 64-year-old cousin Al compete in his 25th IRONMAN. My jaw still drops when I try and grasp that figure. 25 IRONMANs and countless other triathlons and here I am proud of walking 3 miles! What is also amazing by this feat is the fact that he suffered a major injury just 3 years ago. While training on his bike he hit the back of a truck which resulted in a shattered jaw, nine lost teeth, broken wrist, injury to his spinal cord and vertebra and a severely injured larynx among other injuries. Less than 8 months later he ran in the Arizona IRONMAN and won his age group, thus being invited to the big kahuna of races, the Kailua-Kona IRONMAN.

If anything negative could be taken away from this first time event for the Lake Tahoe region was the traffic. The LA style traffic jam going over Highway 267 was a big surprise. After spending over an hour inching along the mountain we almost missed the bikers going through Truckee. Logistics will have to be worked on before the return of IRONMAN next year (yes, they’ve signed a 5 year contract with North Lake Tahoe folks) but with the number of people visiting and an estimated $10-$15 million being spent in the region, things will improve. They have to.

The demand for IRONMAN in Lake Tahoe was evident in the fact that all 2,500 spots were sold out in less than 24 hours. Participants paid $675 each to enter. Then hotels and rental houses are booked and training began. Many of those running, biking and swimming made visits to Lake Tahoe during the past year in order to see and train on the course. If they couldn’t make it to Tahoe they trained where altitude and conditions were similar. One participant estimated he spends $3,000 to $4,000 during IRONMAN week.

For some, the race ended in just under 9 hours. The race was a 2.4 mile swim in Lake Tahoe, a 112 mile bike ride over and through the mountains capped off with a 26.2 mile run. It took a super athlete to complete in 8 hours and 55 minutes. Chris McDonald of the USA was the top men’s competitor while the top position for women went to Asa Lundstrom of Sweden who finished in 9 hours and 58 minutes and 53 seconds. Second place Jeanne Collonge of France finished just 50 seconds later. Yes, almost 10 hours of racing and 50 seconds determined first and second place!

Spectators along the course created a lot of entertainment for people watchers. Volunteers at the support stations were dressed in colored wigs and tights while family members dressed alike carried signs of support. One sign I saw at the biking portion in Truckee said “Remember, you paid for this” while another at the run finish line said “Run Now, Beer Later.”
Being a spectator was a great experience but one that also taught me to be better prepared next time. Of course, before next year I’ll have exercised and be more fit so I can fit in a bit better! I came up with this guide for next year:

IRONMAN Spectator Survival Guide

1. Bring a chair. This isn’t a race where everyone goes by in a short span so plan on watching for a long time.
2. Bring changes of clothes. With 17 hours given to racers you’re talking a long day and a variety of temperatures. Bring hats, gloves, a coat, shorts, sweats…you want to be comfortable. Seasoned spectators apparently knew the routine and had sleeping bags and blankets as well.
3. Have meals handy. There are some vendors around but if you’re out in the middle of nowhere watching you’ll want to be prepared.
4. Have your phone charged up and even bring a charger to pop in somewhere. You’re taking pictures and keeping in touch with people over several hours.
5. Bring noise. Bells, horns…things to root on the competitors.
6. If you know people personally, bring signs, pompoms and other items to encourage them on the course.
7. Download course maps before you go. It’s nice to know what’s going on as there aren’t a lot of materials to view once out there.
8. Bring souvenir money. Squaw Village had all of their shops open as well as tents of IRONMAN product. The town of Truckee sold bells sporting their name as well as plenty of other opportunities to part with cash.
9. Bring a flashlight if you plan on staying through the running portion. As we drove out at 9 pm we saw dozens of runners still on the Truckee River path along the side of Highway 89. The athletes were wearing headlamps but very few of the spectators were as prepared.

This race was good for the area and it would be nice for the South Shore to have a complementary event to being people to this end during the time participants and their team/support group/friends are in town.

My cousin had to pull out at mile 13 of the run, just the first time he hasn’t finished a triathlon. He was having trouble swallowing during the bike portion and just couldn’t get through the run. This is a lingering side affect of the accident.

I’ll be back next year, to root on cousin Al!