The Run & The Finish

I found a video of the swim start today here. The cannon doesn't go off until about 3:20

The run course was a 2 loop out-and-back course that is being considered the most difficult run course of any Ironman. It definitely chewed up a lot of racers that day.

I gave my bike to a volunteer, grabbed my T2 bag and headed into the changing tent to get my shoes on. When I entered the tent who did I see sitting there? Fat Cyclist. He was almost done changing and would definitely get out before me so now I had a rabbit. Heading out of the tent and onto the course met the runners with a steady climb for almost 3 miles. The climbing was steep enough to hurt but not steep enough to justify walking it. The first few miles I was really starting to worry that I might have over cooked myself on the bike. My quads were super tired and I thought that this might be a long run. I saw Kati at mile 2 and I think I told her that I was pretty tired but I don't completely remember.

After three miles the course turned and headed up a steep hill that I'm told was 8%. I had determined before race day that I knew I would be doing some walking on this difficult run course so that I didn't burn out on the first lap. This hill was the first time I walked but it was walking with purpose, I wasn't out for a stroll but when I did walk it was still at good pace. Once I reached the top of that climb there was a little flat another short climb and then it was downhill until the 6.5 mile turn around to face a harder path back. The downhill portions were where I felt that I got my legs back underneath me and got a lot of confidence back. As I was about to reach the turn around I spotted Fat Cyclist heading back towards me meaning that he was about 1 mile ahead. This meant that either he was over cooking himself early on or he was a much stronger runner than I anticipated.

After the turn around I already knew that the way back was going to involve some walking as most of the way back to the left turn into town was all up hill. I ran as often as I thought was not going to overly jeopardize my next loop and as I reached the highest point of the run and was getting ready to start the long descent into town I saw Fat Cyclist as I approached mile 10, turns out he did set out too fast. Heading downhill and back into town to finish my first lap I really felt great and started to toy with the idea that I might actually be able to come in under 13 hours if I could run my second lap as fast as the first.

As I started the second lap and headed out on the long steady climb my calves really started to burn like I had never felt before. At this point my goal was to not walk anymore than I did on the first lap but unfortunately that didn't work out quite like I wanted to because my calf started cramping up and I had to take salt tablets at two consecutive aid stations which helped prevent the cramps but didn't put a dent in the pain.

While physically I was starting to hurt, mentally I was still holding very strong and the way out on my second lap was over before I knew it and I was on my way home. I knew that I wanted to finish this race strong, have no regrets and I also knew at this point that unless I completely collapsed and had to crawl in I was going to come in way below my goal time. I knew where the mile 23 mark was and so once I hit it I told myself that was it and there was no more walking until I crossed that finish line. So I pushed the discomfort to the back of my mind and tried to keep some semblance of a running pace. When I came into 1 mile left I started looking around to see who else around me might be coming into the finishers shoot at the same time as me so I knew whether to speed up or slow down a bit so that I had my moment alone at the end.

Crossing that finish line was one of the greatest experiences of my life. About 100 yards before the end the emotions started to well up. I crossed the line and immediately got snagged by one of the volunteers known as "catchers", these fine people have the responsibility to grab people as they finish to make sure that their legs don't give out and they don't hit the ground. I was the given my medal, finishers hat and shirt and ushered over to the Ironman backdrop to get my picture taken and from there was taken over to my patiently waiting family to get hugs from everyone.

I can't imagine there is anything on this earth as great as hearing the words "Patrick Stoddard, you are an Ironman" announced over the loud speakers. I've watched so many Ironman races on TV and I always get emotional when I see the age groupers come across the line and hear that. Now it was my turn and it was exactly what I thought it would be and more.

So how bad did I really look during the race you ask? Take a look at the pictures. Just type in my bib number (921) and judge for yourself. The race number that went on my helmet flew off the day before the race so I had to go searching for my bike pictures. To take a look at those type in the following number in the photo ID field.

60045-075-012
60045-123-029

60045-459-011