Got Iron? …Man!

On Sunday, July 20th I was traveling west toward Tupper Lake, a trip which takes me through Lake Placid. The 10th Annual Ironman event was going on. A 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run make up an Ironman event. This year there were 2,200 competitors. To make their effort even more challenging it was raining most of the day and some of the time it was an absolute downpour!

Traffic was stopped several times at various highway intersections...

The bike route takes competitors past the Olympic ski jumps... these jumps were built for the 1980 Winter Olympics here in Lake Placid.

This year the men’s division was won by Francisco Pontano from Spain, #31 in 8:43:42. The women’s division winner was Caitlin Shea-Kenney from Brockton, Mass, wearing #42 in 9:51:00. These last two pictures were taken through the car windshield, the rain was falling steady by this time in the late afternoon.

To race in an Ironman event is an amazing athletic feat, just to finish is an honor… my congratulations to all the participants!