Hawaiian Ironman Kona
October 10, 2009 by saima naveed under Sports News
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Hawaiian Ironman Kona, Wellington set the Ironman world record in July, finishing in 8 hours, 31 minutes, 59 seconds at the Quelle Challenge in Roth, Germany.I love pushing my body to the limit,” she said. “I’m stronger on the swim. I’m stronger on the bike. I’m stronger on the run. I know there’s more inside of me.”Saturday’s race begins with a 2.4-mile (3.9-kilometer) ocean swim in Kailua Bay, is followed by a 112-mile (180-kilometer) bike leg through sun-baked lava fields north along the Kohala Coast, and finishes with a 26.2-mile (42.16-kilometer) run to the finish line in Kailua Village.Among Wellington’s top challengers are Sandra Wallenhorst of Germany, last year’s third-place finisher, and Yvonne Van Vlerken of Netherlands, who held the world record for a year before Wellington lowered it by 13 minutes.
“I really want to finish the race, but it won’t define anything about me,” said Garlett, 38. “It would put an exclamation on my recovery. Three years ago, I couldn’t make it up the stairs. My life could not be more different.”The Los Angeles-based writer and motivational speaker has been diagnosed four times with cancer. He fought off Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1989 as an 18-year-old high school senior, and again in 1991 and 1994. A bone marrow transplant in 1994 damaged his heart.In 1997, Garlett heard the devastating news again. He had secondary leukemia, triggered by chemotherapy drugs.
“At that point, I’d been fighting for eight years. I really thought I was going to die,” he said. “That was the darkest day.”
At that point, a normal man would crawl to the nearest pub, plop down and order one cold beer after another.
Clearly, Adamle is not your “normal” man. He is a fitness freak who is somewhat obsessed with the Ford Ironman World Championship Triathlon, the most grueling test of endurance on the planet.
Adamle will then begin running … and running, for 26.2 miles — a marathon — over rough lava-covered terrain.
When he finally reaches the most beloved sight for any triathlete — the finish line — he will have earned bragging rights as perhaps the real “Iron Mike” of his generation and done his part to fortify the notion that “sixty is the new 40.”
My man on the spot in Kona, Hawaii Ben Greenfield chats with Maarten Van Der Weijden the Gold 10K swimming medalist from the Beijing Olympics and amatuer Ironman legend Joe Bonness.
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