Still and moving images can be found all over the planet in this plugged in century in television, movies and online. But there is something special about the ability of words to stir the soul, outrage the faithful, comfort the afflicted, surprise the cognoscenti and make a lasting focused memory of the cacophony inherent in the swiftly passing parade in the sport of swim-bike-run. Timothy Carlson presents the quotes that caught his attention in the sport of triathlon in this most recent trip around the sun.
The thinnest line – finish or DNF
“There is only one reason that made me walk those last 12 km's to the finish today: So that I never have to come back. I have invested too much and too long in this race and I can NOT and will NOT do that to myself and my family again. My girls always supported my choices 100% and I have a lot to thank to them and they would be behind me if I wanted to try again but I just cannot do this AGAIN. I'm empty!” – Marino Vanhoenacker bids farewell after blowing up at Kona where he ran 4:31:02 and finished 353rd overall in 9:55:19.
“I knew right away this was a something more than a side stitch and I couldn’t just run through it. I was still close to town around target on Queen K at this point and did think it would be very easy to just turn around and go home. However, I have too much respect for this race and if I could move forward on the course I was going to keep going. I had an extra hour or so on the course that will forever be seared in my memory, an experience that I never want to have again. This will serve as a reminder and a motivation as I prepare for next year and for me I see that as a very valuable tool I wouldn’t have had that experience to draw off of if I pulled out.” - Timothy O’Donnell after fading at Kona, running 3:52:30, and finishing 104th overall in a time of 9:25:13.
“Coming out of the Energy Lab with approximately six miles to go, I was taxed. My body was not absorbing nutrients, my thought process was not fully functioning and I was beyond tired. I zoned out and channeled the spiritual energy of the island to carry me home. The serenity of hundreds of feet pounding the pavement and the sun, heat and wind provided me a spiritual strength that helped carry me the rest of the way.” – Eight-time Olympic speed skating medalist Apolo Ohno interviewed on Ironman.com after finishing 320th overall in a time of 9:52:27 at Kona.
“I cannot believe it, so deep and beautiful as I am now dreaming, that it will take an earthquake so may I wake up again.” English translation of a blog post written by Sebastian Kienle on the exquisite emotions of winning the Ironman World Championship.
“At about 24 hours in, I was coming down this mountain and I hit a big rock that snapped a bolt holding my steering mechanism. The wheelchair just had the single front wheel and I couldn’t continue without that, the wheel would just fall over sideways. I was actually feeling relieved because this was my out. I got very cranky and just shot down all the optimism of my crew. It was very unlike me - but that’s what it was. We all decided to take a 20-minute nap on the side of the dirt road. Then we carried on about 5k to the next town. I’d push my chair, go almost straight right, lift the front of the chair back to straight and repeat. It was miserable. At the town we found a motorcycle repairman who was able to grind down the sheared hardware and weld it all back together. It took a couple hours, we sat and ate, laughed a bit and I was totally rejuvenated. When we set back out, I specifically thought I don’t care if this takes a week, I’m finishing this damn thing. Well, it only took 62.5 hours so at that point I was happy with my time.” - Czech Republic paratriathlete André Kajlich on his struggles finishing the rugged Brazil 135 triathlon.
“I was very sad to have to stop competing. I still dream about Zofingen and duathlon, and I am 52 now. Sometimes I wake up and realize how detailed my dreams are, about how I am trying to make a comeback, and how much I just want to go and be able to compete again. I try not to think about it too much, but I miss it a lot. I was very sad it had to end the way it did; I felt broken all over again. And that was after working hard to heal from other deep wounds.” - Two-time Powerman Duathlon World Champion Maddie Tormoen on being forced to retire with ventricular tachycardia. Previously, she had five left knee surgeries; three bilateral hamstring releases due to compartment syndrome; two piriformis releases; and heel spurs, neuromas and plantar fasciitis.
The agony of a red card
“From that moment forward I spent my time asking the unanswerable question, why? My foot came off the gas. My mind entered a spiral that was filled with irrational thoughts and pure emotion. I hit the penalty tent and was humiliated, ashamed. I’m not a cheater, and I live my life to be a recognized legitimate champion. A 4-minute drafting penalty indicates actions of a racer I am not. I don’t cut corners; I don’t take the easy route. It isn’t who I am and I don’t represent the sponsors I have to be classified as a cheater. None of them deserve that. I didn’t feel that I deserved to be there and it pained me so much. Emotionally I was simply overwhelmed and by that point the emotion of the moment had gone too far, destroying any chances of me pulling through this.” - Helle Frederiksen writing in her blog on incurring a penalty at Ironman 70.3 Worlds and her subsequent DNF.
“I’ve never received a penalty before in my life. And I disagreed with it too. Mentally it blew me down. I struggled big time to come to terms with it and to keep fighting and to recover. I thought there is a tradition in Hawaii. You can’t call off your race because things aren’t going well. You can’t go home. It’s not cool to do that. Really I think without those things maybe, it could have been quite interesting. So I am looking forward to coming back.” - Jan Frodeno on the impact of a penalty on the bike leg at Ironman Hawaii.
“Imagine a situation where you are overtaking someone who, as you are going by, instead of dropping back, they speed up. And at the same time there is another guy overtaking you, all in a single lane. So now you have to choose whether to gun it to overtake the first guy and if you do you are basically on the wheel of the other guy who is slowly passing on your left. Or you sit up and drop back again and risk a penalty for an incomplete pass. And while all this is happening, there you are, surrounded by men who are completely blocking you from the side wind and you are in fact drafting in the basic definition of the word. And this is only one of 100 scenarios that can arise. The race becomes a series of ethical decisions about how to react to the men’s race around us.” - Sara Gross Canadian pro and winner of Ironman Brazil.
“That is not correct. Blatant drafting is always a choice. Even in a big race with lots of top athletes, you can always ride clean, especially as an age grouper.” -- Ironman head draft marshal Jimmy Riccitello denying that crowding makes it impossible to avoid a draft penalty.
Why we do these crazy things
“Everyone has been telling me I’ll come out with three eyes or a couple [extra] arms. But I know doing this race is a rare opportunity. It takes a lot of grit to get in the Hudson, and it seems worth it.” - Corinne Fitzgerald, winner of Under 24 division, discussing the thick band of bacteria-rich, silty muck that covered her face after the swim in the New York City Triathlon speaking to The New York Times.
“I think our society today, the way that we live, is so extreme in one way, where everybody expects you to be connected all the time and you need to be really working a lot and everything is based on a digital world. I think the contrast of pushing yourself physically in nature is something that we need to balance that type of a life out. [In our race] you go back to the Stone Age. You’re a caveman or cavewoman again.” - Michael Lemmel race director of the 46.6-mile Otillo race in Sweden, speaking to The New York Times.
“We go to Mecca every year. All Muslims go there. The rich and the poor wear the same thing, you can't tell them apart. Why can't we do that here, in triathlon? A Mecca in triathlon. Everybody looking the same when in their wetsuits. Bahrainis, even expats, get half off the entry, and His Highness's foundation, any person in Bahraini who can't pay to enter, it'll sponsor his entry. We put $50,000 of the prize purse just for Bahraini citizens. The first beneficiaries of the triathlon will be the citizens of this country and the citizens of the GCC [Gulf Cooperative Council]. Yes, we hope for tourism, but this also circles back to the locals. Triathlon checks every single box, but the most important box is social development. You will never achieve what you want by force, you will never achieve what you want with an air force. You can achieve more by making people like you than by making people fear you. With triathlon you connect with people emotionally, with quality.” - Bahraini Sheikh Saqer Al Khalifa.
“Cultural shifts take lifetimes. I was born here and proud of it, yet my European heritage tells me that we need some learning on this side of the pond. Here it is all about convenience, drive-thru everything and eat what is convenient. Sorry, buddy! Walking is weird in many parts of this country and cycling is stupid. For example to ride your bike to work in Sweden is a normal thing, yet here they would ask you how long your car is going to be in the shop if you showed up at work with your bike. The USA has become very lazy and as a society we need to incorporate in our children's learning experiences the importance of physical activity, nutrition and the knowledge of the arts, geography, history, music etc. while we are at it. Sadly it doesn't happen in most homes and we won't pay the taxes for all this learning at the schools either.” - U.S. age grouper Carl Knutsson
Darkest hours
“I was in solitary confinement. I was pretty desperate to latch on to something, and that article [on Ironman Hawaii] provided me with an objective when I had none… Long ago I had lost all sense of direction or vision of who I wanted to become or what I wanted to do with my life. I had become a junkie and a drunk. I remember thinking how crazy it seemed to me that people swam, rode and ran that far in one day. It blew my mind. I figured the pursuit of Ironman, just trying to finish a race, would go a long way towards changing my circumstance in almost every way.” - Shane Niemeyer, author of The Hurt Artist: My Journey from Suicidal Junkie to Ironman.
“My dark moment… I had been using drugs the night before, had been drinking, smoking cigarettes and weed. I had quit that stuff, I was training. I felt deep, deep shame. I had decided this was the end. So I found a belt, tied it around the rafters in the garage, and stood on an Adirondack chair. I was up there about 5 minutes, just reflecting back, and you get the whole stream of thoughts, just blasting at you. The first one was that my friend would find me like that and be scarred for life. The very next one was, my mom is going to be absolutely devastated.” – Canadian pro triathlete Lionel Sanders speaking to the
“Sometimes I feel like it’s too hard, it’s been too long in the game, I ache and hurt. I get broody, I start doubting, I miss my family – then this little voice reminds me of who I am, what I do and why I do it. I have a lot of motherfuckers to prove wrong yes…but it ain’t about the motherfuckers - it is about proving those I adore - right.” - Pro triathlete and two-time World Champion Jodie Swallow writing in her blog.
Psych!
“I am not the type of person who tries to get inside my rivals’ heads. My results have done that for me.” – Three-time Ironman World Champion Mirinda Carfrae
“Brett Sutton used to say that I would be a better athlete if we could chop my head off. I have matured as an athlete since that point, both in my self-belief and ‘race-head,’ but still any athlete can get immersed in self-doubt after a run of back luck or injury…” – Dr. Tamsin Lewis speaking of her former coach Brett Sutton.
“It is always to push myself harder. A funny thing is, I always think of the Brownlees. They are always hurting so much. So I was saying to myself ‘I am not hurting enough. I should be hurting like the Brownlees.’” – USA Triathlon 2014 Collegiate National Champion Rodolphe von Berg explaining how he motivates himself in the middle of a race.
“I am not one of these people who think they are the best - I know I am not. My brother was always better than me. I did well in Bermuda races, but Bermuda only has 60,000 people. I look at it this way - even when you win a race, there is always someone out there better than you. You take the wins when you can, but you don’t let them go to your head. I use that attitude to keep me honest.” - Tyler Butterfield 2014 Abu Dhabi International Champion, on how insecurity works for him.
“This question reads like I am un-sportsmanlike :) It amazes me all this bullshit that people try to display in this sport that they have no ego or this and that. Give me a break. Every single professional athlete I have ever met in this sport and any other is full of ego and sees themselves as the best. It is just that they have their press voices and public fake persona that most of you guys buy into. It is not about mind games or anything like that. It is about believing in something before you see it... Athletes try and display this reverse persona to the press for fear of being judged. I never bought into this crap. With Caroline [Steffen, whom he coaches] I am only concerned on how she really perceives herself. In my opinion she is built for Ironman racing; she is tough as nails and she is strong and powerful and more than capable of winning this race [Kona]. It is not a popularity contest. It is Ironman.” – Four-time World Champion Chris McCormack disputes that he wins with mind games.
“I didn’t think I was ready. I said, ‘Being old and fat and blind is not conducive to doing a triathlon.’ Caroline (Gaynor) didn’t buy that sort of thinking and said, ‘There is no reason you can't do one now’ and offered to guide me in a spring triathlon.” - Amy Dixon, blind sommelier and triathlete.
It’s not about the money?
“We don’t know why people choose to be professional triathletes... I don’t know why Rachel Joyce is a professional triathlete as opposed to practicing law. She is lawyer. I am not sure why Amanda Stevens is a professional triathlete as opposed to practicing medicine because she is a doctor. I am not sure why Meredith Kessler left working in finance. But I trust that all of them had a good reason for it.” – Ironman CEO Andrew Messick
“Totally overwhelming! The thought never crossed my mind that I might win before the race, so when it actually happened, it hit me like a ton of bricks. As I crossed the line, there were a dozen photographers flashing cameras, reporters rushed up to interview me, and the staff had me autograph the finish line ribbon. I had a moment to recover in the medical tent before interviewing with Jeff Meeks (Ironman announcer) back at the finish line. They invited me to high-five the athletes coming home in the final hour before the midnight finish, which was something I never dreamed I’d get the chance to do. Spectators took pictures of me with their kids and I even had a few selfie requests. There was more buzz about me on Facebook, Twitter and web forums in 2 days than I think I’ve had in my whole life. I did podcasts with TheRealStarky and Endurance Planet the week after the race. I’m a Team Zoot athlete and Zoot put a post about me on their main webpage, and Team Zoot has a photo of me as the profile picture on Facebook. I’ve been invited to be the “featured speaker” at a few events recently, and, as if all this wasn’t enough, I’m going to be on a billboard in Times Square next Saturday!!” – Matt Bach on the glory derived from winning the no-prize-money, no-pro Ironman Maryland.
“They kiss you! They suck your face off! CHUCKLES They kiss you right on the lips and pretty much suck your lips off. That was a bit of a shock.” – Melissa Hauschildt, four-time Laguna Phuket winner, discussing what it is like to be kissed by the Thai elephant at the finish.
“I am feeling I am in my own world, just trying to fly a little bit. As you said, I am dancing with the course. Of course I am giving all I have, racing through the suffering. The suffering will always be there. The magic comes when you learn how to enjoy that part.” - Mauricio Mendes, fast runner and youngest XTERRA pro.
Outspoken
“The Boulder DA's office in my opinion were totally spineless. The guy admitted to leaving the scene, which is a separate crime in itself. The police even failed to cite him on that issue alone. Later I learned the guy had multiple DUIs, but the police were too lazy to go out and interview him in person that day to see if he had been drinking. They called him instead. The big issue with cycling is we are expected to follow the same rules as a car, but when there's an accident, the vehicle seems to always be in the right. Even in this case, there were four separate witnesses saying the driver was at fault, but that didn't matter. It's not in my nature to go out and sue someone, but this guy is dangerous and as I said to the detective, he will kill someone someday. The fact that the coward left me in the middle of the road and drove off is one of the reasons why I'm going after him civilly” – Australian pro Richie Cunningham on the failure of the Boulder District Attorney’s office to file charges against the man who hit him with a pickup truck.
“For the same reason that every family needs an angry, drunk uncle at Christmas dinner. I spice things up and keep people on their toes. Triathletes are unintentionally hilarious in so many ways. I suppose I’ve taken the liberty of pointing out the absurdities. As triathletes, we needed to have a collective conversation with ourselves about how much narcissism and image crafting can be tolerated in social media. With the help of thousands of Starkamaniacs, we have reduced the incidence of detailed workout posts immensely.”- The Real Starky explains why the tri world needs his snarky, satirical comments.
Modesty
“It is so funny, people always say you must be a [good] swimmer being a surfer and all but the truth is, when I first jumped into a squad I was so embarrassed I didn't go back for over a year. I swam by myself in separate lanes until I gained some confidence. I am still the only person in Australia that can swim a 56 meter lap in a 50 meter pool. Yep, I'm the guy the looks like a drunk crocodile trying to find home. I used to fall off my bike at busy intersections unable to clip out and I used to wear a fuel belt for a run around the block. It has certainly been a struggle. I think it is important for people to step out of your comfort zone and go out and embarrass yourself every so often. As long as you are out there having a crack, who cares what others think.” – Age grouper Clint Kimmins.
“I knew you had to listen to your body and I was always really good at it during my career. But leading up to the 2012 Olympics I got carried away thinking I was invincible. I learned that is not the case - I am just like everybody else.” – Three-time ITU World Champion and 2008 Olympic Champion Emma Snowsill.
“I would say so. For me running on the track I would probably need two lanes to fit in. I am just jumping far and jumping wide and jumping high. It is nothing efficient. It is all about power.” – Czech Republic pro Petr Vabrousek admits his running style is herky-jerky like 1952 Olympian Emil Zatopek.
Farewell Jackie Fairweather
We nearly lost Jackie a few times over the last half-dozen years. - Jackie's husband Simon Fairweather speaking to the Canberra Times about his wife’s battle with depression before her suicide in November.
Compassionate with others, ruthless with herself… She told me perfection is too hard a standard to set for yourself and.... this amazing accomplished woman said she felt like a failure. Except when it came to Simon, the one true love of her life ... without [Simon], she would have given up a long time ago. Jo Runjajic talking to the Canberra Times about her friend, Jackie Fairweather.
“Jackie G once helped to pull me out of a very deep hole. It was at a camp in Switzerland and she suggested we become flatmates under the guise that she drove the other people in the squad mad with her music and moods. We both knew really it was because she didn’t want coach living alone. ‘When you’re down’ she argued, ‘I can kick you out of it and when I’m spiraling you’ll be there to pick me up...’ I owe her a hell of a lot for the four months we lived together. While she’d play Barbra Streisand ad nauseum each day, she’d also challenge me on all types of non-triathlon related subjects and debate them endlessly to give me a lift. She’d also flay me about being a hermit and the need to rebuild and get on with life. It was at Jackie’s suggestion and later insistence that I ‘get over myself’ and ask Fiona, my future wife, out on our first date.” - Brett Sutton writing about Jackie Fairweather in his blog.
