On Sunday I completed my 3rd full distance IRONMAN triathlon. And for the third time in a row, I am happy to say I was standing and in good enough shape to stay up and go back to the finish line to see the last hour of finishers come in.
That final hour is truly inspirational. The people who come in after 11pm have been out there all day. In this race in particular that meant battling blistering heat (97 degrees and sunny to be exact) for over 16 hours. Word on the street says that this race had the second highest DNF rate of any IRONMAN ever at just over 25%. I can certainly say that I have never seen so many people puking on the side of the road, laying down, or being put into an ambulance.
These conditions made for an interesting midnight finish line. At the previous IRONMAN midnight parties I’ve been to, the last hour included a wide variety of finishers. Of course you see your 25-50 year old men and women who’s goal is just to beat the cutoff. But you also get the truly crazy stories – like firemen in full gear, 80 year old women finishing their 25th IRONMAN, or someone with a prosthetic leg. I’ve seen all those things before at IRONMAN Arizona and IRONMAN Louisville. This year in Chattanooga, however, those extremes were missing. I’m not sure if that is due to the heat or something else, but the finish line seemed to be a more condensed demographic. The age range was much more compact and lacked the crazy old-timer who puts us youngsters to shame.
Anyway, hope you enjoy my video of the last two people cheered on to the finish at the 2016 Little Debbie IRONMAN Chattanooga event.
Stay tuned for a full race report/review to come shortly!
Cheers!
Chris