Kettle Moraine Iron Man Distance Triathlon (Dutch Style)

Report by Joel Lammers...

I guess it all started in June at the Super Run when Diana Widmer was giving me the business about never doing an Iron Man Triathlon (IMT).  I informed her that due to the Dutch blood in me I thought the entrance fee was too high and that if I did an IMT it would be on my own.  

So I decided to put my actions behind my words. I secretly set the date for my event (9/3/11) and started planning.  After I had most of the details & logistics worked out, I started telling others about my plans. Now I was committed.  The event would start & finish at Ottawa State Park.  The 2.4 mile swim consisted of laps back & forth across Ottawa Lake, the 114 mile bike consisted of two 50.5 mile loops and a 13 mile loop and the 26.2 mile run took place on the trails of the Kettle Moraine and consisted of 5 different loops and out & backs that ranged from 1.9 to 10.6 miles. 

The morning of the event I woke up, turned on the weather channel and heard the Beep Beep Beep of a severe thunderstorm warning. I thought I may have to push back my start time but the weather cleared just minutes before my scheduled 6am start.  

The lake surface turned to glass.  I began to swim while Christine Crawford played in the water and Sandee my wife observed.  The swim was easy and peaceful as I stroked my way back and forth across the length of the lake.  Fish jumped and sand hill cranes squawked while Sandee & Christine cheered me on at the completion of each lap.  I finished the 2.4 miles in 1:21 changed and hopped on the bike.  

Christine accompanied me for the whole bike and was great company which made the ride less painful.  Everything thing was fun and games until the rain began about 56 miles.  We hit the bike trail section of the loop and it wasn’t long before I saw a man changing a tire.  This man soon would be me.  After fixing the tire 2 times we finally called Sandee who met us and brought the tire in to the repair shop for a brand new tire & tube. We were at about 76 miles.  When she returned we put the tire on and away we went. The tire changing, riding the flat for 3 miles and waiting for the repair cost me well over an hour.   The rest of the bike was uneventful except for the continuous rain.  

When I finished the bike (about 8 hours) I was greeted by a small group of friends who showed up to support me.  I changed from my soaking wet bike clothing to a pair of dry shorts, socks and shoes.  

The first 11+ miles of the run I was accompanied by Mike Vigneau, Brian Bruckmoser and Saul Juarez of the Tuesday night running group. We ran a Scuppernong loop and a horse trail loop.  I’m not sure why but everyone kept asking Saul if he was running the whole 26.2 with me like he did at Angela’s B-day 50K.  I kept a steady pace but the humidity was really high and it was still raining.  The trail was in decent shape except for some soft & slippery spots.  

At about 11 miles, Jeff Mallach and Kevin Grabowski of the LPTR’s joined me for the remainder of the run.  We ran to Wilton Rd. and back and then continued on a shorter loop at Scuppernong.  Darkness set in at about 23 miles.   We only had about 2 miles on trails before we hit the pavement of highway 67.  

At the finish Sandee was waiting while Kevin and Jeff backed off to give me my moment of glory.  14:02 was the finishing time.  

The 4 of us stood around and talked for about 10 minutes and then I headed home to end the day just as it had started, in the water, a nice cool ice bath.  

A special thank you to Christine who rode with me and Mike, Brian, Saul, Jeff & Kevin who ran with me.  

A really special thank you to my lovely wife Sandee who supported me all day.  

Of course, thanks to Diana who gave me a little push to make me an Iron Man.