So Dr. Foster is going on Vacation...

Dr. Foster is on "vacation" for two weeks starting this Friday afternoon. I put vacation in quotations because when most of us think of "vacation" we think time to relax and re-charge our batteries. During her vacation time Dr. Foster will be competing in her first Ironman Triathlon on August 29, 2010 in Penticton, B.C..

Ironman Triathlons are known for their grueling length, and harsh conditions... Doesn't really sound like vacation to me, more like INSPIRATIONAL.

An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon events races organized by the World Triathlon Coporation (WTC) consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break! That's 226.31 km!! That's from Newmarket... past Hunstville to Burk's Falls...an almost 3 hour long drive.

Most Ironman events have a strict time limit of 17 hours to complete the race, where the Ironman race starts at 7 AM, the mandatory swim cut off for the 2.4 mile swim is 2 hours 20 minutes, the bike cut off time is 5:30 PM, and all finishers must complete their marathon by midnight.

The first Ironman...

The idea for the original Ironman Triathlon arose during the awards ceremony for the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay (a running race for 5-person teams). Among the participants were numerous representatives of Runners and Swimmers, whose members had long been debating which athletes were more fit, runners or swimmers.

US Navy Commander John Collins an attendee, pointed out that a Eddy Marckx, the great Belgian cyclist, had the highest recorded "oxygen uptake" of any athlete ever measured, so perhaps cyclists were more fit than anyone. Collins and his wife Judy Collins had taken part in the triathlons staged in 1974 and 1975 by the San Diego Track Club. A number of the other military athletes in attendance were also familiar with this type of race, so they understood the concept when Collins suggested that the debate should be settled through a race combining the three existing long-distance competitions already on the island.

It was decided "Whoever finishes first, we'll call him the Iron Man." Each of the racers had their own support crew to supply water, food and encouragement during the event. Of the fifteen men to start off in the early morning on February 18, 1978, twelve completed the race. Gordon Haller, a US Navy Communications Specialist, was the first to earn the title Ironman by completing the course with a time of 11 hours, 46 minutes, 58 seconds. The runner-up John Dunbar, a US Navy SEAL, led after the second transition and had a chance to win but ran out of water on the marathon course; his support crew resorted to giving him beer instead. With no further marketing efforts, the race gathered as many as 50 athletes in 1979.

The race, however, was postponed a day because of bad weather conditions. Only fifteen competitors started off the race Sunday morning. San Diego's Tom Warren won in 11 hours, 15 minutes, 56 seconds.

Lyn Lemaire, a championship cyclist from Boston, placed sixth overall and became the first "Ironwoman".


A milestone in the marketing of the legend and history of the Ironman race happened in February 1982. Julie Moss, a college student competing to gather research for her exercise physiology thesis, moved toward the finish line in first place. As she neared the finish, severe fatigue and dehydration set in, and she fell, just yards away from the finish line. Although Kathleen McCartney passed her for the women’s title. Moss was nevertheless able to crawl to the finish line.

Her performance was broadcast worldwide and created the Ironman mantra that just finishing is a victory.

Triathlon was added as an official Olympic sport in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, a race shorter than the Ironman itself (1500 meter, 0.93 mi swim, 40km, 25 mi cycle, and 10km, 6.2 mi run).

The original Ironman is held in conditions which are uniquely punishing for endurance racing: the Hawaii water is warm enough that helpfully buoyant wetsuits are not allowed; though the cycling hills have only moderate gradients they are normally crossed by strong and gusting winds; and the marathon leg of the race is usually extremely hot. Other races under the WTC have their own difficulties, characteristic of their setting and season. Anyone completing one of these races within the time limit, so long as it is the prescribed distance, is entitled to call themselves an Ironman (the term being gender-neutral).

Today the Ironman format remains unchanged, and the Hawaiian Ironman is still regarded as an honored and prestigious triathlon event to win worldwide.

The Ironman Triathlon is a grueling event that pushes its participants to the limits of endurance.

If your mind can conceive it, and your heart can believe it, We all know you can achieve it!!

Goodluck Dr. Foster !!