Three Lemont Residents Complete Ironman Tulsa

What happens when a strong willed young woman puts her mind to something and decides upon a plan for accomplishing that goal? Well, in this case, she persuades someone with experience in that area to come along and help her and that persuades another person, who had a similar goal on his bucket list to ride along as well. What am I talking about? In August of 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 restrictions, Julie Mescher pulled the trigger on the fourth step in her triathlon plan and signed up for a full Ironman event that was scheduled to take place in Tulsa, OK in May of 2021. For those unfamiliar, that is a race where each participant swims 2.4 miles, rides their bike for 112 miles and then runs a marathon, or 26.2 miles, so 140.6 miles total.

Knowing that she would need some support along this journey, she threw the idea out to her other triathlon compatriots to see if anyone would bite. Chris Janusz had already completed two full Ironman events and was game for a third so he signed up. This prompted Dan Ganzer to join the fun as it had been a desire of his for several years, but he needed both a little prompting and also a reality check that his body was not getting any younger and some of his aches and pains were going to get worse rather than better with Father Time. So, the three Lemont residents all signed up in August and then started to figure out what was ahead of them.

Chris pulled out the training plan he had used on his previous Ironman events, Julie printed off copies, and starting 24 weeks before the race, they began the training journey. Several friends offered great support for the various activities. They would do things like joining conference calls while participating in training rides using virtual systems like Zwift and Rouvy. Or hopping in the water to share in the drudgery of watching the green line on the bottom of the pool for thousands of yards of chlorine baths. Others would join training runs and races to get them ready for the big event. The approximate number of training hours for the 24-week plan is in the neighborhood of 300, or an average of about 2 hours a day. One spouse asked if there was any possibility to turn this training thing into a money-making activity since so much time was being spent.

Cleary, all three had great support from their families as well as their friends. The early wake ups or being late to dinner or falling asleep from exhaustion at 8pm were far more frequent than in normal everyday life. So why do all this one should legitimately ask? And the true reason is to test whether one can accomplish hard things. The body is truly a remarkable vessel and its ability to put up with and adapt to newer and more intense stresses is truly phenomenal. The mental nature of all this training is also a barrier to overcome. A lot of long hours are spent in a solitary state leading up to race day. For many folks, overcoming the mental fatigue is more difficult that the physical fatigue.

In order to “officially complete” a full Ironman a participant needs to finish all three disciplines along with the 2 transitions between the swim and the bike and the bike to the run in 17 hours. That becomes everyone’s first goal, to be able to wrap up the 140.6 miles in under 17 hours. The race took place on Sunday, May 23rd but there were several logistical issues that had to be taken care of in the days leading up to the race. There were many family and friends that made the drive down to Tulsa from Lemont and their support before, during and after the actual race, was truly inspiring. To have friendly faces out on the course cheering you on really helps to lift one's spirits and provide some much needed adrenaline and energy.

Race day morning started as overcast, which is actually not a bad thing when doing events of this nature. The last thing anyone really wants is to be baking in the sun for 12+ hours. Actually, race morning began well before dawn, because Julie, Chris and Dan woke up anywhere between 2 and 3 am to begin the series of shuttle car rides, shuttle busses and long walks that were required to get to water’s edge for the swim start. After finishing off the swim, almost on que, it started to rain and it rained for almost the entire time that each of them were on their bike. Fortunately, no one got hurt as the wet pavement, numerous potholes and significant elevation changes made parts of the bike portion of the race somewhat precarious. With the bike segment done, it was on to the marathon. The rain stopped and the humidity picked up. The nice thing about the run course was that it was a double loop on a mostly shaded trail along the Arkansas River. This meant that, without much effort, the spectators could see the participants four times, and more importantly, the racers could get that much needed boost from seeing their family and friends four times.

When all was said and done, Julie, Chris and Dan all got to hear the “Voice of Triathlon”, Mike Reilly call their names and say “You are an Ironman”. They each chose to do the race for different reasons, but all agreed that it was a great experience and, under the right circumstances, would happily do another. No one qualified to go to the World Championships in Kona, but each reached goals for portions of the race, while leaving some things to strive for, or improve upon for the next time. Final times were Julie: 16 hours, 2 minutes and 32 seconds, Chris 14:46:47 and Dan 12:56:25. If you’d be interested to hear more of their stories, come join them some Thursday night at Run Club in downtown Lemont.