The physical and emotional strain and endurance challenge of an Iron Man Triathlon is one St. Paul’s Darren Richardson is proud to have crossed off his bucket list, after he competed the challenge on Aug. 21 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
For Richardson to complete the challenge at the age of 50 was the culmination of a long-held desire, as he saw the first-ever televised Iron Man Challenge at the age of 17.
“I thought it was the most amazing thing. I immediately know I was going to have to do one,” said Richardson, who is a familiar face to locals as the owner of St. Paul Denture Clinic. “Back then there were hardly any races because it was a brand new sport at the time.”
The Iron Man Triathlons are one of the most physically challenging tests of endurance, putting competitors through three tough stints of physical exertion. It starts with a 3.86 km swim, followed by a 180 km bike ride, and finally a 42 km run, all in succession with no breaks. Athletes who compete in these exhausting challenges must be in excellent physical condition. The races are a challenge for athletes of any age, but being 50 added to the challenges Richardson faced to check this experience off of his to-do list.
Richardson has competed in several Tin Man triathlons, which are the standard distance triathlons that are now a part of the Olympics. However, an international trip convinced him to take the leap to the tougher challenge.
Last year while travelling Europe, he and his wife Sharon were in a small bike shop in Tuscany, Italy having a conversation with the shop’s owner. He noticed a group of people come into the shop having a conversation. One of those people was Simon Whitfield, a Canadian Olympic Gold medalist in the triathlon in 2000, and silver medal winner in 2008.
Richardson says that he approached Whitfield and the pair started a conversation that eventually turned to Richardson’s ventures into the world of triathlon and the fact he had always wanted to do an Iron Man challenge.
Richardson says that Whitfield’s advice was - “If it’s on your list of things to do, you have to do it.”
“I always said I would do one before I was 50 so I had to go out and do it.”
Richardson began his training after he returned from the trip, and says that the training required for an Iron Man is very difficult.
“You have to be in good shape just to start the training for it, and I spent a lot of my time training and working out during the year leading up to the event.”
According to Richardson, the Coeur d’Alene Iron Man Challenge is world renowned as being one of the most difficult courses.
This year’s Iron Man challenge saw 1,800 runners from across the world take part, with Richardson amongst the amateur competitors looking to overcome the immense challenge that the course presented.
Richardson managed to finish the race in 15 hours and 54 minutes, which is by no means a record, but was impressive considering a large setback near the halfway point of the running portion of the event.
“I played rugby for a lot of years, and I have a bad knee, so when it started to give me issues, I was in a lot of pain. Doug Zarowny came out on the track and helped me finish the last half of the marathon.”
Zarowny used to compete with Richardson in the smaller triathlons.
A participant in a triathlon race can receive help from a bystander to finish the race, but they must cross the finish line under their own power.
“I was very lucky to have the support group I had going down there with me. Doug and Janna Zarowny and their kids actually surprised me, I didn’t know they were coming down to support me so that was great.”
“It felt amazing crossing that finish line, and a part of me wants to do another one but I’m not too sure if my wife would be supportive of it,” Richardson said with a laugh.
Without the great support group that he has surrounding him, he does not think he could have completed the race.
“I have to thank my wife, the Zarownys for coming down and supporting me, and everyone at work who put up my schedule and me being cranky while I was training. After working a full day and then going to workout for another few hours, you can be pretty tired and cranky the next day!”
Among the group of runners that Richardson met, was an American war veteran who lost an arm on a tour of duty.
“My story was certainly a fun one, but there were lots of people with a lot of emotion and struggle involved and it was great to see others meeting their goals.”
