… sometimes is not enough to beat the time limit of an Ironman but still one of your the greatest achievements! Fifteen hours flat is the time limit for Ironman Germany in Frankfurt. And it was close last Sunday for Team Timex athlete Luis Alvarez Gonzalez.
An eye witness account of one great race!
Some say reasonably fast Ironman athletes can’t really imagine how it is to be racing at the back of the pack. For me though that’s not really true as I started out with 12:11h and also have an finish oat 13:26h under my belt. And just this last Sunday I got a first hand lesson just how close it can be when things go seriously wrong in your preparation and your race. Not even back in 2006 when I was shouting at the TV to make Normann Stadler reach the finish line in front of Macca to win his second Ironman Hawaii did I suffer that much stress spectating at an Ironman.
But let’s start from the beginning
The Timex Multisport Team has a few very unique personalities on board and among them is The Most Interesting Man In The World aka Luis Alvarez Gonzalez. He’s the gus who wants to finish his 100th Ironman at Ironman Hawaii this year. He is combining his crazy race schedule with an even crazier work schedule so he is not always that fast but always finishes. And he told me in Februars “No problem I only have to do another three before Kona this year”. Little did he know that he’s suffer from a herniated disc in his back in mid April and had to have surgery. This resulted in a “No sports for 2,5 months!”–order from the doctors and so he was not able to compete in Ironman Lanzarote in May.
Eighty days after surgery – he was allowed to do some sports now after all Luis flew to France. Not for a holiday but to pursue his second sports project, the Seven Summits. So off to Charmonix he was and up to the top of Europe, Mt. Blanc, he went an Wednesday, July 3rd. Ans as the sports break had officially had ended he went on the Frankfurt, Germany to do the Ironman only four days later. Train for this he did… NOT!
Race Weekend
That was where I came in when we met at the Ironman Expo Friday afternoon. Luis his legs still a bit sour from all the climbing asked for a massage therapist to work on his legs. So I made a few calls and 20 minutes later he was lying on a bench in downtown Frankfurt receiving his massage of the day.
All the mountaineering gear had lead to Luis not having and airline luggage capacity left for a bike and so he had to borrow one for the race, he told me. So I offered mine for him to at least have a Quintana Roo triathlon bike for the race instead of the road bike he had borrowed. Regrettably my bike was a bit too large and so he went for the borrowed bike in the end.
Then came race day which saw me heading out for a bike ride myself so that I could follow Luis’ race only through the web. 1:15h for the swim looked very good from where I was. On my way back to Frankfurt I crossed the Ironman bike course once and it was meant to be that Luis was just passing by kilometer 120 at that time. We managed a quick exchange of words that was not very promising: Luis had already had two flat tires, the second of which had cost him a precious 20 minutes as he had had to wait for the support vehicle due to only having taken one spare tube. I said “See you on the run!”, he said “See you on the walk!” and I remembered that quite probably Luis would be reduced to walking due to his back injury.
It’s going to be very close!
I put up shop at the 8,5k point of the 10,5k loop of the run course and it took very long for Luis to come by the first time. In the end the 180k bike ride had taken him almost 7:30h. Even though he knew even at this point that it would be a close thing to reach the finishline in time to beat the 15 hour time limit he was still smiling.
It seems the doctors had told him to walk the entire marathon. But that would have meant that he would never be able to reach the finish line in time. He finished the first of four ron laps after eleven hours into the race. So he faced a tough decision and at the beginning of lap two started a run/walk mix to beat the time limit. We on the side of the course did our best to cheer him on every time he came by. And when he headed out to the southeastern turnaround of the run course it was already 9:25pm. His face was a grimace from the pain at that point but he was determined. There are only a few athletes still out on the course but everyone is determined to make it in time. Two of the athletes that were behind Luis going out to the last turnaround come back in front of him. When we spot Luis again he still has 2,5k to go with 18 minutes left. It’s going to be very, very close now.
In the Tunnel
The three of us who are left give our best to give him the final push to the finish line. The other two leave for home at this point and I follow Luis for the last stretch of the run. First I wait for him at the last bridge to cross. Then I follow closely behind. I talk to him all the time for him to forget the pain and focus on running. But even then his mind seems to work better than mine or he is just better aware of the speed he is running at. He mumbles “One minute!” and keeps on running. Not giving up hope we continue on.
We now pass by T2 where other athlete are just picking up their bikes. Those guys are just amazing. Realizing how close it might be for Luis they all scream and shout for him to “Go! Go! Go!” At this time even I am in a kind of tunnel forgetting to look at my watch and just focusing on getting “my athlete” to the finish line in time. It’s funny how the spectators at such an event seem to somehow adopt certain athletes during a race. We always stay until the last athletes finish the race and always there are a few you identify with. First they smile, then they suffer, have cramps, are hot or cold, but they all share this common determination to finish this thing. Right in this tunnel I take a last picture:
It’s only a few meters that I can accompany Luis from there as the red carpet they lay out for those last 150 meters up to the finish line is for athletes only. And just there where Luis turns right and takes his first steps onto the red carpet I hear them ringing. The church bells of Katharinenkirche strike 10pm and I know that Luis is not going to make it in time. He won’t make it into the official results list this time. Nonetheless I think this is one among the almost 100 Ironman he has already done that he won’t forget. And just to prove this Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman, goes all out for Luis. The PA has to be turned off at 10pm sharp and so he shouts out his trademark line to Luis from the top of his lungs: “You are an Ironman!”
Half an hour after crossing the finish line Luis exits the post race recovery area with a big smile on his face. The pain he is in is very evident but he is so very proud to have overcome so many obstacles this year and on this day.
Congratulations Luis!
Tim
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