© John Pendergrass: I competed in the Ironman Brasil Triathlon on May 29, 2004 in Florianopolis, Brasil.  This race consists of a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mike bike ride and a 26.2 mile run.  Florianopolis is a resort island in southern Brasil with a population of 350,000.  It has a lot of beautiful beaches and is a favorite destination for Brasilians and Argentineans on holiday.  This year’s race had 1000 entrants from 36 countries including around 200 Americans. 

This Ironman race had several advantages for me.  Registration for the event was open until two weeks before the race date.  All of the Ironman events in North American fill up a year ahead of time, requiring a commitment twelve months in advance.  I was able to wait and see if my training and work schedule held up before making a decision to enter.  I registered five weeks before the race.  The May race date allowed me to do most of my long bike rides and long runs in March and April, avoiding the hot days.  Also, May is autumn in Brasil with cooler temperatures and shorter days.   

Endurance Sports Travel (www.endurancesportstravel.com) handles travel arrangements for most of the athletes.  It is run by Ken Glah, an accomplished triathlete, who has won several Ironman events.  His organization is first class and takes care of everything – hotels, transportation, food, tours, etc.  All the problems of transporting a bike, eating at strange hours, etc. are handled.  For example, on race day the hotel restaurant opened at 3:00 AM and closed at 1:00 AM for early starters and late finishers.

On race morning the temperature was in the low 50’s, a pleasant contrast to the heat here at home.  The swim was two loops of 1.2 miles each.  After the mass start, I waited around for 20 seconds and was able to swim comfortably the whole time.  At the first loop I was 53 minutes, a little slower than I do in the pool, but I wasn’t at all tired.  On the second loop a strong current made it a lot harder to stay on course.  I finished the swim in 1:56 and started a long transition.  It was more than a kilometer from the water to the spot where you mounted your bike.

The bike route consisted of two 56 mile loops.  Each loop had six hills of a mile or so in length.  They were steep like the Powerman Alabama hills but most of the other 90-95 miles were flat so the hills were a welcome chance to stand up and pedal.  I kept pouring down the Gatorade, Hammer Gel, bananas, etc and didn’t start to get tired until the last 20 miles or so.  By then the wind had picked up a lot and the last three hills were tough.  I was a little under 7 hours on the bike and most of the time the temperature was in the low 70’s.  I never pushed hard on the bike and went as slow as I needed on the hills.

It was around four in the afternoon when I started the marathon.  The sun was low with lots of shade and by 5:30 it was dark and the temperature began to drop into the 50’s.  The course had 2 miles of real steep hills beginning at mile 9 and then another 2 miles starting at mile 21.  The rest of the run was flat.  I ran a few miles and then began to walk 10-15 yards and then jog a quarter or mile or so.  I was able to do this entire marathon and I kept up a decent pace the whole race.  Since the course was marked in kilometers and not in miles, I was never sure what pace I was running.  I tried computing kilometers to miles, but my brain was a little foggy.  I took two Endurolytes every hour the entire race and I never cramped.  My muscles and joints never got real sore.  I finished the marathon in just under 5 hours and was delighted to see the finish line.  Fourteen hours is a long time to do anything.

My legs felt good and I didn’t have that feeling of my thighs being made of concrete like I’ve had after some marathons.  I did feel extremely exhausted, sort of like you feel when you bonk on a long bike ride.  I gathered my gear and headed back to the hotel.  After showering, I drank a beer, ate some crackers, made some phone calls and got in bed.  I was so tired I couldn’t make myself get out of bed to go eat.   I wasn’t real hungry and I slept fitfully.  The next morning I ate as huge breakfast at 7:30, went back to my room for a little while, and then had a second hug breakfast at 9:30.

Brasil is a wonderful country.  The people are friendly, intelligent, and genuine.  Florianopolis is an area settled mostly by Europeans – Portuguese, Azore Islanders, Italians, and Germans.  It is a lot like southern Spain or France.  There’s very little of the third world atmosphere you get in much of Latin America.  The food is superb – wonderful fruits and salads.  The coffee is the best ever – dark, rich and hot.  It’s also probably the least expensive country I’ve ever visited.

I have a lot of admiration for those triathletes who can do this race in 8, 9, 10 hours.  It is the biggest challenge physically that I have ever had.

See June 15 Hattiesburg American article on John's feat.