ironman lake placid

ironman lake placid


LAKE PLACID — The Ironman Triathlon bills itself as the ultimate test of body, mind and spirit.

Competitors at this year's Ironman USA Lake Placid Triathlon will have to battle the grueling course with another concern lingering on their minds — the weather.

The National Weather Forecast is predicting an 80 percent chance for rain throughout the day which could turn into heavy rain. The forecast is also calling for thunderstorms starting in the early Sunday hours.

Inclement weather is nothing new for the event — it rained throughout last year's competition — but the precipitation and possibility of lightning creates several problems for the race, including the safety of those involved.

Bob Heins, 70, is a volunteer worker for the triathlon and will be in a kayak for the swimming portion.

Heins, from Plattsburgh, normally races in the event, but he qualified for the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship in Hawaii thanks to his finish in the Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June and decided to sit out Lake Placid this year.

He said cold temperatures could lead to hypothermia, which caused problems last year.

"There's a whole multitude of things," he said. "If its thunderstorms and is warm, you don't deal with the hypothermic problems. You just have to deal with the rain in your face and a slippery road."

The Ironman Lake Placid, now in its 11th year, will field more than 2,500 participants. There are 45 local athletes competing.

The triathlon consists of three legs — a 2.4-mile swim around Mirror Lake, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run to finish up. There are 24 men and 15 women professionals competing in this year's race.

Petr Zlin Vabrousek of the Czech Republic is the top returning men's finisher. He placed second with a time of 8:55:20. Kim Loeffler of the United States is the top female returner. She finished second among women with a time of 9:54:55.

The 2009 purse is $50,000, with first place taking $8,500, $5,500 for second and $3,500 for third.

The Ironman Lake Placid is another chance for athletes to qualify for the Ironman World Championship. Seventy-two qualifying slots will be awarded to the top professional and age group finishers, according to the Ironman Lake Placid Athlete Information Guide.

Adverse weather could lead to a number of scenarios involved with the swim, which is the first part. The professionals' starting time is scheduled for 6:50 a.m., followed by the age group race at 7 a.m. Heins said there could be a delay of either 30 minutes or an hour if necessary.

The problem with potential delays, he said, is that the bike cutoff time is 5:30 p.m. If postponed for one hour, the swimming portion will be one loop instead of two.

If lightning forces a cancellation of the swim, the bike race will begin with a time-trial start.

"You have a plan in place because if it's lightning they don't want people in the water," Heins said. "Hopefully that doesn't happen."

Rain-slicked roads could slow down the bike portion as well. Heins said that while on a good day an athlete could reach 40 miles per hour, but wet conditions could force bikers to slow down to 20 to 25 miles per hour.

Regardless of conditions, Heins said, "That's what Ironman's all about and you just have to deal with it."