An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) consisting of a 2.4 miles (3.86 km) swim, a 112 miles (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break. All Ironman events have a strict time limit of 17 hours to complete the race. The Ironman race starts at 7 AM. The mandatory swim cut off for the 2.4 mile swim is 2 hours 20 minutes. The bike cut off time is 5:30 PM. All finishers must complete their marathon by midnight.
The Ironman Triathlon, or The Ironman Triathlon World Championships, or Ironman Hawaii, is both the original Ironman triathlon and the annual world championships of the event, held annually in Hawai'i since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It was made famous by its grueling length, harsh race conditions, and television coverage.
~Team Hoyt~
Team Hoyt is a father (**** Hoyt, b. ca. 1940) and son (Rick Hoyt, born January 10, 1962) from Massachusetts who compete together in marathons, triathlons, and other athletic endeavors. Rick has cerebral palsy, caused by loss of oxygen to his brain at birth because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck.
**** pulls his son Rick in a special boat as they swim, carries him in a special seat up front as they bike, and pushes him in a special wheelchair as they run.
Doctors told his parents that Rick would live in a vegatative state, but his parents, with the help of Tufts University engineers, recognized that his sense of humor indicated intelligence. At the age of 12, Rick was able to learn how to use a special computer to communicate using movements from his head. The first words he typed were, "Go Bruins!", and the family learned he was a sports fan. They entered their first race in 1977, a 5 mile benefit run for an injured lacrosse player who was a schoolmate of Rick's.
**** is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Air National Guard. Rick earned a college degree from Boston University in special education, and now works at Boston College. They continue to compete in races, and are also motivational speakers.
As of September 2009, Team Hoyt had participated in a total of 1009 events, including 234 Triathlons (6 of which were Ironman competitions), 21 Duathlons, and 67 Marathons, including 27 Boston Marathons.[1] They have also biked and run across the USA, in 1992 — a 3,735 mile journey that took them 45 days.
When asked what one thing Rick wished he could give his father, his reply was "The thing I'd most like is that my dad would sit in the chair and I would push him once."
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~Rudy Garcia-Tolson~ "A Brave Heart is a Powerful Weapon."
Rudy Garcia-Tolson (born 1988)is an athlete on the United States Paralympic team. He competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens in swimming.
Garcia-Tolson was the subject of The Final Sprint's December 2006 "Success Story"; a monthly column that aims to highlight remarkable and factual accounts of runners who have overcome major obstacles and/or changed their lives via running.
Garcia-Tolson lives by a simple motto: "A Brave Heart is a Powerful Weapon." He was born with rare, multiple birth defects – a combination of crippling Pterygium Syndrome, a club foot, webbed fingers on both hands, and a cleft lip and palate.
At age five, after 15 operations, he told his parents he wanted to move on; he would rather be a double amputee than continue to put up with what his life had become. He had both legs removed above the knee.
When Garcia-Tolson was eight years old, he told the world he would swim in the 2004 Paralympic Games. He was true to his word and won the gold medal in the 200 meter individual medley and broke the world record for his class.
In 2008 Beijing Olympics, when he was 20, he won the gold medal at the Paralympics, setting a new world record.
Garcia-Tolson continues to swim as a member of the U.S. Paralympic Elite Team. He has completed numerous triathlons individually, and won several prestigious awards, including the Arete Courage in Sports Award and the Casey Martin Award from Nike. Garcia-Tolson has helped CAF raise more than $6 million to ensure his challenged peers have the same opportunities he did.
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~Anything less than Anything is Possible just doesn't cut it.~