You've Come A Long Way, Baby

By John Boel

  Many years ago, right after the Great Lawn started taking shape, I turned to my friend as I was driving by on Interstate 64 and said, "Man, that looks like the ultimate staging for a big-time triathlon." But it was just a dream. After all, for years in this community, the best you could do when it came to the sport of triathlon was swim some laps in a pool at Tom Sawyer Park, and then take a short bike tour, followed by a tidy little run. It's a nice starter triathlon, but you had to travel to far away places to actually swim in a bigger body of water in a triathlon.

Then the Louisville Sports Commission talked triathlon promoter Fred Sommer into bringing the Tri-America series to Louisville. I was invited into the planning process along with some other local triathletes. And I have to admit I was skeptical of Sommer's insistence on swimming in the Ohio River. But they fell in love with the downtown setting to anchor the event, and that's the only water available. I've participated in every Tri-America event in Louisville, and it's one of the nicest courses I experience every year. Flying down River Road on a bike is a flat, fast, beautiful ride. Running across the river on the 2nd Street bridge is really "cool," in more ways than one. The river swim was even a pleasant experience, except for that little nuisance called "current."    But alas, I still had to travel to far away places to do my first Ironman, and several other half-Iron distance events.

Now, thanks to the mayor's vision and Jeff Schneider of the Louisville Sports Commission, somebody with power looked out at the Great Lawn and said "Man, that looks like the ultimate staging area for a big-time triathlon."   And it doesn't get any bigger than The Ironman. The logo. The organizers. The distance.  The name.  I have it on my watch.  Ford Motor Co. just put it on their new sports utility vehicle. It represents the best in endurance. And now that banner will grace Louisville. It's hard to determine who has come farther: The city of Louisville, or the athlete who will complete the 140-mile-long event. "A lot of things went into play when we put this together," says Schneider, "It's been a three month ordeal, but it's been worth it."

The first thing that sticks out at me when I look at this is the date: Aug. 26th. I've lived here long enough to know that's hot, humid, state-fair-time weather. I checked the National Weather Service data. The average high temperature on that date is 84.  The average low is 66. Ironman Louisville will be held for five straight years on the final weekend of August beginning in 2007. I asked Schneider how they decided on that date. "For the first year, we wanted to push it back away from the Senior Games because we need about one thousand volunteers and they're going to use up a lot and we didn't want to have them overlap. Also, we checked around with the local hotels and that's normally a slow time of year for them."

There are other reasons, like police availability. Schneider says it's easier to get officers for the Ironman by waiting until after the state fair. But the biggest issue, as I suspected, is timing this out to try to catch the Ohio River at its tamest. They scheduled the Tri-America triathlon for the end of July because statistically, that's when it's lowest and slowest. "We were looking at early June or late May and who knows what the river's going to be doing then. We've had the triathlon here in late July and it seems to be a good time of year and that's probably the main reason why we did it."

The course sounds as if it'll be similar to the Tri-America course, only four times longer. The 2.4-mile swim will consist of a two-lap course, just off the Great Lawn transition area. That means long stretches against the current, and then with the current.  The bike course will take us out to Oldham County, through places like Prospect and Lagrange in two 56-mile loops to equal the 112-mile distance. The marathon course is far from set yet, but they'll utilize the 2nd Street bridge and Southern Indiana for sure. The finish line will be at 4th Street Live. What a great idea. That way, people have lots of places to eat and drink while they wait for their friends and loved ones to finish.

So how did Louisville land a fish this big? "They just absolutely loved Louisville," says Schneider. "Louisville is fantastic," says Ironman CEO Ben Fertic. “The venue is beautiful, the bike through the horse country, along River Road. We flew in and absolutely fell in love with the city.” He originally came here to consider a half Iron-distance event, but it became apparent that Louisville could handle a full distance Ironman. "We can throw an international event," says Mayor Jerry Abramson.  "We do it with the Derby every year."

While I go to the Derby every year, I have yet to experience the international influence there that I witnessed at Ironman Wisconsin in 2004.  While anxiously waiting in lines for the long registration process, I kept trying to strike up conversations with people around me.  But the guy behind me was German. The woman in front of me was Swiss.  There were languages I could not even identify all around me.  But we all spoke the same language. Our smiles communicated the anxiety of what we were about to attempt, and the pride of what we had already accomplished in all that training.

You see the local media has been missing the point in all of the coverage so far. They keep emphasizing this is a qualifier for the Hawaii Ironman. Yes it is, for a few dozen studs. But for everybody else, it's a qualifier for something more important, called "life accomplishment." "There will be all types of athletes crossing that line," Fertic says, "from the very elite to your next-door neighbor who never thought they could do it. And they'll do it." And so will I. Sign me up for 140 miles of pain. It's time to train.

For more information about the Ford Ironman, go to www.ironman.com .

John Boel is a 41-time Emmy winning news anchor at WLKY-TV. He's married, with two daughters, and is an avid runner and triathlete.