BOULDER – One of the world’s most grueling sporting competitions was held in Boulder this weekend, with ‘Race day’ on Sunday.
Dave Christen, IRONMAN Operations Manager, said more than 1,200 athletes were registered as of Sunday morning.
“It’s amazing to think that you have that many crazy people willing to do 140.6-miles,” Christen said.
The event consisted of a 2.4-mile swim in the Boulder Reservoir, followed by a 112-mile cycling course, and ending with a full 26.2-mile marathon.
Athletes hit the water at 7 a.m.
Christen said, “It draws people from all different corners of the world, all different abilities, and different walks of life.”
He told Denver7 that registered athletes ranged from age 18 to the mid-80’s.
“If I could be half as active as some of these 80-year-old’s that we see racing, I’ll have done OK in life,” Christen said.
Denver7 caught up with Mary Endsley. She was sitting on the sidelines cheering on the thousands of tri-athletes and her son Adam.
“It’s amazing to watch these athletes go out and do what they do, because we sit here and we just watched,” Endsley said.
While this was the fourth annual IRONMAN Boulder event, Endsley said this was Adam’s sixth IRONMAN competition.
“They look for you in the crowd when they go by. They’re always watching to see if you’re out there,” she said.
IRONMAN officials said on average, pro-athletes finish the triathlon in 8.5-hours, and others will cross the finish-line after 17-hours.
“It's a very small percentage of human beings who are capable of doing something like this,” Christen said. “It’s a really exclusive club. I think once you cross the finish line of a 140-mile journey, you're in a special class.”