SPORTS 'N SPOKES

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Iron-Tough

It's dusk on Alii Drive in Kailua, Kona, Hawaii, the end of the road in the 31st Ford Ironman World Championship. Sweat and excitement soak the tropical night air. Flashing safety lights announce the ap­proach of the first handcyclist to hit the finish line.

Monique van der Vorst streaks by in a blur of red and white with the whirr of spokes singing in the air. The fair-haired sports-medicine student from the Netherlands eats up the asphalt on her custom Invacare Top End Force R. The top female handcycler in the world has finished in 11 hours, 10 minutes, 14 seconds. Within the hour, seven other athletes with disabilities cross the finish line within their 12-hour goal.

The able-bodied athletes finish earlier within their eight-hour target. Many of them line the jammed sidewalks to encourage the disabled athletes, who are  on lightweight carbon prostheses, in custom-designed wheelchairs, or using tandem assistance. At the flower-festooned finish line, the racers are honored Hawaiian-style, with flower leis and ribboned medals. The announcer booms, "You…are...an...Ironman!"

Celebration Time

Twenty-four hours after volunteers put the littered village streets back in order, 1,700 athletes and their more than 3,000 supporters sat down to an awards banquet, sponsored by Powerbar, in the open-air King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel parking lot.

Ironman President and CEO Ben Fertic gave tribute to the athletes for their focus and passion. "It's not about the (race) time but about living life to the fullest," he said.

For more than three hours, top finishers in 28 categories went to the raised stage in small groups to receive a Hawaiian award of accomplishment, an engraved wooden bowl (umeke). One group brought the large audience to their feet with cheers and applause: handcycle finishers David Bailey, Michal Siska, Jason Fowler, and van der Vorst, along with the  remaining physically challenged finishers—Jason Lester, Gerald Geier, and Brian Cowie.

All Ironman athletes compete for goal satisfaction and time records. Many are professionals, students, or working folks. They take on the 140.6 miles of the West Hawaii lava fields with its 45-mph ka'ahumanu crosswinds and 110° heat blasts.

The Challenged Athletes Division has been a part of Ironman events since 1982. The group is divided into two categories—HC (handcycle) participants use handcycles for the bike segment and racing wheelchairs for the run; people with amputations or vision/hearing impairments and individuals with limited limb use are in the PC (physically challenged) category.

"The Ford Ironman World Championship is a recognized leader in the integration of people with disabilities within our sport," says Event Director Diana Bertsch.   

The Hawaii Ironman competition, which took place in October 2009, featured 13 HC and PC qualifiers from 7 countries: 11 started, and 7 finished. Most shun sentimental but well-meaning labels of "courageous, inspirational, or overcomers," preferring Fertic's outlook of "living life to the fullest."

After Germany's Geier's 1985 motorbike accident at age 24, a friend reminded him, "You did not lose your head, only your leg."

"The quality of my life improved," says Geier. "It is now more dear."

Like many others with below-the-knee amputations, Geier has three orthotics. For the bike course he uses a light carbon prosthesis but runs on a carbon flex blade first introduced by South African Oscar Pistorius in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. For daily walking Geier sports a third prosthesis with a pink plastic "Croc" shoe.
   
Geier and Daggi, his wife/fellow triathlete, live in Bavaria on a street with 28 letters. His degree in business economics led him to a job in information technology with Martin Bauer, one of his major sponsors. Athletes who travel internationally usually have more than one corporate sponsor. Although they receive public recognition and the satisfaction of participating, Ironman's athletes with disabilities do not yet receive part of the purse.

Geier says he most admires 2007 finisher and double amputee Scott Rigsby. What was Rigsby's motivation to finish? "To enjoy the last mile on Alii Drive and have a hamburger and french fries after the race," says Geier.

One finisher confessed to looking forward to the reward of a beer and a hamburger smothered with blue cheese.

Geier was the only PC athlete to finish the 2009 course.

Keep on Truckin'

Lester is hard to miss. An elaborate tatoo on his left arm says  "Never stop." His right arm is paralyzed from an auto accident at age 12. His bicycle is race red and very cool.   

ESPN Sports TV fans voted Lester the ESPY best male disabled athlete in 2009. Only weeks after the Ford Ironman World Championship, Lester competed in the Big Island's killer Ultraman three-day race, longer and considered by some as more punishing than the Ironman. In June, he'll join the Race Across America team, a nine-day endurance test of 3,000 miles from California to Maryland.

Lester never stops. He's published a book, Running on Faith, and produced a film, Chasing Me. He admits, "This is an addictive, driven sport that inspires me to go beyond my limits." His words are echoed by others: "Nothing is impossible" and "It's about what you can do, not about what you can't do."

Canadian Brian Cowie's severe visual impairment started at age 22, but at 57 years he is still in the game. His casual comment, "I turned my disabilities into opportunities," is an understatement in light of his impressive record of 50 triathlons, 3 marathons, and 3 Paralympic contests.

How does he manage the demanding Ironman events? Cowie is tethered to a guide for the swim, uses a tandem bicycle, and runs with a guide. Cowie does the hard work with just a little help from his friends.

Succinct words reveal Cowie's positive attitude, "Disability is a mere inconvenience." That calls for a T-shirt logo or a Web-site banner to encourage so many who live low on courage. No whiners here!
   
The handcyclists create a lot of buzz with their custom-designed, low-riding bikes and high-tech racing wheelchairs. Because spinal-cord injury (SCI) affects different muscle groups, paraplegics have specific design needs, even down to the details of wet-suit zippers.

Van der Vorst's Invacare Top End handcycle allows her to sit high in a kneeling position using her powerful arm, shoulder, and chest muscles. This unusual position paid off in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, where she placed first in the Women's Handcycle Division. Her Web site is a litany of successes as she ascends the ladder of wins.
   
Van der Vorst has her eyes set on the gold: champion female handcycler in the 2012 Paralympics in the United Kingdom. If someone zips by at 40 mph, it's van der Vorst, who admits she likes speed and risk taking, especially tandem sky-diving.
   
Coming in close behind van der Vorst was handcycler Fowler (Massachusetts), who had captured the number 2 HC spot in 2008 in Kona. Along with Bailey and Ricky James, Fowler enjoyed motocross fame and adrenaline until an accident at age 17 left him with thoracic 5–6 SCI. He transitioned from a high-risk life to a new sport that has brought him medals and a sense of accomplishment.

Fowler's list of victories is similar to that of Cowie: 140 road races, 27 mara­thons, and 18 triathlons. Between events he enjoys water- and snow-skiing and is an avid New England Patriots football fan.

A master's in business administration opened a position for him with a medical supply firm in Atlanta. This city is home to Fowler's favorite project, "Getting2tri," an organization that encourages people with disabilities to train for triathlons.
   
On Fowler's tail that muggy night on Alii Drive was his mentor, friend, and hero, Bailey (San Diego). Bailey had an eight-year victory motocross record until a 1987 accident on the track left him paralyzed from the waist down. He stayed under the radar until 1994, when he had a successful media career with ESPN-TV.

Bailey reentered the sports world with a bang in the 1998 Ironman World Championship, where he captured third place, second in 1999, and finally first in 2000. Sports writer Bob Babbitt's article "Mile Marker 86" in the official 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship program showcased former motocrossers Bailey and James. These men successfully transferred their smarts from one on-the-edge sport to another. David Bailey—mentor, friend, and hero to so many challenged athletes.

International Flavor

Halfway across the world from Hawaii, Michal Siska trained in his home village of Havlickuv Brod in the Czech Republic. Life slowly improved in that Eastern European country after the 1990s, but it seemed to come to a stop for Siska when he was injured in an auto accident—another spinal-cord casualty.

Along with fellow Czech handcyclist Zbynek Svehla, Siska put in grueling training hours while balancing an accounting job. They both competed in the 2008 Ford Ironman World Championship race and returned in 2009 chasing the big one. As Siska bent forward on his handcycle to pull the 12% upward grade on Palani Road leading to the flat bike run, Svehla was curbside, yelling encouragement in a language only they understood.
   
Many athletes have their personal mantras, rituals, or prayers to get them through the task. Siska's strategy is "Stay calm, control the endorphins; excitement wastes energy." Good advice, as he came in ahead of his 13-hour goal by 3 minutes.

Some met disappointment on October 10. Hans Koeppen, 2007 first-place HC, had to sit this one out due to a minor injury. He was also seen on Palani Road leaning forward in empathy, talking participants up the demanding hill.

Manila's Rudy Fernandez missed the race because he was stranded in airports between Hong Kong and San Francisco. Others missed critical transitions that ended their race day before the finish line. The bicycle-to-run  transition caused the most grief. HC Division's  Svehla and PC competitors Jason Gunter, Rudy Garcia-Tolson, and Yoshinobu Maeda were rooting for their colleagues by noon. But chances are they're scheduling their qualifying events (20 Ironman venues are available worldwide) and booking air tickets to Hawaii for 2010.

Before race day the Challenged Athletes met for a briefing session. The group is an exclusive small club of international athletes with disabilities who know and support each other. These men and women are not competing against but with one another as they appreciate what it takes to go every mile. It may sound cheesy to call them a band of brothers (or sister, with Monique around), but the esprit de corps is strong.

After the race they'll probably tell corny gimp jokes over a few brews, swap tips for the best pizza in Kona, try to pronounce mahalo nui loa (thank you very much), or trade dreams of future meets: 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship, Race Across America, 2012 London Paralympics, or numerous other marathons and triathlons around the world.

Listen for a cacophony of German, Dutch, Czech, Japanese, Tagalog, and a variety of English accents in international airports next summer. And savor the esprit de corps!ï»؟

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