by Dr. Andrew Baer
November 2006

Get ready, Louisville. Ironman is coming to town and it's the most exciting 17 hours in sports. My wife, Kim, and I just returned from our second Ironman competition in Panama City, Florida, where we witnessed several awe-inspiring stories. As a chiropractor certified in Active Release Technique (ART), I had the opportunity to volunteer my services to treat the competitors for three days leading up to the race.

I got to meet and treat triathletes from all over the world. Many came injured, unsure if they would even be able to compete. Others were experiencing problems that were hindering their performance. Some just needed a last minute tuneup to give them the competitive edge. All had one common goal: to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles, for the total distance of 140.6 miles. That's like going from here to Lexington and back. The winner is finished in 8 hours and 22 minutes. The other 2,100 plus competitors were required to cross the line in a maximum of 17 hours. The race began on a chilly, windy morning as racers jumped into a very cold Gulf of Mexico at 7:00 a.m. The last stragglers crossed the line at midnight. For most of us it's hard to imagine exercising for 17 continuous hours.

During the three days leading up to the race I treated about 50 people. One guy had had a spinal cord injury four years ago that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He had regained motor control, but could not feel anything in his right leg. His goal was to swim and bike, and then walk the marathon. I treated an athlete from Japan who could not run without severe pain in his foot. He was not only able to finish the race, he came within 12 minutes of his personal record. At the finish line I got a big hug as he said he was thinking of me the whole race.

On race day I worked the transition from bike to run, where the triathletes handed their bikes off to volunteers, ran into a tent, threw off their biking garb, and donned their running apparel. The leader covered the bike course in about four and a half hours. That's maintaining a pace of almost 25 mph for 112 miles. At the transition tent, a few people needed cramps worked out, but for the most part I spent three hours helping guys dress and undress. I relocated to the finish line at 5:00 p.m. and remained there for the next seven hours until the final competitors crossed just before the stroke of midnight.

At the finish line the other ART volunteers and I performed triage, determining which of the finishers needed medical attention. Several of the competitors were dehydrated, others had mild hypothermia. Some were just flat out exhausted. I tried to take a 72 year old finisher to the medical tent, but he kept insisting that he only needed to go to the massage tent to work out some cramps. The makeshift medical tent looked like a scene from M.A.S.H: racers, some looking half dead, lay on cots, covered with blankets, I.V.s hanging overhead.

Most racers, however, finished in fine fashion. During my seven hours at the finish line, I witnessed a wide range of human emotion. I got to slap several high fives. For the most part, people were ecstatic at having finished. Several held their arms in the air. Others pumped their fists or blew kisses to the sky. A single mother ran across the finish line with her three kids joining her. Several competitors carried their children in their arms as they crossed the finish line, including one man who was carrying a near newborn. Many, after being alone with their emotions for several hours, burst into tears at the finish line. Some of those tears must have been from sheer agony.

Everyone who finished was part of his or her own amazing story. Three stories stood out for me. The first of these across the finish line was Scott Johnson. Scott was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of nine. At the age of 29, he was on his deathbed waiting for a lung donor. Doctors told him he had less than one week to live. As he was lying there dying, he compiled a wish list of things he still wanted to accomplish. At the top of that list was finishing an Ironman. Miraculously, they found a donor and Scott had a double lung transplant. Two months later he left the hospital weighing 95 pounds. One year later he began training and running in shorter triathlons. Five years later, at a robust 145 pounds, he finished the Panama City Ironman in just over 15 hours.

On January 1, Adam Tice set a goal of losing one pound for every mile of the Ironman and then competing in and finishing the last Ironman of the season in Panama City. That's a whopping 140.6 pounds in ten months. Adam reached both of his goals. He lost the weight by limiting himself to 1,400 calories a day and training almost three hours a day. On November 4, just over ten months after beginning his journey, Adam crossed the finish line in just under 16 hours.

Finally, there is the story of Frank Farrar. Frank is a man of many accomplishments. In the 1960s he had a six year tenure as attorney general of the state of South Dakota, followed by a term as governor beginning in 1971. In 1992, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and told he had six months to live. Already an avid runner, he asked his doctor if he could compete in a half Ironman. His doctor said he might as well since he was dying anyway.

Fourteen years later he has finished over 16 Ironman races. I couldn't find the exact count. This year, at the age of 77, he entered all seven Ironman events in North America. He had yet to finish one, missing the cut off by just two minutes in Madison. In this, the last Ironman event of the year, Frank finished in 167 hours and 55 minutes.

These were just three stories. There were over 2,000. That's not even mentioning the thousands of volunteers it took to make this incredible race happen. Kim and I came back from Florida with Ironman fever. We are excited that it's coming to Louisville and we would encourage everyone to get out and see the race. If you have the time consider volunteering. You might find yourself at the finish line seeing some amazing stories of your own. Maybe some day you can become one of these amazing stories.

Dr. Andrew Baer is a chiropractor fully certified in Active Release Technique. He and his wife, Kim, a chiropractic assistant, have an office in the Highlands. They specialize in Active Release Technique and sports performance. Dr. Baer is also certified in rehab, kinesio taping, and utilizes a cold laser.