Iron Will:
76 Intrepid Souls Complete The World’s First Off-Road, Iron-Distance Triathlon
by Scott Boulbol | Photography by Lin Alder
While treading water in Jordanelle Reservoir just before 6 a.m. on July 11, my still-dreamy mind drifted back a year to the moment I read the dreaded email. What was supposed to be the first-ever Ironman-distance, off-road triathlon in Rifle, Colorado in the summer of 2024, had been canceled. The email came two weeks before race day, and I was crushed.
Here I was, 53 weeks later, on the verge of starting the Mountain Extreme Triathlon in Park City, Utah, an “Ironesque” event that would include a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile mountain bike ride and a 26.2-mile trail run. It hit me then, in the chilling reality of the 68-degree water: I had been preparing for this moment for almost two years. An overwhelming sense of responsibility washed over me. I absolutely had to finish. Just then - BANG! - the starting gun sent about 130 of us swimming into history.
Getting Started
Although it was a tough swim, it went well enough and I got on my bike feeling good. Six hours later, with more than 40 miles of trail riding behind me, I was starting to feel a bit fatigued. That’s when I heard a noise that hit me almost as hard as the email did a year ago. A nasty grinding sound preceded a complete lock-up of my gears. My deraileur, just a few millimeters out of adjustment, had become entangled in the spokes and was now bent so severely it was actually pointing up at me.
I had already had a few mechanical issues, so flipping the bike on its side and going to work with a multi-tool was becoming second nature. After a few frustrating minutes, I had the gears working — albeit fewer than before and with all sorts of grinding noises. But I could at least ride to the mid-bike check.
Meanwhile, many miles ahead of me, a completely different battle was progressing through the scorching heat. While the vast majority of us were simply trying to survive — the weather, the course, the distance — Scott Schumaker, a pro triathlete who formerly raced in the Xterra series, and solo multi-sport champion Andrew Adamowski were pushing the pace off the front.
A humbling thought. They would be done in time for dinner, but most of us would be out here deep into tomorrow, especially at the rate I was going.
After another hour on single track trails, I pulled into an aid station and surrendered my bike to the volunteer mechanics. They worked meticulously for almost 45 minutes, all the while aware that I desperately wanted to get back on the course. I agonized inside, knowing 20 months of training were on the verge of going for naught. “Here’s the deal,” one mechanic finally told me. “You can continue riding, but you only have gears two through eight. And don’t shift under pressure or your hanger will break off.”
Bittersweet news, perhaps, but it gave me the second chance I needed. I pedaled off into the now searing heat, hoping my bike would stay together long enough to give me the opportunity to finish.
All the mechanical problems had cost me about two hours, so I knew I would have to hammer the second half of the bike leg — but also save enough energy to run a trail marathon — if I wanted to finish. It was 2 p.m. and the temperature on the course was over 100 degrees, with no shade in sight. I couldn’t afford to skip any aid stations, yet I was now facing time cutoffs, which add tremendously to the mental pressures of any ultra-distance event. I hate time cutoffs! I knew, however, if I could finish the bike by 10 p.m., my ultrarunner-trained legs could at least walk through the marathon to finish before the 6 a.m. deadline.
Compared to the roller coaster, rock- and root-strewn, curvy single and double track 50 miles of the first loop, the second half of the bike looked like a breeze — about 60 miles of smooth rail trail with a little road and single track thrown in for good measure. There were new challenges, though. There was enough headwind on the outbound downhill section that my pace was a bit slower than expected. And it was still scorching hot.
Teaming Up
At the first aid station I picked up a couple other riders, Aaron Asay, from Utah, and Randy Lewis, from Saskatchewan, and we decided to ride in a pace line for a bit. (This was a draft-legal course.) The trip to the turnaround seemed to take forever, and the heat was positively stifling. At every aid station, we soaked our bodies in water, and filled our packs with as much fluid as possible.
We rode together well, but because our outbound time was longer than anyone expected, we needed to ride the 30 miles back to the next transition in about four hours. It was possible, but there would be little leeway.
Without a word, we collectively decided to stick together and help each other through this — another sign that this event carried the mentality of an adventure race or ultra event more than that of a traditional triathlon. “We’re better when we have comrades helping to see us through,” Aaron would admit later. “I have never felt that way in any other triathlon, or other race for that matter. MXT was truly unique in that regard.”
We all had a specific role. Randy kept the conversation lively and witty, Aaron provided invaluable tech support and knew all the volunteers — so we had lots of emotional support — and I became the voice of experience in the ultra-distance realm.
With our mutual goal and similar athletic abilities, we had become a team, and nothing was about to break us apart. Though we took our turns pulling and bonking, we stayed together. As we crested the last hill, despite more bike problems, and almost losing Randy to severe muscle aches and cramping, we knew we could get home.
Following a scary but exhilarating, go-for-broke descent, we rolled into the transition with about 20 minutes to spare. “The support of somebody saying ‘come on you can do it, just a little faster’ is what set this race apart,” Aaron said. We used every one of our spare minutes resting, eating, recovering.
On To The Finish
Amazingly, about an hour earlier, Adamowski had completed a phenomenal 4-hour, 5-minute trail marathon, after catching and passing Schumaker in the last two miles, for a stunning victory in 15:01:39. Schumaker finished less than seven minutes later in 15:08:01.They were finished long before we even started the run. Humbling indeed.
Despite feeling a bit unworthy, we were still competitors in the race, and it was our duty to keep moving. So, as we watched fifth-place finisher Brian Hunter sprint through the finish, we walked out into the night, still 26.2 miles from our own “sprint” to the line. In the meantime, our group grew to four, as Sue Covington, who had also trained for last year’s race, joined our crew.
The run started with a brutal 1,000-foot climb in the first three miles, but we weren’t alone trudging up that mountain. Unwittingly, another pack of runners merged with ours our group grew again. The bond Aaron, Randy and I had formed earlier seemed contagious and spread among the group. We also collected one lone runner, Bernardo Casillas from Mexico, who we initially passed on bike leg. I had given him some food and advice on rehydrating, but none of us thought it would do any good. Yet here he was.
So, with the light from our headlamps bobbing all around us, the nine of us were suddenly sticking together and working as a team. Over the next seven hours, we ran and walked together, never leaving the slowest behind (a position at which we all took turns). Knowing we could keep a moderate pace and still finish, and that finishing under 24 hours was all that mattered, we just kept moving forward.
As the early morning light began to grow, a light we had watched almost 24 hours ago waiting for the swim to begin, we ran down the final hill toward the finish area. Sue and I, having waited almost two years for this moment, were a bit more eager than the others to get to that line, so we found ourselves out in front of the rest just before the last turn into the finish area. But, obeying an earlier decision by the group, we waited for the rest to catch up so we could all finish together.
Waiting there, so close to a goal that was so long in coming, was surreal. Were we really about to finish? What would it feel like? As I fought back the tears of joy and suffering that were now welling up, the group caught up. In a euphoric haze of screaming and applause from the die-hard group of remaining spectators, as well as our re-energized group, we ran across the line as a “team” of 10 solo competitors, as happy for each other as we were for ourselves. Following hugs and high fives all around, we were ready for bed.
Much to our surprise, however, one more competitor came in a few minutes later. Despite our cheers for this last finisher, there was a strange sense of disappointment that we hadn’t taken last place. Still, the accomplishment of finishing will last a long time. We didn’t burn up the course like Schumaker and Adamowski, but we were among the 76 finishers of the first ever Iron-distance triathlon.
“I’m still coming down off the high of the awesome experience,” Sue told me a few days later. “The race was such a success, because in the end it was an experience that asked us to listen to ourselves but work as a team over and over.”
Scott Boulbol is the co-author of “Trail Runner’s Guide to Colorado: 50 Great Trail Runs” (Fulcrum Publishing, 1999).
Mountain Extreme Triathlon, July 11-12, Park City, Utah
Overall Results
MEN 1. Andrew Adamowski, 29, Evergreen, Colorado, 15:01:39; 2. Scott Schumaker, 33, Boulder, Colorado, 15:08:01; 3. Anthony Johnson, 30, Salt Lake City, Utah, 15:25:17; 4. Scott Gray, 27, Jonestown, Pennsylvania, 15:46:41; 5. Brian Hunter, 37, Nederland, Colorado, 15:49:20; 6. David Boyd, 42, Houston, Texas, 15:49:28; 7. Todd Gerlach, 34, Austin, Texas, 16:20:00; 8. Steve Wallenfels, 35, St. George, Utah, 16:44:36; 9. Todd Scott, 39, Royal Oak, Michigan, 16:55:58; 10. Victor Selenow, 51, Buena Vista, Colorado, 17:17:15.
WOMEN 1. Marg Fedyna, 38, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 17:32:00; 2. Serena Warner, Park City, Utah, 36, 17:45:04; 3. Jilene Mecham, 34, Orem, Utah, 18:22:27; 4. Kathy Duryea, 39, Highland Village, Texas, 19:08:22; 5. Laura Dewitt, 37, Timecula, California, 21:46:13; 6. Beverly Watson, 49, Priddis, Utah, 21:58:34; 7. Martha McNeil, 39, Springfield, Ohio, 22:46:35; 8. Anne Thilges, 37, San Francisco, California, 22:49:22; 9. Sue Covington, 39, Littleton, Colorado, 23:33:58; 10. Renee Kline, 34, Boise, Idaho, 23:34:00.
