Chorleywood tri-athlete Caroline Whittaker raced at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii last month and took 3rd place in her age group.
The triathlon, which happens every October in Hawaii, started in the 70s after constant debate about who were the best athletes of three long distance races – bike at 112 miles, a sea swim of 2.4 miles, and a 26.2 mile marathon. To solve this the triathlon was invented with all three races happening in one day.
Athletes have to qualify for the race. Caroline qualified by winning her age group at her first ironman at Lanzarote earlier this year. Having just started triathlon 6 yrs ago she raced at Hawaii against many ex elite athletes amongst the competitors. The winner in her age group was a marathon runner who has represented USA at the Olympics 4 times.
“Training for the race was long, hard and lonely” says Caroline, “Nobody wants to join you for a 100 mile bike ride with no stops or 160 pool lengths with no rests! You do the whole race without the clock stopping, but can change between each bit in tents with a helper. The hardest things are the heat, humidity, wind and trying to eat and drink. While training I practise eating while running and cycling, and practise running inside with a heater on! There is a strict cut off time of 17 hrs. An 83 yr old man finished 5 secs outside the 17 hrs which counted as DNF (did not finish). The oldest person to complete it was a 76 yr old man. There are 5000 unpaid volunteers helpers, for only 2000 athletes. Some fly in from the UK and Germany and many more from USA just to help on the day.“