2008 Deca IRON Triathlon

Day 12 deca Ironman 2008

2008-11-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

Hello to Kirby and everyone else.
It continues to be a celebratory time.
Antal Vonecki from Hungary has completed the Deca Ironman. His finishing time was 281:18:30. This gives Antal a 11th place finish.
Unfortunately finishing at 2:00 am in the morning, I don´t know if there were alot in attendance.
Currently David Clamp from England has 6 laps left to go.
In personal exciting news Stephen Johnson of Canada has crossed the finish line.
Stephen enduring enormous pain due to swollen feet, and as he decribed a possible torn shin and shoulders from hell after the swim and pure exhaustion came up the finshing stretch with Alan Barry videoing his last 500 meters.
Stephen approached the finish with David Bowie´s (live) Ziggy Stardust. There wasmany in attendance. Greeted first by his lovely wife and constant supporter Mary, Stephen was embraced. Stephen was also very receptive to Wicked Wanda , Alan´s wife for bandaging and helping Steve get through this grueling race with her support.
Jorge congratulated Steve along with many others.
This was Steve´s first Deca and he was very relieved that it was all over.
Celebration is on for us but we will be cheering on all athletes still trying to finish.
Last piece of news for the night.
Dave Clamp of England has fought back after a shin injury out him on the injury list for a couple of days and has finished the Deca. Dave finish was shared with friend Sally and son Sam.
They finished the race racinfg the British Flag and welcomed by all.
Dave ´s finishing time was 300:27:19. For a lucky # 13 th finish.
It is late so will continue tomorrow.

Day 12 Deca Ironman 2008 Post 1

2008-11-27T17:24:00.000-08:00

We have reached day 12 of the 2008 Deca Ironman Challenge.

Todays blog starts with Michael Gartner of Germany finishing in 254:07:46 for a 7th place finish. We all gave Michael had as warm a welcome as possible since he completed this event during the night primarily independant . Michael commented that he was very relieved to have it all over and looking forward to a good rest.

Next we had Emmanuel Conraux of France coming in at a time of 257:42:56, Emmanuel crew member was Gerard.

we also had Frances Guy Rossi coming in at a time of 262:37:01 at the age of 61 years.

These were late night and early morning finishes.

Today was another very warm day which was enjoyed greatly by us spectators but maybe not so much by the remaining athletes.

Blisters as mentioned in yesterdays news has become a frequent occurance with the long distance being put on the feet.

(Left)Yves Beauchamp displaying what is becomone the latest trend at HQ.

(Right) and Below) Kari Martens should win this years Blister grammy with this display.

Today was both a very emmotinal and long awaite day and finish for Yves Beauchamp of Canada and his crew which include his brother BEN (Bo) Beauchamp Alias BB. Friends and co-worker Josee and Karl.The stage was set by crew walking the last lap with Yves, while Ben waliking backwards had video camera in hand capturing all the final moments.As they were approaching the final home stretch the Canadian flags were held high with Yves leading the way and brother Ben filming the final stretch.I was asked to shoot the finish for Ben since it would be very difficult for him to multi-task those many jobs.Yves was greeted by lots in attendance . Yves showed alot of emmotion and happines that it was finally over. Ben and the rest of the crew cracked a beer to celebrate the occasion.Yves previous unsuccessful attempt at the 2002 Deca in Mexico, Im sure was on his mind´and a mativator which made this years finish even sweeter.Yves completed 2006 Deca in France 279:57:26 ,so this years time of 270:45:15 is a personal best, and a 10th place finish. In asking Yves what was most satifying about today, he replied with limited time to train for this event it was definitely his mental toughness that got him through it.

Some athletes that are close would be Antal Vonecki with 25 left.

Stephen Johnson from Canda with 34 left.

Dave Clamp - England 39 laps left.

Carlos Ochoa from Spain 72 laps.

Other Photos to Enjoy :::

Hildeberto Villa with crew member Luis display finishing foot fashion.

Michael Gaertner -Germany

254:07:46
7th Place

Guy Rossi-France 262:37:01 9th Place

Clare,Alan,&Michelle at 5 k race.

Emmanuel Conraux below from France.

257:42:56 8th place

Till we talk tomorrow.

Alan

For Steve Kirby.

Day 11 post 1

2008-11-26T17:01:00.000-08:00

Hello to all:

Sorry for the delay

I have only limited access to one computer to add to this blog.

The day so far has been productive for 2 more athletes.

Hilberto Villa of Mexico finished today looking great in a time of 241:07:23

at 11:24 this morning.

Slowing down to a crawl to await his crew to bring him his country flag to cross in a celebratory way.

Greeted by all and his crew he was very happy to finish.

After finishing it is becoming a familiar site to now have all the athletes bandages removed upon completing the Deca. This can be a very disturbing site

We also had Neil Kapoor from England with a finishing time of 242:24:30 a 6th place finish was accompanied by his girlfriend Clare Read. While approaching the finish line waving the British Flag, I arranged to play a tune for him as he was coming up th e final stretch. I was told that he is a Metallica fan, so it was appropriate to crank the stereo and play Ride The Lightning as he approached the finish ,which I here will be something he will long remember helped complete a great celebration on his 2008 Deca Iron finish.

Neil was also greeted by his friend and crew member Paul Castaldo from England.

In other news it is becoming a familiar site to see athletes in the Medical tent having very painful looking blisters and sores attended to.

Examples of this are Kari Martens of Sweden and 2008 Deca winner Marcel Heinig of Germany were both be taken care of today. Pictures will follow on next blog.

One huge piece of news at H.Q. is that some of us arranged to have P I Z Z A delivered for a change from RICE RICE RICE and more rice.

Ben what great at organizing it to make it a great change for those who participated.

And yes I believe it was delivered by motorcycle with and metal oven on the rear.

NOTE:

For some of the fans it is a rude awakening to watch the later ends of an Deca athletes finishing laps .

There is no comparioson to an Ironman,Double etc.

With no disrespect to the athletes is has been compared to the cliche´watching paint dry during the run portion.42 km is a long ways and is impossible to run constantky through this part of the event. These athletes are giving out every last bit of energy to enable them to put 1 foot in front of the other, while fighting terrific pain due to blisters, swealing .Most athletes are pushing their performances to 17 hours a day and in most cases 1 to 2 hours of sleep then back at it for 3-4 hours or more.

The determination of all while being present at my first Deca Ironman is certainly an eye opener, and to witness first hand the dertermination of all athletes.

Todays temperature was the hottest so far. I believe we reached a high of 28 degrees.

Till tomorrow

Alan Barry

On Behalf of Steve Kirby.

Marcel Heinig winner of this years 2008 Deca

Ironman , Monterrey Mexico, 206:29:02

Kari Martens 2nd place finisher with a time of 212:06:04 with wife Petra and son Oliuer. after completion of Deca . Note wrapped feet in nice comfortable sandals.

I must say I had a look at Kari's feet and they looked damn sore.

Mario Rodriquez of Mexico Finishing at Deca 2008 Ironman -225:27:54 4th place
Ferenc Szonyi of Hungary finishing 3rd bearing his flag with great emotion, 222:17:01

Day 10 Post 3

2008-11-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

Well just a quick note to all of you out there.
We had a surprise in the kitchen today.Yes there was not only RICE RICE RICE AND MORE RICE, but we were surprised that we had good old chicken cooked on the grill. It was a good change.
Having access to the kitchen I was able to treat my Canadian crew to homemade grilled cheese sandwiches.
If Steve Kirby is reading I have succeeded to resume the tunes at HQ. I had Jorge get me a cable to connect to Bens laptop on which I downloaded I-tunes.This has given us a variety of radio stations to choose from. It has been appreciated by many, that the white noise has disappeared.
New exciting news:
Mario Rodriquez has completed the Deca in great fashion.While being greeted at the finish line by spectators as well as other athletes, Mario approached the finish proudly waving his Mexican flag. After crossing he was congratulated by all and most important welcomed and embrace by his supportive and encouraging wife.
His finishing time of 222:27:54 or 9 days, 9 hours, 27 minutes and 54 secs. This was good for a
4 th place finish.
It has been another great day at HQ.
Some other accomplishments, not race related, are while the long wait for the runners support crew have time to pick up a book to read and hopefully finish, my wife Wanda Bouchard-Barry commented that she was able to finish hers.
Before I close next in line to finish we have Hilberto Villa from Mexico could finish tonight with only 20 more laps,as well Neil Kapoor from England is trying hard to finish soon with only 36 laps left.
Forecast for tomorrow is abou tthe the same, but Thusday is supposed to be warmer with a high of 28 .
Time to return and do my part on the crew.
Have a Great Night.
Alan Barry

Race day 10 Post 2

2008-11-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone.

Being new at this bear with me as I do my best to keep all your inquiring minds informed in the coming days of the 2008 Deca Ironman.

Updated news today is that at 1:10 pm local time participant David Clamp from England has returned to the run after a 49 hour and 42 min rest due to injury, to continue his quest to finish.

Athelete Ferenc Szonyi from Hungary had an emotional well deserved finishing time of 222.17:01, 9 days,6hours,17min, and 1 sec.

We have athlete Mario Rodriquez from Mexico closing in on a finish with 11 laps to go.
Weather is ideal today and spirits of all athletes seems to be good.
Will try to update later.
Thanks
Alan Barry
Crew member fro Stephen Johnson/Canada
Hopefully photos to follow.

Race Day 10 Post 1

2008-11-25T07:46:00.000-08:00

9:45 a.m. I am here at the airport in Dallas Forth Worth with a 4.5 hour layover so figured I would update you all with what happened last night.

Amid a Mariachi band playing Marcel Heinig of Germany finished the Deca IRON Triathlon with a time of 206 hours 29 minutes – 8 days 14 hours 29 minutes. Jorge had brought out a seven piece band to serenade him as he finished and Marcel was standing at the finish line smiling as Jorge grabbed a chair and told hi to just sit down and enjoy the moment. As he sat down – he closed his eyes and I thought it was all over for him that he had fallen asleep in the chair. He had been going non stop all day to finish as Kari Martens was not far behind. But as that one song finished his eyes opened and he was beaming again.

Marcel is the youngest in the world to finish the Deca IRON at 27 years old. He had a birthday on the first day of the race when everyone swam 24 miles – I forgot to remind Jorge so we could all sing to him. Marcel is also the winner of the IUTA (International Ultra Triathlon Association) point standings.

On his heels, but asleep at the time of his win, was Kari Martens. The two had battled all thru the bike and the run – with Marcel finally catching him of the run and barely holding onto the lead. But you are talking about Marcel being 27 yeas old and Kari being 51 years old. Kari’s wife Petra had told me while we were waiting for Marcel to finish she was impressed and proud of her husband and his accomplishment – stating that due to the competitive battle between Marcel and Kari – pushing each other thru the race – that he was able to compete at that pace –those he was suffering. He has a heel problem that has kept him shuffling along and not able to run. Kari finished with a time of 212 hours and 06 minutes. 8 days, 20 hours, 06 minutes.

I made one last stop by the race course this morning to get a plate of pancakes and a cup of rice pudding and see who was still on the course and say goodbye to my friend Michael Gaertner of Germany who I was crewing for. He was fast asleep on one of the sides of the little bldg along side the road but woke enough to mumble goodbye to me. There were a few people on the course, Gyuri of course was still up and awake – watching/crewing his brother in law Ferenc, who is doing well and should finished third place here soon. I also swiped back my Sirius Satellite system that I brought to hook into Jorge music system so we had COMMERCIAL FREE music and a variety of that. Everyone got used to it so I know they are going thru withdrawals now. Sorry guys.

I will close this out and become one of you – having to go to the results page to see the standing and the blog to see what Alan and Mary have posted. Again this year I enjoyed being around and helping so many athletes, meeting so many new people and being able to help Jorge with his race. Some of the new athletes I have met want to make plans to come to Virginia, if not this year, sometime in the future to participate in that race.

Good luck to all as they still compete.

Kirb

Race Day 9 Post 2

2008-11-24T19:45:00.000-08:00

Marie-Josee (Canada) on left, Guy Rossi and his wife Annie of France, Guy has the most triathlons done in the world and is one of two people still competing in the Deca, which started in 1992. The other person is Jorge's wife Silvia.

Emmanuel Conraux France on the left and his support crew Gerard Buisson of France. Gerard used to compete in the old days in Doubles, Triples and the Deca but knee surgery has left him helping out others achieve their dreams

Yves Beauchamp of Montreal Canada. Tho he is hurting physically, he always has a smile for you. That is his trade mark.

We are at the stage of the race where you can usually tell the racers from afar from each other. They each have their gate, stance, swing of the arms, leaning etc. We are talking like 200 – 300 yards away. Uncanny!

Peter is off the bike – HUGE grin on his face. Now the party can start.

10:20 p.m. Marcel Heinig will finish the race soon in about an hour. He is very tired and hallucinating. I just tried joking iwth him and he didn't know what was going on at first. It was a hard fought one against some very good competitors. Follow the results page for the others as they finish throughout the night and tomorrow and the rest of the days.

I have to leave early in the morning to go back home. My boss told me I have to be there for Thanksgiving that we celebrate in the United States, which is held Thursday. I leave Monterrey at 6:40 in the morning and arrive in Virginia at 5:05 in the evening and by the time I get home my wife’s family will be arriving as well. Alan Barry and Mary Johnson (support crews for Stephen Johnson Canada) will continue the blog for me, in their style so you won’t go into shock and withdrawls.

You will still be able to follow the results on the results board too. I too will be following the race this way for the remainder of the time.

Kirb

Race Day 9 Post 1

2008-11-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Gyuri (left) and Ferenc Szonyi are brothers in law. Gyuri is married to Ferenc's sister. Ferenc is doing quite well in the race.

Claire/England (left) and support crew for Neil Kapoor, Michelle Santilhano South Africa who did the Quintuple and Alan/Canada and support crew for Stephen Johnson competed in the 5k race held yesterday. They are holding cups of beer that were being handed out. What a way to finish a 5k and have beer put in your hand. Hydration!

Yves Beauchamp of Montreal Quebec Canada is the first to cut off the toes of his shoes so they don't rub his feet. There will be more of this and the heels will be cut off as well.

Roxanna/Texas (left) support crew for Eileen Steil of Georgia (right)

Typical support crew table on the side of the road - perfect height so athletes don't have to bend over and everything is right there at their reach. Fluids, food, chems, etc

The long side of the road showing multiple tables and some crews sitting out waiting on athletes

Something I want to apologize for - I really shouldn't have to apologize but the warning sign you get when you log onto the blog - I have requested twice for them to remove the blogger warning and it still has not been done. As soon as I posted the first blog on Wednesday before I came down here, I was emailed about it being a potential blogger violation of terms and that I had 20 days to request a review and removal. I did that within minutes of me posting the site. So Google has not lived up to what they are supposed to accomplish. I just requested a removal a couple days ago and still no relief.

I had Luis update his program so the Internet results page would show the split between laps. He had done this on the local screen we see, however he had not merged it in the internet one – so now you can see what the racers are doing each lap.

9:45 a.m. David Clamp is still off his feet, the doc and Sally is working on them now, his shin is looking better but he has been off it since last afternoon. He will be off it the rest of the day and if not significantly better he will head to the hospital.

9:50 a.m. Emmanuel (Manu is his nickname) has not run since before yesterday, he has a decent walking pace, you can see his left shin is taped up. So he is maintaining his position somewhat.

11:05 a.m. Suraya is on the table getting her left heel and right instep worked on. Ice at first - now they are bandaged. She just got an ice bag put on her lower back as it is hurting her. She tells me it is from the swim, it didn’t hurt during the bike but now that she is on the run, it is hurting pretty bad. The instep on her right foot is from the bike shoes.

Michael Gaertner and Antal Voneki still have good form and decent run laps. Michael is doing two or three runs laps and then a walk lap. Neill is just coming thru and has good form still.

Different people have different ways of keeping track of laps – even with the results on the flat screen TV. Stephen Johnson puts a mark on his hand with a pen to signify “another one bites the dust”. I have been teasing him about getting blood poisoning and he won’t be able to finish the race.

All the Deca IRON athletes are using running shoes; Arthur Puckrin in the Quintuple ran (or rather walked/slogged) in MBT sandals http://www.swissmasaius.com/Default.aspx?lang=en-US
Some have brought multiple pairs and switch out after a few laps (Stephen Johnson has done this). I know Guy Rossi has three pair with him. Stephen has like five pair.

Peter Leffert’s keeps going round and round trying to get his bike finished – still trooping away. He is missing the rest of the party we tell him.

1:30 p.m. The big news of the day is that the Coke people finally made it here with ice and water. We had just run out of water and the ice we didn’t have any – as it is getting quite warm this afternoon. Jorge was on the phone a few times with them – red tape stuff. But we are fine now and everyone is happy. To a point.

Mariee-Josee of Quebic City, Canada - support crew for Guy Rossi and the person who has been doing the Bowen Technique on many people.

Luis of Mexico is the support crew for Beto Villa also of Mexico

Day 8 Post 2

2008-11-23T22:33:00.000-08:00

Wicked Wanda of Canada - support crew for Stephen Johnson.

Some of the racers are using strategies in running. Neil Kapoor England is running two walking one. I believe Stephen Johnson England is doing the same. Yves Beauchamp of Montreal, Quebec, Canada is maintaining a strong walking pace.

Emmanuel’s left shin is taped up and he has been having problems all day with it. Kari’s left heel is swollen and he is having problems walking on it. Beto too is still having problems with his feet and left knee.

11:15 p.m. Two people left riding – Eileen and Peter. They both keep going. Peter just took a power nap and is going out again till late morning. Eileen has 28 laps left, if she can stay on the bike for a while, she will finish soon. Peter still has a ways to go, he is planning on noon to 2:00 p.m. tomorrow.

11:30 p.m. Mother Mary (Arthur Puckrin’s wife and super support crew) just made a cup of tea for herself and Suraya Oliver England as she heads out to start the run course. Kari is calling it quits for the night, he stops by the med tent to check in for a moment – he heel is still hurting and I also notice his left hand is swollen. You can hardly see his knuckles cuz of the swelling.

11:55 p.m. Half of the racers are sleeping – so it is quiet around here. Uusally when the racer is sleeping so is the support crew. So later tonight it will be like a graveyard around here with only a few out on the course. The die hards! The zombies! Neill Kapoor has been going since 7 this morning and is going to call it quits soon.

12:15 a.m. Was walking away from the kitchen facility and noticed David Clamp and his partner/support crew Sally hobbling over towards the bathroom so I went over and helped carry David between the two of us. His feet were really hurting.

12:30 a.m. I think I am going to call it a night. Only a few racers out there – it is very quite.

Day 8 Post 1

2008-11-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

Noddy (aka Paul) support crew for Neil Kapoor England, who just got here two days ago to help out

Sam, son and support crew for his dad David Clamps England

Mary, wife of Stephen Johnson England

Nicholas, support crew for Kari Martens Sweeden, just got here two days ago and below is Oliuer (pronounced Oliver), son of Kari

Was at the race course at 6:00 a.m., it was very quite still, very few racers were out. Three are still biking – Eileen Steil and Peter Lefferts of USA and Suraya Oliver of England. Suraya will finish this afternoon on the bike.

Most of the athletes are pretty much walking/shuffling/slogging (slow jog) now. A few are still running ~ Michael Gaertner Germany who just started late last night and Ferenc Szonyi Hungary is managing some runs. Kari Martens Sweeden is looking like a zombie, his face is drained. He is managing a slow shuffle as is Guy Rossi France (Guy started this at the beginning). David Clamps left shin is really bad looking, not sure he put in too much running in the beginning but the area around his left shin is red and swollen a little. His partner has been giving him periodic foot treatments. Marcel Henig Gerany started off fine but has a slightly looking faster shuffle than Kari but you can see the strain in the way he shuffles.

Emmanuel Conraux of France was limping around pretty good this morning but currently he is looking better. He had a bad start to the race with the swim, coming out last after having a bout of throwing up and then getting hypothermic

Mario Rodriguez Mexico goes in spells of walking then he will get a few slogs in. Antal Voneki Hungary just came by in a slow jog, he is one of the last to star the run, Stephen Johnson Canada after him and then Carlos Ochoa is the most recent. We will see what these guys look like by tomorrow. Emmanuel just came by me, which is noon time here, and he is walking but doesn’t have the limping he did earlier, maybe it was from just getting up and that earlier morning

11:45 a.m. The Quintuple athletes are preparing to head out to their awards ceremony and you can see chafed lips and some sores on Andreas and Elke face and lips from the sun and racing.

Beto Villa's foot, the pad is swollen and he has a couple blisters on both feet, the feet out here will get worse.

12:30 Beto Villa Mexico was on the massage table getting the balls of his feet worked on – there are a couple of blisters there and you can see the swelling in that portion as well. He also got his knee bandaged as well.

1:05 David Clamp England is on the doctors table getting his ankle worked on again. It is pretty red and inflamed and the doc gave them some antibiotic and pain killer for it. They also found a website to show how to properly wrap the ankle for shin splints so after icing it for a while and elevation, they will wrap and off he will go again. Antal, Ferenc and Michael are the only ones with a decent kind of pace, at this moment.

Day 7

2008-11-22T13:40:00.000-08:00

Timing tent

Neill Kapoor/England (left) and Michelle Santilhano/South Africa living in California

Super Support Crew Rick Freeman. He crewed for Wayne Kurtz and also helped 4/5 people with bike issues, especially tires.

Kari martens of Sweeden

Still a little chilly this morning, the temps over night were 48F/9C and breezy. Today the sun finally came out about 11:00 and the temps are moderate now. Not too hot for them (it was a nice 66 deg this afternoon) – as the mood has started changing with the bikers finally getting off the bike. Another race is starting to form now and the better runners are strategizing to chase down the biker guys. Already Emmanuel has gone from last place out of the pool to currently 6th place, and running is his thing. Tho his crew has said he is battling bronchitis. Half of the athletes are now on the run.

Harn Wei dropped out of the race last night, he got an MRI and it did show a tear in his knee. So he will work on it the rest of the winter and see what he can do next year.

David Clamp is another one that did well on the bike and is currently in 2nd place, running well. His partner and support crew Sally will work on his feet when he stops for a formal food break, working on one while the other is in a icy tub. Petra has also been working on Kari’s feet as well when he stops. A few of the athletes have been getting massages from their crews at different intervals, trying to work out kinds in the muscles. Every little bit helps in this race at this distance. A few minutes now can mean big gains in the long run.

Marie-Josee of Quebec City, Canada and a support crew of Guy Rossi has worked on quite a few of the racers. She specializes in the Bowen Technique of Massage www.bowtech.com, and a few of them have been requesting her now.

When I came down this morning for breakfast and to check on the riders, Antal was riding in jeans. This lasted a couple hours then he switched back into regular bike pants. For a period two days ago, Suraya was riding in jean shorts. I don’t think that lasted long.

Speaking of breakfast, more pancakes and scrambles eggs, one batch had meat in them, the other one had diced potatoes. There was that rice pudding that everyone loves, more refried beans, the tacos that were left over from last night, hard boiled eggs, sliced carrots and potatoes, cereal and they made some dessert stuff using the wafer cookies, about five cookies in a pile with this lemon sauce – they were quite tasty. I had the ladies make me some easy fried eggs to go with the pancakes. I am sure I will have more pancakes tomorrow morning.

During his breakfast, Stephen Johnson’s crew had his Lightspeed bike ready for him, which he had agreed to before breakfast, he stops for a few hours every night. Near the end of his breakfast, he mentioned he wanted his bike prepared. So off come the lights and his pedals from the Lightspeed to go on his second bike. Since then –he has been turning in some consistent fast speeds. Speaking of bikes, they are all looking ragged from the dust around here. Look like those dune buggies that do the desert racers and end up caked with dirt and mud everywhere. Monterrey is a dusty place and the track here has dust everywhere. A few people have had problems with shifting and a quick clean of the derailleur’s and oiling fixes that.

Dinner tonight was mashed taters, macaroni salad, potato/carrot salad, chicken broth, oatmeal, rice, rice pudding, spaghetti, refried beans, scrambled eggs. I heard earlier this afternoon the ladies had made some potato and cheese fritters. By t he time I went to check and get one, they were gone. If something is good – you need to get it quick as people find out quick and jump.

Gonna close this post out for the night.

Race Day 6 Post 2

2008-11-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

Ben Beauchamp, race photographer and brother of Yves Beauchamp, and Josee, support crew for Yves, Montreal Canada

Ilde, support crew and wife of Antal Vonecki, Hungary

Rick Freeman, support crew of Wayne Kurtz, Pennsylvania

Gloramis, support crew of Carlos Ochoa, Spain

Don (left), support crew of Elke Streicher and Marcel Henis of Germany; Helmut, support crew of Andreas Buscher of Germany; and Gyuri, support crew of Ferenc Szonyi of Hungary

Harn Wei is still experiencing problems with his knee and is currently riding using one leg – trying to get some mileage in. His support crew finally arrived today from Singapore, he had been using a few other people sporadically.

Michael Gaertner has not had the race he was expecting. With a great swim start, he had constipation problems on the first day of the bike and finally got that under control on the third day of the race. However he has experienced five flats on his bike – there have been few other flats by other racers. I believe maybe four other people, maybe five have had flats but it has only been one a piece. All the bikes are in need of a good cleaning, after having ridden 1,120 miles or close to that, they are filthy with the dust off the road.

A few of the athletes have congestion/sinus problems. Marcel Henig has sinus problems and checked in with the doctor. After finishing the bike ride late last night, he retired for some sleep and this morning, I heard him blowing his nose and he had a head full of congestion. I was told by one of Emmanuel’s support crews that he has bronchitis. And I have heard a few others with a hacking cough.

Supper tonight consisted of a tortilla chip/cheese mix, refried beans (we are in Mexico remember, every meal), grilled hot dogs, boiled eggs, cooked sliced carrots, cooked sliced potatoes, cheese/potato tacos, rice, rice pudding, scrambled eggs and diced potatoes. Some of this we will see in the morning we know. There will be more items cooked and put out as the night wears on. They just put out some more tacos, these made with a ham/bologna looking stuff and cheese.

Farid, Jorge’s son who works for Monster Energy drinks, was here again today. Not too many people were drinking ice cold Monster drinks. It was a day more for hot drinks. Brrr was it chilly all day and still just as cold if not colder. The sun peaked out a few times and you could feel the beginnings of some warmth, then it would hide again. Ben Beauchamp, the photographer, came around our area complaining this was supposed to be Mexico, where was the sun and warmth and the mutual answer back was, you haven’t gone far enough, you need to keep going south. Oh yeah – you must have taken the wrong flight, this was Monterrey California. Wrong Monterrey. Many jokes about the weather today. I even went back to the room this afternoon to warm up a little bit and put on another shirt under my fleece.

We have had a few people arrive today, new suspport crews. Annie, wife of Guy Rossi; Nicholas, friend of Kari Martens; Sanjeev, friend of Harn Wei; and TJ's photographer have been added to our entourage.

Arthur is about to come in and finish the Quintuple and I will post this, last for the evening.

Jorge has 24 hour police that guard our area and make sure we are safe and the few vehicles that try to come down the road do not.

Wayne Kurtz (left) and Rick Freeman after a well deserve nights rest and "SHOWER" for Wayne. First one since Sunday. He was stinky.

Bllue Demon aka Yves Beauchamp making an appearance

Neill Kapoor getting his daily medical check, along with his support crew Claire

Race Day 6 Post 1

2008-11-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

First things first – the important stuff. Why we are all here.

Wayne finished third in a time of 111 hours and 40 minutes while Elke came in fourth with 112 hours and 26 minutes. That equates to
Andreas 4 days 7 hours 45 minutes
Michelle 4 days 12 hours 14 minutes
Wayne 4 days 15 hours 40 minutes
Elke 4 days 16 hours 26 minutes
Arthur has 97 laps done
Silvia has 73 laps done

Andreas Buscher with TJ Murphy of Triathlete Magazine

Michelle Santilhano

Wayne Kurtz

Erika Streicher and boyfreind Marcel Heinig congratulating her on finishing

I am in the kitchen where it is warm typing my updates and just generally staying warm. Using my powers of being part semi staff, I acquired a section of a table in the back of the kitchen, trying to stay out of the cooks way. In order to get Internet, I need to stand up and hold the laptop in the air, over the window counter where people are getting their food. The temps yesterday were 81F/27C but turned to windy and 47F/8C overnight and the high of today will be 55F/13C. Tomorrow will be high of 65F/18C but getting back up to mid 70’s/21C to 80/27C. they were calling for slight showers today, lets hope they stay on the other side of the mountains, we sure don’t need that.

Breakfast consisted of more porridge/oatmeal, scrambled eggs with the left over hot dogs from last night (midnight food), pancakes, rice pudding (they made it for us when I asked late last night – it is a hit around here), sliced potatoes and hard boiled eggs that were from last night as well as sopa’s (small corn tortillas) stuffed with a variety of cheese and meats. Things are recycled around here, what is left over from one meal with find it’s way in something else somewhere else.

Well I need to correct another wrong from a couple days ago. The black birds that entertain us during the day and at night are called Hurracas. I mistakenly called them a Grackle.

Over the late part of the night, Kari Martens of Sweeden got off the bike first and has 22 laps on the run done and Marcel Heinig of Germany is off the bike as well and has eight laps done. The rest sure wish they were off the bike – mainly because of the wind and cold, much harder riding in this stuff than running/slogging.

The Deca IRON athletes have to complete 938 bike laps while they complete 223 running laps. Round and round and round we go. We joke – you bike one way then run the other to unwind yourself.

The Stephen Johnson crew have made the following T-shirts to wear – once the weather get warmer. They read (in Spanish) left to right –
1) Go ahead, ask me about me feeling
2) I am the sunblock and lubricant masseuse
3) Mr Johnson would rather have a pap smear
4) Dave’s not hear man!
There is, of course, meanings within the group, about the meanings. This is also the group that was giving Stephen trivia questions during the swim – to keep his mind off swimming. He turned it around and was giving them questions as well and this has continued on the bike too.

Harn is still getting some therapy on his knee and hopefully will start riding later this afternoon. He was off for a while yesterday with ice and some therapy and tried again but had troubles. So he stayed off last night and this morning so we will see what happens. Long way to come and lots of money and training to have to quit now.

Lunch consists of left over porridge/oatmeal, rice, tortillas, a gravy looking mixture with beans and some vegetables, a steak and vegetable stir fried concoction. I have to mention the tortillas are all hand made here. I watched them making some yesterday. Some of them they use a rolling pin to make the sopa’s with, they others they have a press to make them super thin and grill them then we get them hot and put stuff in them and eat away. These ladies are great cooks and most things are done fresh.

Let me close out this segment – a kinda funny. It didn’t hurt him much as he only had two more laps to do. The Quintuples have 468 laps to do on the bike but the Deca’s have 938 laps to do (468 x 2 = 936) – for some reason that is the way it is. Anyway – Dave Clamp's son told him he was done at 936. a couple people mentioned he was done but he didn’t listen to them and Dave headed to the room, passing over the mat on the way which set off the next to last lap telephone ring (that is the signal you get to let you know last lap) and when he came back from the room his bike set off the last lap final time. He started on the run when people realized what happened so when he came back from that run he put on his bike shoes and helmet and did his proper two laps on the bike and he just ran past me with a smile on his face. It could have been worse, but it was only two laps, less than 10 minutes.

Our room, there are 4 sets of bunk beds. After the last guy gets here, we are full of stuff hanging around

Marcel and Elke's table full of race supplies, notice the non-alcoholic beer on the middle shelf, popular with athletes in that they get calories with no buzz.

Suraya Oliver of England

Mario Rodriquez of Mexico

Michael Gaertner of Germany

Race Day 5 Post 2

2008-11-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

Injuries! A few have happened. Harn has taken the rest of today off till tomorrow morning, his left knee is swollen and he was stopping every five laps to ice it down and it wasn’t working. So he will see how it feels in the morning when he starts again. Neil Kapoor is having a left arm/hand problem. His upper left arm is itchy but his fingers are swollen and he has trouble moving them. He had ice bundled around it for an hour and that didn’t help so he has just taken Reactin (sp) five minutes ago so we will see what that does. Eileen has been walking around trying to find something to take that will make her sleep. She has laid down a few times but can’t crash out – as tired as she is. She is looking like a zombie. Actually a few people are.

A couple people haven’t mentioned yet are Ferenc Szonyi/left and Antal Voneki/below from Hungary. Both great guys. I am able to understand Ferenc alright and his support crew Gyuri but do have trouble with Antal’s English. His wife Ildi speaks even less. Both are doing well.

The race is on between Michelle Santilhano holding down second place, and running scared, and Wayne Kurtz behind her (he is really hurting and is just able to keep moving forward) and then Elke Streicher who is running faster laps but as long as Michelle can keep her pace going, she should hold on to second place. Elke will probably take third place.

Suraya Oliver is another one of those quite racers. She just does her thing lap after lap. Not sure what she has plugged into her headphones, but whatever it is, does the trick.

Carlos Ochoa/left and Beto Villa/right

I need to apologize to the Spanish Triathlon Club for not getting Carlos Ochoa’s name correct. On the sheet of paper that Jorge gave me, it is spelled Carlos Ochoa Domingo so I, an American, figured his last name was Domingo. Well I got a comment on the blog last night correcting that. I had a chat with him earlier and he explained that Ochoa is his fathers name and Domingo is his mothers name. Spanish people will have two last names, the first being the fathers and that is what you go by normally. So an apology from an ill informed American. I try. So many customs and languages to learn I need to start bringing my wife Cindy with me to help keep me straight.

We got Wanda and Mary sitting across the way whistling at all the guys when they bike by. They were busy all day making team T-shirts to wear the rest of the way.

Well Michelle just finished, taking second place in a time of 108 hours and 14 hours.

Race Day 5 Post 1

2008-11-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

Punchy – yep, that’s right. Let’s say it again. PUNCHY! That is the way people are feeling around here right now. Lack of sleep – same ole thing everyday. Same faces to look at. Good thing for showers and being able to clean up – that helps.

Alan w/Stephen Johnson - chillin and gettin a tan before he heads back to Canada where it was a reported 21 below. Ouch

As for keeping people motivated – there are a few tricks crews have resorted to. The English Canadians will harass and call the racers cute names, or a few nights ago they were doing the can-can and Rockette style dancing when racers would come by our area (guess we can call it the Pit). Alan from the English Canadians called out to Neil Kapoor and Dave Clamp “watch out, there is a skinny white boy chasing you”, referring to Stephen Johnson.

Michael Gaertner has gotten a reputation for one that does not smile when he races. The can-can group could not get him to smile. So today they had Josh, who is crewing for Eileen, help with their scheme. Earlier he had help moon (actually he dropped his running pants but he had gym shorts on but the initial shock was still there) a couple racers, him standing in the middle of the road. So we did the show to Michael. We got a smile as you can see from the picture.

Food – we can chat about that again. Two ladies working two shifts. Twelve on twelve off it seems like. Always something to eat. At breakfast, always pancakes and some kind of eggs. Usually scrambled, usually with something in it like ham or hamburger. This morning it was plain scrambled eggs and they were also doing fried eggs for people as well (you can always special order things to). There has been porridge (not like what we eat in the states or what my wife and I had in England on our trip couple weeks ago – this porridge had more milk in it and a little sugar – it is quite good). Sometimes there are things left over from the night before. Some spaghetti, refried beans. Uhh – my mind is forgetting. Lack of sleep. Plenty of coffee, hot chocolate. Sometimes there is rice pudding. I have gotten addicted to it. Especially when they put raisins in it. Will chat about lunch and supper in another post.

Sally - support crew for Dave Clamp and Quintuple athlete Michelle Santilhano getting some food

Helmut has come over a couple of times wanting to bet with me about possible outcomes on the Quintuple. This time is wants to bet 50.00 bucks that Elke will overtake Wayne. And then there is the slight chance she will overtake Michelle before the finish get here. Speaking of finish – Andreas has 5 laps left. He is still walking and Helmut tried to get him to start jogging to finish and his words are – “it doesn’t matter”. Helmut says but this is a race and you are able to run regardless and Andreas just comes back with it doesn’t matter. Think the length and the heat and sleep – at this point it doesn’t matter if he runs the last five laps or walks them, he is still the winner. But the other race is on regarding Elke catching up to Wayne and maybe Michelle. She is looking good – she is actually running. Making up four minutes on Michelle each lap.

I will post this now so I get something up along with a few pics of what is going on. TJ wants to interview me soon so will get with him – prior to Andreas finishing soon.

Also follow along on Triathlete Magazine website as T.J. Murphy, the Editor who is here covering the event, writes his stuff as well: he gets paid for his. http://www.triathletemag.com/site3.aspx

Race Day 4

2008-11-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry about not having something posted up earlier. TJ Murphy, the editor of Triathlete magazine was here today so we chatted awhile catching up on things, then I took him around and introduced him to some of the support crews, a few of the athletes that were on a break, the timing area and computers and of course the kitchen. Had him chatting away with support crews in no time.

Time to get back to work – one interesting conversation I heard this morning was between Wayne Kurtz and his support crew Rick Freeman. Wayne’s been on the run since last night and was heading to the bathroom and Rick called out – “yell loud if you need help getting off the commode”. When you think of what these athletes have done so far, makes sense that some might need help standing up since you have swam 12 miles and biked 560 miles (Quintuple) and have started running – to sit down and then try and stand up, certain leg muscles might just not want to work correctly. Help - I have sat down and I can’t get up!

Army security vehicle with armed guards in the back. You can see the guy in the front with a machine gun.

Another interesting fact going on and some people have guarded curiosity and interest is the Army vehicles that will patrol thru here once in a while. It’s just not the fact there is a vehicle (painted of course the green like our Army) but the 5/6 guys in the back with machine guns. In talking with Denise Andonie about this – the city is a safe city and this is just a pro-active patrol to make sure the place does stay safe. With the new president declaring war on the drug traffickers and then fighting back – a lot of people are worried about coming to Mexico and they have asked me if it was safe. There might be problems in some of the border towns but Monterrey has always been relatively safe with the normal small petty crime type of stuff and the seedy places in town but where the race takes place and the student/athletes they have that live and train here and the fact that the Army base is right next door – we feel safe here.

All of the Quintuple athletes with the exception of Silvia Andonie are off the bike. Elke finally got off this morning. One statement came out of Wayne’s mouth this morning after watching Andreas Buscher run for a while “I can take this guy”. Well we will have to see. Andreas was feeling good most of the day while Wayne had a hard period this afternoon and took a little nappie late afternoon (might as well as it was decently hot). He is out on the course now and looking much better.

Also Michelle grabbed me by the arm and said come follow – I need to chat with you. I am feeling scared – really scared. I have seen Elke after a few runs in her and not sure I can beat her – is what she needed to tell me. She was tired from all this fun and was feeling overwhelmed. Elke comes from a running background and she was looking pretty good while running – having a slightly faster split than Michelle. It is to be seen as well. She was laying down mid afternoon along the side of the course next to her little tent. And who was laying down beside but none other than her Deca racing boyfriend Marcel. At least they kept it decent.

Stephen Johnson of Canada

I have spent a little bit of time with the Stephen Johnson crew – all of them from Canada. Stephen has raced with me before in the Double. His wife Mary, and good friends Alan and Wicked Wanda (I have given her the title of head instigator for the event) and I have chatted quite a bit late this afternoon and early evening. Also heard a little bit of personalization come out of Mary’s mouth when she called Stephen “Scrappy”. So now we know his nickname.

When you race at this level of distance and the things you are putting into your body you can only hope that everything goes well – especially in the intestinal tract area. Michael Gaertner had problems the second day with constipation which caused him some time. A couple suppositories from the doc didn’t help so he continued on as much as he could. They finally did start working the third day and now he is on a regular schedule. Another athlete didn’t fare so well. He is doing alright currently but yesterday he ended up having two different episodes of a total “blow out” in the rear end department. And these happened on the far side of the course. So a couple hours later after cleaning himself and his clothes, he was able to get back on the bike. His poor support crew has had a lot to help out with.

With the runners going at it now – we have to be cautious on two sides of the road now. Before you just had to look one way when crossing the road – now both ways. Not that the runners are going that fast, but you never know. Both the racers and support crews are usually tired and it’s easy to cross without thinking. So far no accidents, just some near misses.

Well going to close this out. Michael just had his fourth flat on his bike and no spare to be found. Wayne Kurtz who uses Zipp wheels as well is asleep so we are going to bed. Will blog more tomorrow. Promise.

Eileen Steil also has had a problem with her Zipp's. She had one flat then this tire had 6 spokes pop on her at once. Ouch!

Night

Race Day 3 Post 2

2008-11-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Arthur Puckrin of England on the left and Michelle Santilhano on the right

Michelle Santilhano had a chat with me late last night. She has thoughts of putting a Quadruple race on either in south Africa (her birth place) or the San Francisco CA area (where she lives now) and would like my help with it. So there is some talking to do in the future as I have been having those same thoughts. We will see what comes out of it.

Speaking of team support and support crew duties - here is Petra Martens attending to Kari's feet while on the bike.

Speaking of chatting, also had a chat with Petra earlier. She is the wife of Kari Martens of Sweden. Their son Oliwer (spelled Oliver) is also with them and helping to crew. They spent two weeks in Cancun before coming here. Anyway – she (and he had earlier in the week) mentioned to me they will be coming to Virginia next year for the Double and will be bringing another friend of Sweden with them. We haven’t had a Swede race with us yet. That will be good. They are very nice, outgoing people. He is doing well, currently in second place.

Carlos Ochoa of Spain on the left and Beto Villa of Mexico on the right.

I noticed it earlier – technology is everywhere. There is a fourth computer now for support and racers to use. There are at least seven or eight more laptops hanging around that people have brought. Thank goodness that Jorge has a wireless Internet hooked up. Speaking of the technology thing – I noticed Gloramis (support crew for Carlos Ochoa of Spain) answering her cell phone and not a minute later as Karl, who is crewing for Yves Beauchamp, handing off some supplies to him and answering his cell phone at the same time. Technology.

Harn Wei's ancient radio.

I mentioned this to Rick Freeman, who is crewing for Wayne Kurtz and he asked if I had see Harn Wei’s technological music player. Here is a guy with a PhD from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and I believe it is in Computer Sciences and look at the masterpiece he carries on the bike. It doesn’t even have headphones. He puts it in his back pouch of his jersey and listens to it thru the external speakers.

We got a visit by the Monster truck this morning. They are the Energy Drink and one of the local reps is Jorge’s son – Farid. He walked around handing out ice cold Monster drinks – tasty stuff.

I got scolded twice by Michelle about missing important events. The first was late this morning and she came in telling me “Steve – your missing it. You need to get down there and get a photo of it, your missing it on the course. I enquired what was going on, she pointed out down the road about a quarter mile away and I could see them huddles together. It was the love birds Marcel Henig and Elke Streicher of Germany. They were down there in some deep smooching. And a couple hours later, and just about 30 feet to my left I guess they were having another tender kissy face moment and Michelle was once again telling me I’m missing it. Well I can’t be everywhere at once.

I will close the second post out with a happy note for two individuals. Wayne Kurtz of Pennsylvania has finished the bike segment of the Quintuple in a time of 60 hours and 32 minutes and Andreas Buscher of Germany finished in 60 hours and 48 minutes. Wayne is on the course and Andreas is currently changing and getting ready to run Wayne down or he hopes to. We will see.

Wayne Kurtz on the left and Andreas Buscher on the right

Race Day 3 Post 1

2008-11-18T09:05:00.000-08:00

Wow – boy did I get some sleep last night. Well a little bit. I went down at 1:15 a.m. in the room and was up at 2:30 ( minus the buzz time trying to fall asleep) to check on Michael. He was good so I did some earlier updates and before I knew it – he wasn’t around doing laps anymore. They will do 7/8 minute laps and I was standing on the side of the road waiting for him to check and realized he wasn’t around – a check of the TV monitor showed he hadn’t been around in a while so assumed he went to take a nap.

Harn Wei Kua of Singapore

So I snagged Harn Wei’s tent on the side of the course to get another little snooze in at 4:30 and asked Mary Miller (Wife of Arthur Puckrin) to wake me when she saw Michael again. I woke up at 5:45 and wondered and checked in with Mary and she hadn’t seen him. I hung for awhile and went to the room at 6:30 to checkon him and there he was getting some shut eye. I woke him – he was in that waking stage already and he said he would sleep a little more. I mentioned how long – maybe 7:30 and he was having problem with that so I mentioned no later than 8:00 and he agreed. I was about to walk out and figured why not lay down again and get another hour in – the computer could wait) sorry people – a little bit more beauty rest is needed.

Artur Puckrin of England and Michele Santilhano of South Africa

T.J. Murphy, the Editor of Triathlete Magazine, is arriving today and will spend a few days here, so need to look good for him. ;-). We woke at 7:45 and headed back to the course. Michael had told me that earlier in the late evening (when I was in Harn’s tent), that he found himself sitting in a park bench, not knowing where he was at, so he figured it was time to get a couple hours sleep.

Well – as I sit here typing this I am reminded, quite noisily at that, they have these birds here that are called Grackles. They are about the size of a crow with a long tail. They make this voice noise that is very load for the size but they also make this even louder sound with the feathers that sounds like a herd of monkeys in a tree. And there will only be two or three of them flocking together. Very noise birds for their size.

The kitchen and Denise ~ Jorge's daughter and my helper/Interpreter/Explainer of things

Last night midnight rations consisted of spaghetti in a cream sauce, mac and cheese with some kind of red sauce to it, chicken/vegetable mix along with rice in another container. And a few people kept telling me about this cider, try it. Well I finally did and it was good. It was in like a 20 gallon pot with a ladle. Well when you stirred it to get some, there was all this fruit in it. I just got done talking with Denise (Jorge’s daughter) and this is the scoop. It is called Ponche and is a tradition Christmas drink, or late in the year drink as some of the fruit that is in it you can only get later in the year. It has halved oranges, Téjocote (it is like an apricot and the whole thing goes in =, it has a skin like an orange), apple, guava, cinnamon, piloncillo (it is a sugar but comes in a rock form), raisins, pineapple juice and orange juice. This is all stirred together and heated.

The Mexican tradition is to have this at Posados. This is to replicate when Mary and Joseph were going house to house trying to find a place to stay so mary could have Jesus. In Mexico, before Christmas, there are two groups of people that will comprise the Posados. Posadas actually comes from the term Posada which means a place to stay at. There is the group of people on the outside of the house that represent Mary and Joseph and there is the group inside the house that represents the people that were being asked for a place to stay. The outside group is invited in to have ponche, tamales and other food, and piñatas and it turns into a party. You can also add Tequila or other forms of your adult beverage to it as well (hmm might have to bring the bottle of rum down tonight for that). Did I just say that?

Results Link Fixed

2008-11-18T06:23:00.000-08:00

OK - finally found Luis ( he took a much needed sleep) and he has fixed the link to the results. here is the direct link - there are also links on the home page and the Deca athletes page as well.

http://www.multisport.com.mx/deca/decairon.htm

Race results

2008-11-18T01:56:00.000-08:00

Luis is having getting the results published correctly and needed to get some rest before he finished so I have taken a snapshot of them from the TV monitor screen - click on the pic to load fully to see the current results as of just before 4:00 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Race Day 2

2008-11-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

Well made it back to the parque with Beto’s police escort and found Michael doing well. Got him some scrambled eggs with diced tomatoes in them. Got something to eat myself and set about getting our little area in order and hanging his wetsuit and other wet items up to “try” and dry in the 41 degree temps. We are down here in Mexico, where is this cold temps coming from. I had trouble staying warm – had a long sleeve shirt on with a fleece and Silvia Andonie gave me another fleece as well, but that was about the time I went back to the room to try and get some sleep – 3:45 a.m.

Silvia Andonie of Mexico

I was supposed to be up at 6:00 to get Michael something to eat. All I could so was lay there and buzz. I was up at 10 till when he came in to get some warmer clothing and other items and told me that he had eaten so I could lay down for another hour, which I did but same thing happened. Just laid there buzzing, I don’t think I fell asleep.

I was up at 7:00, dressed warm again and went down for some breakfast and check on Michael. Our rooms are only about 100 yards away. He was doing well – trying to keep a lead on the others. Everyone was back from the pool with the exception of Emmanuel. He finally made it back about 8:30, before the 24 hour cutoff. We were one happy bunch now – all the brothers and sisters were on the bike course – well almost all of them. A few were still sleeping before they started on their next journey. Some came and biked right away and would take a break during the day to sleep – others slept right away.

David Clamp taking a much need break to get some food - real food. Usually you take your food on the bike in the form of putting it in cups, however at times it is good to get off the bike for a bit.

One conversation I overhear was from David Clamp’s support crew. He got back from the pool and when you come in off the main road thru the security gate, there is a security bar that crosses the road. The cop car came thru and then David went to bike thru as the bar came down and hit him in the head. It knocked him pretty hard, he said it was like a whiplash kind of a jar. He did have some problems with his shoulder a couple hours later and saw the doc who gave him some drugs and he slept for a while and he felt better later on. He is still currently fine but could have been fatal for him in regards to the race. Not the way you would want to exit the race.

Peter Lefferts showing off for the crew members hydrating!

In a conversation later on with a group of people, Peter Lefferts mentioned an episode in the water where he had this momentary vision of this certain Pirates of the Caribbean scene from the second episode I believe where the Kings daughter saw these floating bodies and thought they were alive when they were dead. Something like that. Anyway – that momentary vision (hallucination or whatever) had a quick reminder of that.

It’s been a pretty happy group of people today. Athletes trying to jockey for position – some trying to figure out the best strategy for sleep (when to get it to maximize their potential), others not worrying about it as they just want to finish the race.

The overnight temp is only supposed to be a low of 48/9 celsius and a high of 72/22 celsius. Warming up. That is good. Although the sun felt awfully hot today for 74. Probably closer to the equator thing.

We have also been listening to Sirius Satellite radio all day which is a good thing. In the past trying to find a radio station and having to listen to DJ’s wasn’t cutting it nor putting in another CD either so I brought my radio down with me so we can jam to non-stop music. Works great down here.

Luis and Jorge behind the timing computers!

Am going to close this out. Jorge and his computer/web manger Luis have the timing program working so you will be able to view the results on the website. I will post the correct link when it is published by Luis, he is currently working on it and I need to crash for two hours before getting back up to help Michael.

Race Day Post 3

2008-11-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

11:30 Race Time

Silvia Andonie of Mexico, and Jorge’s wife, was the last to get out at 11 hours and 18 minutes. That is a long time to be in the water.

Here is a pic of Emmanuel Conraux (France) feet after 11 hours and 15 minutes. He is currently on a stretcher trying to warm up from hypothermia. Even tho the water is warm – swimming this long can cause problems.

Peter Lefferts has been rotating all kinds of swim strokes in trying to loosen up and change his muscle fatigue. This is the longest he has ever swum and he still has a ways to go. I just got yelled at by the French that I need to learn to speak French. The Spanish have been saying that to me a couple times today. Guess I need to learn all kinds of languages. Or maybe get one of those high tech translators that the military uses – yeah. That’s the ticket.

Well ~ Michael Gaertner was first out of the water for the Deca athletes with a time of 13 hours and 17 minutes. Beto Villa should be next, he has 363 laps done and Carlos Ochoa of Spain will be third with 348 laps done. They have 380 to complete. Emmanuel Conraux is not fairing so well, he has really fallen behind – between stomach issues earlier in the race (he started the race with his stomach not feeling the greatest, he had problems at breakfast, and was throwing up at 1:30 into the swim, and also his hypothermia problem earlier. He is really swimming slow at this point.

Well Michael exited soon after his swim to head back to the Parque to check in, then head to the room to get some Heed, some other items from the room, rest a few minutes to calm down then get a few laps in on the bike before calling it quits for a few hours. He is ahead of his schedule so that is good. We will see what the next couple of days will do for him and what he might be able to pump out.

As is usual – I stayed behind and will ride back to the Parque with Beto’s escort (there are two cops cars escorting the athletes back for safety) so I can crew for Peter Lefferts for awhile. He is here without a crew and a few people have been assisting him. I will do it for an hour then head back. Not sure why – but I also get approached by a few of the other crews to help get things handled for them, I guess they know I have a good repoire with Jorge and can get things done or requested. It is vice versa – Jorge relies on me to get the word out to the athletes a lot of the time. Keeps me busy and makes the time pass quickly.

Will post more tomorrow during the day.

14:22 Race Time

Race Day Post 2

2008-11-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

Michelle Santilhano of California (originally from South Africa) made it out of the water first in a time of 7 hours and 10 minutes. I forgot to mention earlier they are swimming in a 50 meter pool so the Quintuples have 190 laps to do and the Deca athletes have 380 laps to do. Wayne Kurtz was second out with a time of 7 hours 33 minutes. Andreas Buscher of Germany is third with a time of 8 hours 17 minutes.

I am standing at the timer side of the pool, about in the middle and lazily looking out at the water and all you see are arms swimming in the water in ten different lanes. I don’t think a picture could capture that sight.

Wanda - part of Stephen Johnson's support crew holding up his binkie - to remind him no crying during the race. This table shows a typical support table with the food/gels/fluid/chemicals etc needed to compete in a race like this.

What is also interesting is all the different languages being spoken at different times. German – Queen’s English, American English, French English, Spanglish, Hungarian, French, Sweedish, Mexican Spanish as well as Castillian Spanish (from Spain).

Elke Streicher of Germany just came out of the water fourth place in 8 hours 47 minutes.

The place seems to be quieting down for some reason and only four people have gotten out of the water.

Arthur is next to get out, he has about 9 laps left and then Silvia is twenty behind him. As for the Deca athletes, Michael Gaertner of Germany is in first with 282 done and Beto Villa of Mexico is next with 265 followed by Carlos Ochoa of Spain with 253 and then Neil Kapoor of England with 247. The rest are down in the 220 range.

Mary - who is Arthur's Puckrin (England) wife, making bread and butter for when he gets out soon. She didn't have jam to go with it but oh well. He just got out at 9 hours 56 minutes.

Will post more later this evening.

Race Day Post 1

2008-11-16T12:40:00.000-08:00

Yeehaw – we are finally here, no more waiting. The athletes are happy as they don’t have to repack or tighten this, or smooth out that. Whatever will be will be now. Most of us head to the race site where Jorge’s ladies have breakfast ready for us. There are pancakes, scrambled eggs, diced potatoes and some meat, toasted bread, I think some kind of porridge/oatmeal, coffee. We are to meet outside the Villa at 7:30 to head over to the pool which is about 1 mile away. Jorge leads the procession in his Suburban, all the athletes are on their bike following him and the bus that has all the crew follow.

It is a slow procession but we make it to the University pool where everyone grabs tables and chairs for the support crew area. We are situated at the other end from where Jorge’s timers sit at computers. I spot Israel who is one of Jorge’s helpers from last year. He assists Luis who is in charge of computers and timing. I ask him about his schooling and his girlfriend. He informs me that are no longer dating then he holds up his hand to show me they got married 2 months ago. He is a good guy, still in school, fixes computers part time and also works at a bank dealing with financing and the checking side (something like that).

Everyone is scurrying around as the race starts at 9:00 a.m. and it will be here soon. Michael and I get our end of the table ( 2.5 ft square tables donated by Coke) situated – he is a easy person to crew for. Some others have loads of gear and stuff to deal with. Marcel from Germany apparently wasn’t paying attention to the brief that Jorge gave as he dropped his shorts and was putting on his wetsuit, with his stuff hanging out. Helmut from Germany saw him and reminded him it was not to be done. Not 10 minutes later the security guard saw I spoke English and asked if I knew he was in charge of this group and told me what was wrong and he had seen Marcel with his stuff hangin out and it wasn’t to be done. This is a swimming facility and there were kids around, I told him we had already talked to him about it and I even went over at that point and reminded him. We have also had to watch out for him as in every group – someone has to be late and it seems to always be Marcel brining up the rear. Bad Marcel.

As usual a few people are late getting to the other end of the pool and the race starts almost at 9:00 (It was almost a minute late starting). Marcel was not in this group this time. Race is underway and it takes a few laps of jockeying for everyone to get in their groove and a distance between each other.

Most athletes have a plan of stopping so often and a lot do it on the hour, which Michael figured out. His plan was to stop at 10:15 and then every hour after that to get on his schedule. He is drinking two cups of Powerade and a snack bar. At 2:15 (5 hours into the race) he eats a plate of rice and a veggie/chicken mix and a piece of bread, along with two cups of Powerade. He is a little ahead of schedule, doing between 1:50 and two minute laps. Makes it easy for me to keep track of his schedule.

I will post the times for the Quintuples when the last of the six of them get out of the pool.

PreRace Day 1

2008-11-15T20:18:00.000-08:00

PreRace Day 1

Was up at 7:00 and grabbed the computer to finish typing yesterdays happenings and get those posted. Went down at 8:10 to have breakfast where I met Michelle Santilhano who covered my 50 pesos cost as I have not converted monies yet. Peter Lefferts was sitting at a table with this young lady who I saw was hanging around him, Eileen and Michelle the night before. What a wealth of information she is and a such a kind hearted and beautiful person. I was in for a lesson on what goes on here in the Villa and the Parque.

Michelle Santilhano, Karla, Eileen Steil

To start the story first – she came about because Eileen, Peter and Michelle decided to have something to eat in the cafeteria last night – they had asked me if I wanted to eat as well but I was still full from the buffet that afternoon. After eating, they were just sitting there chatting and one of the security guards came in and was asking them in something Spanish. He had this serious look to his face and no one knew what he was asking, this went on for a couple minutes and his stern look on his face was telling peter that something was wrong – he was wondering what they had done and what trouble they were in. This kind hearted soul from another table overheard and came to their rescue. That is where Karla came into our lives.

She is one of the students here living in the Villa. She is fifteen and a former national weight lifter but left that sport to be a triathlete and biker. Her goal right now is to train hard for the Velodrome, which they have one in the Parque. That is the only hill that our athletes will have to travel, it is a portion of the two lane road that goes up so that the bikers entering the Velodrome can go under the road. In order to study and participate here, you need to be a national champion. And the only way to stay here is to study and train hard and “win” medals at the meets you go to. If you don’t perform, you don’t get to stay here and you are sent back home. So the young wrestler and weight lifter I was chatting with last night are also champions in their age groups. Karla is very interested in us and Michelle, Eileen and Peter have adopted her to come and help out and learn more. Which she plans to do and bring some of her friends to help. A few of the athletes are here without support crews so the help of Karla and her friends will help immensely.

The next meeting that we all had with Jorge was at 3:00 p.m. to go over technical questions, get your chips put on your bike and receive the one for the run portion. A few of us headed over to the main transition area/shelterville about 10:00 a.m. to grab a shelter to put your things under and just mess about. I checked out the wireless router to make sure I could get on and it works great. I will be sitting about 100 feet await where I can observe Michael approaching down the road and be able to write updates for the course. Works for both of us. There are also three computers that Jorge provides for athletes/support crews to use as needed, he handed me a webcam and asked me if I could hook it up on one of the computers so people would be able to video chat back home. Life is good.
Shelterville before everyone gets set up.

About noon time some of Jorge’s folks started showing up to finish setting up the area, get the timing equipment ready, put up banners, start getting the music system readied and a few others items. This will be home for the next two weeks for some people. Some people are all set to go, all their gear is ready and they are just waiting around for the start. That is hard. Others still have things to do to get ready. Physical and mental preparation. Michael Gaertner is all set. He is ready for tomorrow morning to get here to slip into the water and swim for roughly fifteen hours. That is his guess when he will get out of the water. We still need to go over a few things but he mentioned to me his plan was to swim for one hour and fifteen minutes then get out for fifteen minutes and every hour after he will stop for fifteen minutes.

The times range from thirteen hours to twenty plus hours. Guess we will have accurate times after the race and can see who was on and who was off. Once out of the water they have about a one mile bike ride back to the Parque with a police escort.

The meeting started at 3:00ish and lasted till about 4:30 when all bikes had been checked thru the timing system and all questions answered. Everyone headed back to the Villa and whatever suited them. I few of us went out to get some Italian food in the bellies before things heat up tomorrow.

Not sure there is Internet connection at the Olympic pool – if there is I will post the times for the Quintuple swimmers and the Deca people that get out before Michael. If no Internet, it will be Monday morning before I can get things posted or you can visit the race website for updates. http://www.multisport.com.mx/deca/index.htm

Again – good night. As I was about to sign off this post, there is a student on the second floor sitting outside his door with a guitar strumming away – it is a very nice melody and makes it seem so good to be sitting here doing this. Such a different sound than what we had the past two days. Most of the students are gone so it is much quieter.

PreRace Day 2

2008-11-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

A few of us had breakfast in the dining hall of the Villa Deportiva Olimpica. Our table quickly grew from four people to thirteen. A new addition to the group that I hadn’t met yet is Kari Martens from Sweeden. We had a nice chat and he informed me he and another friend of his is planning on coming to Virginia next October for the Double IRON, which most likely will be a IUTA points series race. He and his wife and son have been in Cancun for the past two weeks as well as Isla Mujerles. You can tell from their tans – they sure don’t look like they are Sweedes.

After eating breakfast, I caught Michelle Santilhano (Doing the Quintuple) coming in the front doors, just having arrived. We help her up the stairs with her luggage and bike and walking into her room, find Eileen Steil from Georgia as well as Wayne Kurtz and his support crew from Pittsburgh PA (Rick is in charge of keeping tabs on the Steelers when they play so we don’t lose touch – my wife is a hugh Steeler fan having grown up there). Michelle is currently living in California however South Africa is her turf.

We were all to met at 11:50 for transportation to the Hotel Presidente for the Opening Ceremonies, handing out of the race bags and the buffet lunch.

Afterwards we would head to the pool at 4:00 to look over it and the way for the athletes to ride their bikes back to the Parque and the real fun.

I also had the chance to meet Antal Voneki and Ferenc Szonyi of Hungary, Carlos Ochoa of Spain, Stephen Johnson of Canada and of course Yves Beauchamp of Montreal, Quebec. He is the Vice President of IUTA and his brother is here to be the official race photographer.

In all there are eighteen people doing the Deca and six people doing the Quintuple. The Deca athletes have two weeks to complete the events and six days for the Quintuple athletes.

I finished last night typing up the rest of Pre-Race Day Three blog and chatting with Anne-Marie of Quebec City, Montreal who is here with Guy to support him (she is also a trained massage therapist who has a lot of training in sports massage with her style and technique she does) and Irma who is a friend of Denise Andonie (Jorge’s daughter). Irma has been helping out with check in and is waiting around for Yves support crew to get back from the grocery store picking up supplies. There was a mutual attraction between the two so there is a date between them. She is the one I am talking to about Mexican life, the young athletes here at the villa and she is stopping some of them and asking them questions for us. That is where I found out they range in age from 9 years old (he is a wrestler) on up. Another youngster is a weight lifter. You can see teens with road bikes coming and going.

The lights start dimming around 10:00 p.m. inside the courtyard of the Villa and by 11:00 p.m. all the lights are out cept for the two soda machines on the ground floor and small lights along the room walls. This is a good thing as the youngsters are all in their rooms and their noisy styles are quieted. Our room is going to asleep as well.

Night

PreRace Day 3

2008-11-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

Hola

Well – made it intact with all luggage to Monterrey Mexico. It has been a fast week. My wife and I went to England for two weeks, which was just two weeks after the Virginia Double and Triple IRON that I host in Virginia. We got back late Monday night (1:45 a.m.) so had lots to do to leave today to come hang with such an International group.

My flight left 7:20 a.m. and while waiting in Dallas/Fort Worth airport to board my flight to Monterrey, the terminal we were in had two evacuations. I was lucky on the first one evacuation. Just as I was about to walk out the security doors, they rescinded it and I was saved from having to get back in line to go thru security again. However, 20 minutes later they did evacuate everyone again. So I caught a tram to get to Terminal C and wait in line 20 minutes to get thru their security (the one in Terminal D was over packed) and I didn’t know how long they were going to keep people out and I was hungry. By the time I got something to eat, they were allowing people back into. I was one of the lucky ones as some people missed their flights because of the evacuation.

Not much of a problem exiting Customs. The agent did pull me over because of all the Hammer Nutrition product I had in a suitcase for Michael Gäertner. They are sponsoring him for this race with Hammer Gel and Perpetuem product http://www.hammernutrition.com/ . As I am his support crew for this race and he is from Germany, they sent the product to me. 25 pounds of it; hence its own suitcase. After explaining what it was for and his astonished look on his face and couple curiosity questions, went on thru to find Carlos waiting for me. He helps Jorge Andonie (the Race Director) out during the race. He is his go to guy. Picking up/taking people back to the airport, running errands, etc. Carlos was helping out last year as well. He recognized me right away – however he speaks no English and I speak no Spanish.

Quick 20 minute or so ride to get to the Parque Niños Héroes (park of the heros) and the Villa Deportiva Olimpica.

The Villa was under construction last year when the Deca was going on and was finished about a month after we left. It is considered the Olympic Village and has a central court with room along the outer rim of the building. There are 4 levels of rooms ranging from 2, 4 or 8 person rooms.

It is mainly used for younger people who have Olympic potential or that is the idea (someone mentioned there are roughly 34 different sports that they practice here on the grounds of the Parque). Their ages range from 9 years old upwards of 17/18, girls and boys. So try living in an area with 50/60 youngsters coming and going, yelling at each other (they don’t realize there are other people living here as well), playing air hockey (they have two tables downstairs so the noise reverberates around) in this structure that does not have great acoustics. There is a lot of reverberation of noise.

I am in the German room. Seeing how I am crewing for Michael, Jorge figured he would keep all them together. There is Marcel Heinig who is currently in first place in the IUTA (International Ultra Triathlon Association) point standings and his girlfriend Elke Streicher who is doing the Quintuple. Their support crew is supposed to make it here tomorrow. And then we have Andreas Buscher who is doing the Quintuple as well and his support crew Helmut. They all speak English so that makes it easy on me.

Next door is Harn Wei Kua from Singapore (currently in second place in the IUTA standings), Peter Lefferts from Florida making the big jump from Doubles and Triples and Beto Villa from Mexico and his support crew. Harn’s crew will get here Tuesday – in the mean time I will crew for him.

Most people got here Wednesday or Thursday. Some like Arthur Puckrin from England and his wife Mary got here Sunday; Harn was here Monday. There is more of a British contingent here with Neil Kapoor, David Clamp, and Suraya Oliver as well. Arthur usually does the Deca IRON however he injured his back a few months ago and it is still not quite right so he figured he would squeak our a Quintuple. Oh yeah. He is only 70 years young this year.

The Mexicans have a good showing with Jorge’s wife doing the Quintuple (she was one of the original athletes that did the Deca back in 1992 and still doing it). Mario Rodriguez and Beto Villa from Mexico round out the Deca athletes. Guy Rossi from France did the original Deca with Silvia in 1992 and is still going strong as well. He also holds he record for finishing the most triathlons in the world, which I think is upwards of 160 or so. Emmanuel Conraux is the other Frenchman here and he sent an email to Jorge recently letting him know of his intentions to try and beat the world record for the Deca, which is currently 8 days and 8 minutes. I was here in 2002 when Emmanuel won that event and he finished in 8 days and 11 hours. So he has been training a lot this year to hopefully set a new world record.

I will mention the others that are here in my next post, I want to get this published on the blog page and get my butt to bed.

Buenos Noches

Pre Leaving for the race

2008-11-11T16:25:00.000-08:00

I hope to have the first blog concerning the race posted on Monday, 17 November. The race officially starts Sunday with a 24 mile swim (that's right - 24 miles all at once) in a 50 meters indoors heated pool at the University of Nuevo Leon.

My main job at the race is to be a support crew for Michael Gaertner of Germany. I relate this to something like Nascar or Formula One racing where the driver only worries about racing, everything else is done by the support - getting foods/fluids/nutrition for them, clothing changes, etc.

Anyway - they will swim laps continuously; there is no official stopping. If you need to stop and go to the bathroom, rest a little, whatever - the clock is still ticking. The lead swimmer usually finishes around 13 hours and the last swimmers will get out around 24 hours into the race. They will then bike to the Parque Niños Héroes where the rest of the race takes place. The bike consists of a 1,120 mile endeavor while the run will culminate the race with a 262 mile slog (slow jog)/death march for some.

The Parque Niños Héroes is a former Army base but is now a sports center where they have a multitude of sports that are represented on the grounds. The track (the old road) where the race takes place is a 1.915 km two lane road. You will bike one direction and then run going in the other direction, on the opposite of the road. Makes for many laps ~ 938 for the bike and 223 for the run.

The winner will finish usually in about 8 days and you have two weeks to finish the whole event.

Stayed tuned during the event for updates, photos and standings.

Race website is http://www.multisport.com.mx/deca/index.htm

Kirb