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by Greg Kirkpatrick
Photos are copyright (c) Mark Oleksyn.
Local Olympia WA Area age group athletes who participated were Dave Rogowski who finished 45th in his age bracket in 11:01, Bill Penn 23rd 12:36, Shawn Wallick 57th 11:42, Jay Manning 79th 12:48, Alan Spalding 199th 13:23, Lisa Larwence 38th 13:42, and Dusty Davis DNF'd ,. Support crews from Olympia included friends and family with Saturday Morning Live members Joy Scholz and Greg Kirkpatrick supporting Dave Rogowski and Shawns wife Aaron. Professional triathletes were well in attendance. The six time winner and second place finisher at 41 years old of the Hawaii Ironman, Dave Scott, was there, not to compete, but to give a couple of talks sign autographs. He was doing commentary for a ESPN international broadcast of the race to be aired later in the year in Canada. Cristian Bustos of Chile and Chuckie Velpeck (Chuckie V of mohawk hair fame) were there to contend for the men's title. Lori Bowden from Ontario was there to defend her title from last year. Lori took quite a bit of ribbing for her cover picture on Triathlete Magazine. She wore nothing but a black painted on wet suit and a couple of well blended pasties. You may want to track down this back issue. This isn't an outfit that just anyone could wear, but trust me she did it justice. The overall winners looked great. Lori Bowden won with a tremendous seventh place overall and the 3rd fastest marathon split (3:04) of the day beating the next woman by 40 minutes. She was still dancing at midnight at the finish line watching the last finishers cross the line. Christian Bustos blew away the field from a strong run after finishing second on the bike. Many of you will remember Christian from his being run over by a Jeep during a race in Argentina four years ago. Guess what folks, he's back. He beat Chuckie V by 18 minutes. I'll let Dave Rowgowski tell his race story. I stole this from his e-mail and added a few touches (Sorry Dave but it was a choice between outright plagiarism or carte blanche editorial license, I chose the later.).
A bear came out on the course and sat 50 feet from the road to watch the bikers zip by. Apparently all this activity was fascinating for the bear. It was still early enough in the race that everyone still looked strong and not like lunch. It was a tough race on an always-challenging course. On race day it was also hot and windy. By late in the day temperatures reached 95 degrees. I had a good swim, didn't push myself too hard and still had a great time of 51 minutes. I was 21st out of the water. I had a good bike ride on a windy day. The first section was fast with a tail wind and only one significant climb. At up to mile 40 we began the climb up Richter Pass, a 1200 foot ascent at a 6 to 7% grade. That is followed by several smaller climbs the steepest of which comes at Yellow Lake at about mile 80. My friend Brian from Chenney actually stopped there and took a dip in the lake to cool off. I finished the bike ride in 5:32, and in 54th place overall (I was pretty pumped). I was passing people through out the ride, that never happens, usually on the downhills, must have been my newly purchased $700 aero-wheels. I was up with the woman's race leader Jan Wanklin and then eventual winner Lori Bowden for a good part of the ride. That was kind of exciting with the helicopter and cameras all around. Lori took over the lead from Jan about 60 miles into the bike. At one point it became a little scary when, sandwiched in between cars and a large pack of bikers, we came down a screaming decent. We were hitting 45 mph and were so close we were sometimes touching shoulders. Everyone was yelling, "On your Left! On your Right!", but with a helicopter overhead so no one could hear. Luckily no one went down because if one went we all would have hit the pavement. At that speed you could have scraped up the skin left on the road with a snow shovel. Not a pretty site.
I have been running real well all year and was looking forward to the run. I
started the run at 6 hrs 28 minutes into the race, I wanted to be at 6:30,
so I was right on pace. It soon became evident that I wasn't going to keep
my pace. I had a goal of a 3:30 marathon, it took me about 4-6 miles to warm
up, my back and stomach were not cooperating very well, they were all tied
up in knots screaming at me to stop. Then later my legs decided to cramp up.
No, I did not sign up for next year. The day after the race there was a long line out the building with athletes who were already prepared to sign up again for next year. I may still do another Ironman, but probably not next year. This week my only planned physical activity is sitting in a hot tub. Thanks for everyone's support especially Greg and Joy who were my support crew in Canada. David Rogowski
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The August 30, 
For those of you interested in how the race went, I finished. That is more
than 340 people can say. Two of those guys hit a Rocky Mt Sheep that walked
on the course, ouch! One, a Swedish athlete, ended up in the hospital with
a broken collarbone. Later the announcer at the awards ceremony said he
interviewed the Mt. Sheep and the sheep indicated the whole incident was
deliberate. 
So I ended up running a short while until I felt my legs cramping then
walking a bit and then running again. When I could run, I was running well,
unfortunately I couldn't run for very long. It took me awhile to finish. I
ended up with a 4:30 marathon. I got to see all of the top women pass me
along with 32 people in my age group, but there wasn't much I could do other
than keep moving forward and try and admire the scenery. The fast women
passing me and the bikini clad aid station workers along the course helped
bouy my spirits and kept me trudging toward the finish line. There were
plenty of other people around me in the same condition. Basically I didn't
drink enough on the end of my bike ride and before I started running. I
realized this while I was lying in the medical tent after finishing getting
4 liters of solution via IV. It never really occurred to me to stop and
guzzle a ton of liquids like I should have when my back and stomach were
clenched up in knots. I wasn't thinking real clear then. I had on my heart
rate monitor and my pulse was normal and not elevated like I expected it to
be if I was dehydrated, at least that is what I thought (wrong!). Anyway, I
finished in 11:01, nine minutes faster than my time in 1994, however my
standing improved greatly. Just about everyone had slower times, 40 minutes
to over an hour and a half slower for everyone including the pros. Only 20
people finished under 10 hours (120 in 1997) and only about 160 finished
under 11 hours. I finished in 162nd overall out of 1724, and placed 43rd in
my age group out of 378. I didn't qualify for the Hawaiian Ironman ,
however I was less than ten spots away. At least now I don't have to do it
again with only 4 weeks to rest and peak again. The Hawaii Race Comes up
October 3rd.
For those who want to read more about the race take a look at the official Ironman
web site at 