Paul Martin of Boulder, Colo., who has an amputated left leg from the knee down, jumps off a sightseeing ship in the middle of frigid San Francisco Bay to begin this year’s Escape from Alcatraz triathlon.
The race, which took place this past June but was aired on CBS two weekends ago, is thought by many professionals to be the most challenging course on the circuit and is famous for sand steps and inspirational stories. Stories of cancer survivors and people competing for family members or friends who have recently passed away.
Joining Martin in the race is another competitor who merits attention, Bill Bell, 80. Most people are lucky to be alive at 80, but Bell has finished over 20 marathons and is an Ironman in every sense of the word.
For even more stories on human triumph and people testing the limits of the human heart, the Ironman World Championships will be Oct. 18, in Kona, Hawaii. Here, as in all Ironman competitions, the athletes will endure a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike course and end their day with a full 26-mile marathon.
These Ironman events tend to attract unusual competitors looking to prove something to themselves.
When I began to compete in amateur triathlons around Ontario six years ago, I thought I was doing pretty well until I saw Jimmie Georgas compete. Georgas was 77-years-old at the time and is the five-time defending world champion in the duathlon (run-bike-run). He was in better shape than many of my friends and was a great inspiration for everyone competing. i thought, If he can do this at 77, what am I capable of accomplishing? While Georgas is one of a kind in our races, he is not alone in the world of triathlons.
Martin,35, is a paralympian and said that the car accident in Cleveland that cost him his left leg is the “best thing that ever happened to me, I became a full-time athlete.” Martin lets little stand in his way as he still skis, bikes and runs. He has an outlook on life that everyone should emulate. He never asks for sympathy, but rather savors challenges.
Martin is the only athlete allowed to have a chair next to his spot in the transition area to aid him when changing clothing between disciplines. In the Alcatraz event, just as the leaders were mounting their bikes after the first transition, Martin hobbled out of the water and began to take off his wetsuit. Then he went on to attach his prosthetic leg specially made for biking and running. The bottom part of his prosthesis gives him a bit of spring with every other step.
Yes, he finished the race, and even managed to give many of the professional triathletes a scare as he came in high in the overall results.
Martin and Bell along with over 1,300 other athletes competed in this year’s Escape from Alcatraz. The race literally begins like an escape. Athletes jump off the Horn Blower, regularly a luxury cruise ship offering some of the best sights of the Bay Area. They jump into 55-degree water, bearing undercurrents, high waves and swells, to finish the 1.5-mile swim at a beach near the Golden Gate Bridge.
Athletes then mount their $5,000 bikes to begin a course filled with peaks and valleys that is described by competitors as one of the most challenging courses on the circuit.
Many of the International Triathlon Union courses tend to be flatter with more emphasis on biking in packs whereas this race features many hills to separate riders and doesn’t even allow drafting. This makes for a more difficult ride because riders can’t be pulled behind other riders.
After spending 18 miles on the bike, competitors face the toughest challenge of all. About half way through the 8-mile run, the athletes encounter the notorious “Baker Beach sand steps.” After running along soft sand for less than a mile, they have to run up a series of steps made out of sand that cause most pros to grab the ropes at the side of the steps for help while they struggle up the steps.
Watching the leaders race proves to be exciting, but seeing the inspirational stories of humans testing the limits of the human heart can bring a tear to most viewers’ eye including myself.
