Ironman athletes are not freaks!
"Ironman athletes are freaks."
How many times have you heard Ironman athletes referred to as freaks? Watching one of last season's races, this assertion was made repeatedly by a mainstream TV guy involved in the event.
Not thinking too much about it but sitting round the ole office talking about the perception of Ironman triathletes, it seems like a pretty careless comment even though it was probably a throw away line for 'TV guy'.
This sort of comment marginalises the sport. The term 'freak' (or similar) only serves to deem the sport inaccessible to those who watch it, that you have to be a freak to race an Ironman. Ironman is many things to many people but the fact that people apply the 'freak' tag is losing sight of two things that Ironman is famous for.
1. The sport is still adventure based: When was the last time time you were in constant motion for an entire day? The answer is probably not for a while. Ironman has that sense of adventure that people still love. Forget qualifying for Kona or running that dream marathon. People still want an athletic adventure and Ironman provides that platform. And many of them are not going to smash course records or run like Jacobs. Sure they're not running the full definition of 'adventure' but to simply get off the couch and train for an event that will have you in motion for a full day is certainly adventurous for some athletes. Which leads us to say forget Kona as that is a pipe dream for many. The race to get to the line has far greater weight than a qualification spot. They are, after all, the dreamers.
Which leads us to point two.
2. Average people do this: The majority of IM athletes are (dare we say) 'average'. They are working stiffs. They have kids, go to work, squeeze in training among 100 other things that consume them. There is nothing athletically, genetically or psychologically 'freakish' about any of them. And that's the beauty of this event and of Ironman. Strip away the BS. The tech, the times, the bling and the attitude and Ironman is still 3.8k/180k/42.2k. There is nothing else. And that will not change. And for the average person this can be very attractive. The notion that for one day they can live out the dream of having the spotlight as they attempt the unknown. For the repeat offenders it is still a similar thing. You get to talk your race up for, well forever.
It might be considered a little pedantic to bring this issue up. IM athletes, at all levels, are not freaks. Spend anytime at an IM finish line anywhere around the world, which we do many weekends of the year, in any weather, at any time beyond the pros, and you will see that there are no freaks out there. The old adage of average people doing above average things may ring true on this one.
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Comments (2)
by Rimmer, 24 January 2012I have never entered this discussion. If someone doesn't understand what it is (distance, challenge, unique etc) .... then a week of arguing will never pursuade them anyway.
by Jo Coombe, 24 January 2012Thank you for an incredibly timely comment, especially during my "downtime" post 1st Hawaii. It is so common that IM triathletes have to "argue their case" for WHY they do the sport with "normal" people, including our own families sometimes. I just had to answer someone today who, when hearing about the brutal conditions in Kona, said "It must be so BAD for your body". On many occasions I have not known what to say to these kind of comments, and doubt has set in about whether I should push myself so hard at all. Luckily I was feeling strong today, and I said "There are a lot worse things you can do to your body, I'm pretty happy with a resting heart rate of 44". Stay strong people - we are who we are, and I think the way we have chosen to live our lives rocks.