GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The 10th Anniversary event of the Michigan Titanium Triathlon took place Sunday in Versluis Park in the greater Grand Rapids area.
Hundreds of athletes competed in the ultimate test of strength, endurance and mental toughness.
“Some athletes starting here at 7 [a.m.] will to all the way to our midnight deadline, so it’s a 17-hour race for some of these folks,” explained Jon Conkling, Michigan Titanium co-race director and co-owner of Tris4Health.
Athletes raced their way through a two-point-four-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike and finished with a 26.2-mile, full marathon run.
That adds up to a 140.6-mile ultra-distance triathlon, which athletes spend months training for.
“They’re doing early morning swims. They’re jumping on their bike trainers in the basement, riding for four or five hours. They’re running in the dark,” Conkling told FOX 17 Sunday. “It also takes support from your family members and your support system. A lot of these athletes have a ton of spectators here who, family and friends, who just want to cheer them on and get them through the finish.”
Conkling said that one you do cross the finish line, you earn much more than a medal.
“Once you get this done, it makes other aspects of your life very achievable. Those boundaries that you think you have are just gone because, you know, I can do a 140.6-mile race,” Conkling added.
Sunday’s event also provided other options for athletes, including a half-triathlon of 70.3 miles and an Olympic triathlon, which is about half of that.
“It comes down to really trying to find what your boundary is. A lot of these athletes, they’ll start very small. They’ll do shorter triathlons and they kind of get that bug and, you know, with the shorter distances, they don’t think that they can even do those, but once they kind of cross that first finish line, they start thinking, ‘oh, well I can do the shorter distance, maybe I can double it and step up,’ and that just keeps going until you get to this distance,” Conkling explained.
Dave Daprato competed in the Olympic triathlon Sunday. He told FOX 17 he’s been involved in the sport for 22 years and he has no plans to stop any time soon, especially now that he knows what it feels like to cross the finish line.
“It’s kind of like a mental, you know, release when you cross because usually when you’re, at some point in the run, all you’re thinking about is, ‘I want to be done. I desperately want to be done. It’s super uncomfortable, you know, just how much longer?’ Everybody different emotions from it, but a lot of times, it’s a great load of relief and just satisfaction,” Daprato told FOX 17. “This event is just hands-down a phenomenal event…I love this race. The course is really one of my favorites.”
“An event like this is a real community event. It takes hundreds of volunteers to pull off in so many different areas so, you know, this is a yearly event, so definitely, if you’re ever curious about triathlon, I would highly recommend next year. Come out and volunteer with us. See what it’s all about. See what these athletes are putting themselves through and what they’re really trying to achieve and just help support them,” added Conkling.
If you’re interested in getting involved in future events as a volunteer or as an athlete, head to Michigan Titanium’s website.
