On Sunday the 23rd May 2009 FM Environmental’s Kevin Fitzpatrick completed his second long-distance triathlon, the Lanzarote Ironman. Often referred to as the “World’s Toughest Ironman” Lanzarote with its strong winds and mountainous terrain truly tests the endurance of those athletes prepared to take it on.
Having completed Ironman France in Nice in 2008 Kevin realised he enjoyed the multi-discipline sport that required you to swim 3.8km, bike 180km and run a full 42.2km marathon one after the other, and so he set his sights on Lanzarote. Along with over 1300 other athletes from 35 countries Kevin started the day at 4.30am, hit the water at the start-line at 7.00am and completed the course by 9.16pm that evening. His 14-hour journey took him 2 laps around the beautiful bay at Puerto del Carmen, a bike ride around the entire island of Lanzarote, followed by and out-and-back run course along the bustling Puerto del Carmen promenade.
“The island is one great lump of volcanic rock that, throughout the day, is constantly being battered by the North Atlantic winds,” commented Kevin. “You have to climb an altitude of over 2500m which though spectacular in parts is painful throughout!”
The tough conditions contributed to Kevin suffering a crash on his bike where he gashed his arm and dislocated a thumb making the last few hours of the bike leg particularly painful. However he was able to get to the start of the marathon and finished off the race in reasonable shape.
“It was longer than I had hoped, mainly because of the tough bike course. But the sensation in completing the race is a hard one to beat so I’ll be lining up another one for next year!” promised Kevin.
Kevin’s split times:
Swim: 1:20
Bike: 7:55
Run: 4:35
Total: 14:16