Legs of (Molten) Steel
October 26, 2010 4:07 PM Subscribe
Ironman 1997: Sian Welch & Wendy Ingraham crawl for fourth place.
OK, I know an Ironman is beyond 99% of people, but these women trained for this. What happened?
posted by GuyZero at 4:16 PM on October 26, 2010
posted by GuyZero at 4:16 PM on October 26, 2010
Wow...tough to watch. Reminds me of one of my first sports memories.
posted by vito90 at 4:27 PM on October 26, 2010
posted by vito90 at 4:27 PM on October 26, 2010
I don't know if it was in response to this, but according to the current USA Triathlon rules, crawling results in disqualification.
posted by idb at 4:48 PM on October 26, 2010
posted by idb at 4:48 PM on October 26, 2010
Huh. I thought I'd come across this Radiolab episode on "Limits" on a MeFi post, but the only places I found it is in the comments. It has Julie Moss describing the ending of her first Ironman race, in which she finished second only by crawling over the finish line.
At any rate, to GuyZero who asked "...these women trained for this. What happened?": Any race is about giving every damned thing you've got so you collapse just after the finish line. If you've got someone else who's gonna pass out at roughly the same time, then you're hoping you've got just a little bit more than they do.
posted by straw at 4:50 PM on October 26, 2010
At any rate, to GuyZero who asked "...these women trained for this. What happened?": Any race is about giving every damned thing you've got so you collapse just after the finish line. If you've got someone else who's gonna pass out at roughly the same time, then you're hoping you've got just a little bit more than they do.
posted by straw at 4:50 PM on October 26, 2010
How do the officials know who is dying and who is just spent?
posted by kuujjuarapik at 4:53 PM on October 26, 2010
posted by kuujjuarapik at 4:53 PM on October 26, 2010
I would imagine that if they stop completely, that's a step-in and help moment. Otherwise...
posted by vectr at 4:55 PM on October 26, 2010
posted by vectr at 4:55 PM on October 26, 2010
At my high school, the cross country coach couldn't race competitively any more because she pushed herself beyond breaking, tearing or rupturing something so badly that it took her months to heal, but she won that race. The determination to win can be intense, especially with someone coming behind you to the finish line.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:01 PM on October 26, 2010
posted by filthy light thief at 5:01 PM on October 26, 2010
GuyZero, this was roughly how I finished my first 10k, for which I had trained quite a bit. It can happen when you are pushing your boundaries really hard in the actual contest, as opposed to the training sessions.
posted by vidur at 5:07 PM on October 26, 2010
posted by vidur at 5:07 PM on October 26, 2010
Kinda surprised to see this on here. If you want to see some awesome running finishes I offer up some favourites:
1968 Olympic 10,000m - Billy Mills (beautifully shot by Kon Ichikawa here)
1972 Olympic 5000m - Prefontaine et al.
1992 Olympic 5000m - Dieter Baumann
1984 Chicago Marathon WR - Steve Jones
posted by jimmythefish at 5:51 PM on October 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
1968 Olympic 10,000m - Billy Mills (beautifully shot by Kon Ichikawa here)
1972 Olympic 5000m - Prefontaine et al.
1992 Olympic 5000m - Dieter Baumann
1984 Chicago Marathon WR - Steve Jones
posted by jimmythefish at 5:51 PM on October 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
Oooh how could I forget:
1972 Olympic 800m - Dave Wottle
posted by jimmythefish at 8:20 PM on October 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
1972 Olympic 800m - Dave Wottle
posted by jimmythefish at 8:20 PM on October 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
OK, I know an Ironman is beyond 99% of people, but these women trained for this. What happened?
They fucked up their nutrition. Athletes of this caliber, and I'm sorry to make generalizations, but women seem even more exposed to this problem - probably because of their biology - their body needs more fat stores then men, have a very very strange relationship with food, especially for ultra endurance events, where grams are weighed.
I get cranky if I don't eat every couple of hours, could you imagine starving yourself to get into a race weight? Have you heard how incredibly fatigued bodybuilders get, just from *posing* for a few hours, without eating/drinking correctly for weeks before an event? And they're all juiced up.
And, uh, yeah, they've pushed their body over and above the call of duty. People crawling to the finish started well before '97.
posted by alex_skazat at 9:16 PM on October 26, 2010
They fucked up their nutrition. Athletes of this caliber, and I'm sorry to make generalizations, but women seem even more exposed to this problem - probably because of their biology - their body needs more fat stores then men, have a very very strange relationship with food, especially for ultra endurance events, where grams are weighed.
I get cranky if I don't eat every couple of hours, could you imagine starving yourself to get into a race weight? Have you heard how incredibly fatigued bodybuilders get, just from *posing* for a few hours, without eating/drinking correctly for weeks before an event? And they're all juiced up.
And, uh, yeah, they've pushed their body over and above the call of duty. People crawling to the finish started well before '97.
posted by alex_skazat at 9:16 PM on October 26, 2010
At the high school level, our long-distance running coach - the nicest, sunniest, most encouraging man you'll ever meet - cheerfully told us that his technique was to run half the race, puke from overexertion, get back on the track and finish. The puking showed that you were doing it right.
Anyway, I became a writer.
posted by bicyclefish at 9:31 PM on October 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Anyway, I became a writer.
posted by bicyclefish at 9:31 PM on October 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
At 1:21, I hope that's just some dirt in her butt crack...
posted by MaryDellamorte at 10:29 PM on October 26, 2010
posted by MaryDellamorte at 10:29 PM on October 26, 2010
these women trained for this. What happened?
They ran out of glycogen.
posted by Orinda at 10:38 PM on October 26, 2010
They ran out of glycogen.
posted by Orinda at 10:38 PM on October 26, 2010
I really had a hard time watching this. All I could see were the worst elements of dogfighting, cockfighting and NFL helmet-to-helmet contact. If this were a boxing match, even a crooked ref would have stopped the bout.
These finishers aren't carrying urgent news to Athens or rushing penicillin to Nome. They're just trying to prove a point that doesn't need proven. There's nothing about heroic about self-induced organ damage. It's abuse. They should have stopped or been stopped.
posted by klarck at 1:03 AM on October 27, 2010
These finishers aren't carrying urgent news to Athens or rushing penicillin to Nome. They're just trying to prove a point that doesn't need proven. There's nothing about heroic about self-induced organ damage. It's abuse. They should have stopped or been stopped.
posted by klarck at 1:03 AM on October 27, 2010
This looks like sugar deficiency. I've seen it happen frequently to stragglers during the Comrades Ultramarathon.
posted by PenDevil at 1:07 AM on October 27, 2010
posted by PenDevil at 1:07 AM on October 27, 2010
How about some context instead of just a SLYT post? This is not how a post is supposed to be done.
posted by salmacis at 1:19 AM on October 27, 2010
posted by salmacis at 1:19 AM on October 27, 2010
I used to work with a guy who ran marathons, including the Boston Marathon every year. One incident he told us about was somewhere fairly close to the end (gainsborough street area, maybe?), a woman clearly unable to proceed, and a guy stopping, talking to her, and helping carry her to the end.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:47 AM on October 27, 2010
posted by rmd1023 at 6:47 AM on October 27, 2010
How about some context instead of just a SLYT post? This is not how a post is supposed to be done.
I very strongly disagree. First of all, there's plenty of context in the line above, it clearly states what you're about to see, and who, and when. And if you want more from there, you'll already be on the Ironman Youtube channel, and by god you could Google this stuff six ways to Sunday if you really cared.
Second of all, I am a huge proponent of the artfully crafted SLYT post. I have made a lot of them -- and lots of other link-heavy posts as well. This is exactly the post I wanted to make on this occasion, with this material. I see from your posting history that you too are a fan of single-link posts, in many cases padded with more context than absolutely necessary -- a style which I avoid, for fear of appearing as though I'm trying to provide the illusion of greater substance. If Different strokes, I guess.
Good morning! I have a headache.
posted by hermitosis at 7:13 AM on October 27, 2010 [2 favorites]
I very strongly disagree. First of all, there's plenty of context in the line above, it clearly states what you're about to see, and who, and when. And if you want more from there, you'll already be on the Ironman Youtube channel, and by god you could Google this stuff six ways to Sunday if you really cared.
Second of all, I am a huge proponent of the artfully crafted SLYT post. I have made a lot of them -- and lots of other link-heavy posts as well. This is exactly the post I wanted to make on this occasion, with this material. I see from your posting history that you too are a fan of single-link posts, in many cases padded with more context than absolutely necessary -- a style which I avoid, for fear of appearing as though I'm trying to provide the illusion of greater substance. If Different strokes, I guess.
Good morning! I have a headache.
posted by hermitosis at 7:13 AM on October 27, 2010 [2 favorites]
These finishers aren't carrying urgent news to Athens or rushing penicillin to Nome. They're just trying to prove a point that doesn't need proven. There's nothing about heroic about self-induced organ damage. It's abuse. They should have stopped or been stopped.
It's painful to watch, but I can understand it. There's less than 100ft left, the damage is already done and the end is visibly in front of you and you know someone from behind is catching up. All that work and all that effort just to say "Screw it, I'm done"? Not to mention the Dead Fucking Last > Did Not Finish mentality.
As for proving a point that doesn't need proving...that idea befuddles me. People do lots of things (skydive, run marathons, write a novel, learn a language, fold a 1000 paper cranes) just to see if they can do it. Sure, most of the time these actions aren't going to improve humanity as a whole, but it's an achievable goal they set for themselves. Not everything can be the X Prize but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try for something.
posted by zix at 7:45 AM on October 27, 2010
It's painful to watch, but I can understand it. There's less than 100ft left, the damage is already done and the end is visibly in front of you and you know someone from behind is catching up. All that work and all that effort just to say "Screw it, I'm done"? Not to mention the Dead Fucking Last > Did Not Finish mentality.
As for proving a point that doesn't need proving...that idea befuddles me. People do lots of things (skydive, run marathons, write a novel, learn a language, fold a 1000 paper cranes) just to see if they can do it. Sure, most of the time these actions aren't going to improve humanity as a whole, but it's an achievable goal they set for themselves. Not everything can be the X Prize but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try for something.
posted by zix at 7:45 AM on October 27, 2010
1. Please don't show this to my wife
2. I don't know if it was in response to this, but according to the current USA Triathlon rules, crawling results in disqualification.
True, but the individual event rules also state (e.g. Ironman Arizona- see the Athlete Guide for any of IMs)
-RUN RULES
*No form of locomotion other than running, walking or crawling is allowed.
Seems to be a contradiction, but I do know Ironman (the corporation) has their own rules aside from the USAT. As an example, IM came out with new wetsuit regulations and then the USAT adopted them (if I remember correctly). All I know is I have to buy a new wetsuit....
As to the question of why this happened - probably some combination of hydration and nutrition. I don't know the temp back in 1997 but this year the temp at the surface of the road was measured at 124 degrees.
posted by fluffycreature at 8:53 AM on October 27, 2010
« Older From Kentucky to Kenya | Multi Link BOO Tube Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by dersins at 4:11 PM on October 26, 2010 [3 favorites]