For some people, running a marathon is a lifetime goal.
But not for Jim White. That was just a start.
Jim White and his wife, Mary, in a rare photo of Jim not wearing athletic clothing.
Some take it to the next level by finishing an ultra-marathon, running 50, 62, or even 100 miles, maybe in the heat and humidity along the Florida Keys.
Been there, done that, White said.
So, how about a three-way — the famed Ironman — a trifecta of 2.4 miles of swimming and 112 miles of bicycling, before you run that 26.2-mile marathon?
That’s tough, White said, but he needed a bigger challenge. “I seemed to be on a quest to find a personal physical or mental breaking point,” he said.
So, how do two Ironmans, back-to-back, sound?
Now you’re cooking, White thought a few years ago, so he did that. Now, he thought, why not do triple squared — a veritable holy trinity of swimming, biking, and running — and go for the three-way: a Triple IM? That would be a 7.2-mile swim, 336 miles on a bike, and a run of 78.6 miles.
“I guess it started the second I finished the double, three years ago” said White, 52, a retired police officer who now works part-time as an IT consultant for the city of Erlanger.
“Someone asked me when the triple would be, and of course I dismissed that, but in the far, dark recesses of my brain; those places where you are scared to admit exist because the few times you’ve acknowledged their presence you got in some big trouble, I knew the plan awaited.”
That plan — nearly a year in the making — came to fruition the first weekend in October, when White — with 37 of his swimming, biking, and running friends helping out and cheering him on — finished his 421.8-mile journey in the suburbs of Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. What started at 5 a.m. Friday at the Silverlake swim Club in Erlanger ended shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday at a shelter at the Little Miami Golf Center in Cincinnati.
Jim White and fellow runners start his 78.6-mile run as a storm approaches. (Photo by Emily Horseman)
“The end was approaching rapidly,” White recalled in his write up of the adventure a few days later. “And as we came close to the shelter, it was surreal. My friends were there. Filming. Cheering. I came to the little tree at the shelter where we called our starting point, and I stopped running when I saw the distance on my watch. It was over. I was done. 53 hours and 50 minutes later, after covering 421.8 miles, it was actually done. I sat down, and for the first time in a very long time, I didn’t have to get back up. I ate. I drank. I shook hands. … The moment was so big, it wasn’t really hitting me. It was just too much to process at once. Too many miles. … My brain was beyond the ability to package it up and make sense of it all. I knew I couldn’t sit very long, or I’d fall asleep. And once that happened, there was little hope of waking me back up.”
His wife, Mary, said White told her about his plans a year ago. She said she nodded her head and tried to ignore what was coming, hoping he would forget and move on.
“After being married for 24 years, I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen,” she said.
“Jim seems his happiest when he is pushing his limits. He seems to do that in all aspects of his life. I questioned him on how this would affect our lives, and he assured me that he would do everything in his power to maintain his family life, and he did. … When race day came I think my main concern was his health. I knew this was a huge undertaking and I wasn’t sure his mind and body were going to work together on this.”
She knows she shouldn’t have doubted him.
“I can honestly say Jim is a phenomenal athlete, but this event took him to a whole new level. He held it together and really seemed to keep is spirited personality I am and will be forever grateful to all the people that came out to help him through.”
Jim White (seated) relaxes with friends and fellow runners after completion of the Triple Ironman. (Photo provided)
Jim agreed that the most important thing about the entire swim, bike, and run is the people who came out to help him. Some swam in front of him at the pool, creating a wake that made his swim just a bit easier. About a dozen braved the rain and the darkness of night along the Little Miami bike trail, going out-and-back, out-and-back repeatedly, through sunset and sunrise, avoiding wild animals, fixing flat tires, and dodging gravel detours.
Even more friends joined him for the 30-plus hour run, through sunshine and rain, day and night, dusk through dawn. Other friends crewed him at the swimming pool and the shelter, bringing him pizza and pancakes, making sure he had Gatorade and Gu, coffee and water, and watching for his health and sanity. He called on Dr. Jon Minzner in the final hours, who kept a lookout for signs of distress.
“Mary and I had an agreement weeks before I started the event,” he said. “If Jon ever said I was bad enough not to continue, then there would be no argument or discussion. The plug would be pulled, with no regrets. Jon had arrived on Saturday afternoon, and was going to stay until I finished. … It was an ace up the sleeve always knowing that Jon was there. … You never appreciate that seat belt until you need it. He even managed to warm up pancakes and coffee on a charcoal grill.”
Check out the video recap of the adventure here.
Paul Long, on the road (Photo by Kris Payler Staverman)
Paul Long writes weekly for the NKyTribune about running and runners. For his daily running stories, follow him at dailymile.com or on Twitter @Pogue57
