Day 12 deca Ironman 2008

Hello to Kirby and everyone else.
It continues to be a celebratory time.
Antal Vonecki from Hungary has completed the Deca Ironman. His finishing time was 281:18:30. This gives Antal a 11th place finish.
Unfortunately finishing at 2:00 am in the morning, I don´t know if there were alot in attendance.
Currently David Clamp from England has 6 laps left to go.
In personal exciting news Stephen Johnson of Canada has crossed the finish line.
Stephen enduring enormous pain due to swollen feet, and as he decribed a possible torn shin and shoulders from hell after the swim and pure exhaustion came up the finshing stretch with Alan Barry videoing his last 500 meters.
Stephen approached the finish with David Bowie´s (live) Ziggy Stardust. There wasmany in attendance. Greeted first by his lovely wife and constant supporter Mary, Stephen was embraced. Stephen was also very receptive to Wicked Wanda , Alan´s wife for bandaging and helping Steve get through this grueling race with her support.
Jorge congratulated Steve along with many others.
This was Steve´s first Deca and he was very relieved that it was all over.
Celebration is on for us but we will be cheering on all athletes still trying to finish.
Last piece of news for the night.
Dave Clamp of England has fought back after a shin injury out him on the injury list for a couple of days and has finished the Deca. Dave finish was shared with friend Sally and son Sam.
They finished the race racinfg the British Flag and welcomed by all.
Dave ´s finishing time was 300:27:19. For a lucky # 13 th finish.
It is late so will continue tomorrow.

Day 12 Deca Ironman 2008 Post 1

We have reached day 12 of the 2008 Deca Ironman Challenge.

Todays blog starts with Michael Gartner of Germany finishing in 254:07:46 for a 7th place finish. We all gave Michael had as warm a welcome as possible since he completed this event during the night primarily independant . Michael commented that he was very relieved to have it all over and looking forward to a good rest.

Next we had Emmanuel Conraux of France coming in at a time of 257:42:56, Emmanuel crew member was Gerard.

we also had Frances Guy Rossi coming in at a time of 262:37:01 at the age of 61 years.

These were late night and early morning finishes.

Today was another very warm day which was enjoyed greatly by us spectators but maybe not so much by the remaining athletes.

Blisters as mentioned in yesterdays news has become a frequent occurance with the long distance being put on the feet.

(Left)Yves Beauchamp displaying what is becomone the latest trend at HQ.

(Right) and Below) Kari Martens should win this years Blister grammy with this display.

Today was both a very emmotinal and long awaite day and finish for Yves Beauchamp of Canada and his crew which include his brother BEN (Bo) Beauchamp Alias BB. Friends and co-worker Josee and Karl.The stage was set by crew walking the last lap with Yves, while Ben waliking backwards had video camera in hand capturing all the final moments.As they were approaching the final home stretch the Canadian flags were held high with Yves leading the way and brother Ben filming the final stretch.I was asked to shoot the finish for Ben since it would be very difficult for him to multi-task those many jobs.Yves was greeted by lots in attendance . Yves showed alot of emmotion and happines that it was finally over. Ben and the rest of the crew cracked a beer to celebrate the occasion.Yves previous unsuccessful attempt at the 2002 Deca in Mexico, Im sure was on his mind´and a mativator which made this years finish even sweeter.Yves completed 2006 Deca in France 279:57:26 ,so this years time of 270:45:15 is a personal best, and a 10th place finish. In asking Yves what was most satifying about today, he replied with limited time to train for this event it was definitely his mental toughness that got him through it.

Some athletes that are close would be Antal Vonecki with 25 left.

Stephen Johnson from Canda with 34 left.

Dave Clamp - England 39 laps left.

Carlos Ochoa from Spain 72 laps.

Other Photos to Enjoy :::

Hildeberto Villa with crew member Luis display finishing foot fashion.

Michael Gaertner -Germany

254:07:46
7th Place



Guy Rossi-France 262:37:01 9th Place

Clare,Alan,&Michelle at 5 k race.

Emmanuel Conraux below from France.

257:42:56 8th place

Till we talk tomorrow.

Alan

For Steve Kirby.

Day 11 post 1

Hello to all:

Sorry for the delay

I have only limited access to one computer to add to this blog.

The day so far has been productive for 2 more athletes.

Hilberto Villa of Mexico finished today looking great in a time of 241:07:23

at 11:24 this morning.

Slowing down to a crawl to await his crew to bring him his country flag to cross in a celebratory way.

Greeted by all and his crew he was very happy to finish.

After finishing it is becoming a familiar site to now have all the athletes bandages removed upon completing the Deca. This can be a very disturbing site

We also had Neil Kapoor from England with a finishing time of 242:24:30 a 6th place finish was accompanied by his girlfriend Clare Read. While approaching the finish line waving the British Flag, I arranged to play a tune for him as he was coming up th e final stretch. I was told that he is a Metallica fan, so it was appropriate to crank the stereo and play Ride The Lightning as he approached the finish ,which I here will be something he will long remember helped complete a great celebration on his 2008 Deca Iron finish.

Neil was also greeted by his friend and crew member Paul Castaldo from England.

In other news it is becoming a familiar site to see athletes in the Medical tent having very painful looking blisters and sores attended to.

Examples of this are Kari Martens of Sweden and 2008 Deca winner Marcel Heinig of Germany were both be taken care of today. Pictures will follow on next blog.

One huge piece of news at H.Q. is that some of us arranged to have P I Z Z A delivered for a change from RICE RICE RICE and more rice.

Ben what great at organizing it to make it a great change for those who participated.

And yes I believe it was delivered by motorcycle with and metal oven on the rear.

NOTE:

For some of the fans it is a rude awakening to watch the later ends of an Deca athletes finishing laps .

There is no comparioson to an Ironman,Double etc.

With no disrespect to the athletes is has been compared to the cliche´watching paint dry during the run portion.42 km is a long ways and is impossible to run constantky through this part of the event. These athletes are giving out every last bit of energy to enable them to put 1 foot in front of the other, while fighting terrific pain due to blisters, swealing .Most athletes are pushing their performances to 17 hours a day and in most cases 1 to 2 hours of sleep then back at it for 3-4 hours or more.

The determination of all while being present at my first Deca Ironman is certainly an eye opener, and to witness first hand the dertermination of all athletes.

Todays temperature was the hottest so far. I believe we reached a high of 28 degrees.

Till tomorrow

Alan Barry

On Behalf of Steve Kirby.

Marcel Heinig winner of this years 2008 Deca

Ironman , Monterrey Mexico, 206:29:02

Kari Martens 2nd place finisher with a time of 212:06:04 with wife Petra and son Oliuer. after completion of Deca . Note wrapped feet in nice comfortable sandals.

I must say I had a look at Kari's feet and they looked damn sore.

Mario Rodriquez of Mexico Finishing at Deca 2008 Ironman -225:27:54 4th place
Ferenc Szonyi of Hungary finishing 3rd bearing his flag with great emotion, 222:17:01

Day 10 Post 3

Well just a quick note to all of you out there.
We had a surprise in the kitchen today.Yes there was not only RICE RICE RICE AND MORE RICE, but we were surprised that we had good old chicken cooked on the grill. It was a good change.
Having access to the kitchen I was able to treat my Canadian crew to homemade grilled cheese sandwiches.
If Steve Kirby is reading I have succeeded to resume the tunes at HQ. I had Jorge get me a cable to connect to Bens laptop on which I downloaded I-tunes.This has given us a variety of radio stations to choose from. It has been appreciated by many, that the white noise has disappeared.
New exciting news:
Mario Rodriquez has completed the Deca in great fashion.While being greeted at the finish line by spectators as well as other athletes, Mario approached the finish proudly waving his Mexican flag. After crossing he was congratulated by all and most important welcomed and embrace by his supportive and encouraging wife.
His finishing time of 222:27:54 or 9 days, 9 hours, 27 minutes and 54 secs. This was good for a
4 th place finish.
It has been another great day at HQ.
Some other accomplishments, not race related, are while the long wait for the runners support crew have time to pick up a book to read and hopefully finish, my wife Wanda Bouchard-Barry commented that she was able to finish hers.
Before I close next in line to finish we have Hilberto Villa from Mexico could finish tonight with only 20 more laps,as well Neil Kapoor from England is trying hard to finish soon with only 36 laps left.
Forecast for tomorrow is abou tthe the same, but Thusday is supposed to be warmer with a high of 28 .
Time to return and do my part on the crew.
Have a Great Night.
Alan Barry

Race day 10 Post 2

Hello Everyone.

Being new at this bear with me as I do my best to keep all your inquiring minds informed in the coming days of the 2008 Deca Ironman.

Updated news today is that at 1:10 pm local time participant David Clamp from England has returned to the run after a 49 hour and 42 min rest due to injury, to continue his quest to finish.

Athelete Ferenc Szonyi from Hungary had an emotional well deserved finishing time of 222.17:01, 9 days,6hours,17min, and 1 sec.

We have athlete Mario Rodriquez from Mexico closing in on a finish with 11 laps to go.
Weather is ideal today and spirits of all athletes seems to be good.
Will try to update later.
Thanks
Alan Barry
Crew member fro Stephen Johnson/Canada
Hopefully photos to follow.

Race Day 10 Post 1

9:45 a.m. I am here at the airport in Dallas Forth Worth with a 4.5 hour layover so figured I would update you all with what happened last night.

Amid a Mariachi band playing Marcel Heinig of Germany finished the Deca IRON Triathlon with a time of 206 hours 29 minutes – 8 days 14 hours 29 minutes. Jorge had brought out a seven piece band to serenade him as he finished and Marcel was standing at the finish line smiling as Jorge grabbed a chair and told hi to just sit down and enjoy the moment. As he sat down – he closed his eyes and I thought it was all over for him that he had fallen asleep in the chair. He had been going non stop all day to finish as Kari Martens was not far behind. But as that one song finished his eyes opened and he was beaming again.

Marcel is the youngest in the world to finish the Deca IRON at 27 years old. He had a birthday on the first day of the race when everyone swam 24 miles – I forgot to remind Jorge so we could all sing to him. Marcel is also the winner of the IUTA (International Ultra Triathlon Association) point standings.

On his heels, but asleep at the time of his win, was Kari Martens. The two had battled all thru the bike and the run – with Marcel finally catching him of the run and barely holding onto the lead. But you are talking about Marcel being 27 yeas old and Kari being 51 years old. Kari’s wife Petra had told me while we were waiting for Marcel to finish she was impressed and proud of her husband and his accomplishment – stating that due to the competitive battle between Marcel and Kari – pushing each other thru the race – that he was able to compete at that pace –those he was suffering. He has a heel problem that has kept him shuffling along and not able to run. Kari finished with a time of 212 hours and 06 minutes. 8 days, 20 hours, 06 minutes.

I made one last stop by the race course this morning to get a plate of pancakes and a cup of rice pudding and see who was still on the course and say goodbye to my friend Michael Gaertner of Germany who I was crewing for. He was fast asleep on one of the sides of the little bldg along side the road but woke enough to mumble goodbye to me. There were a few people on the course, Gyuri of course was still up and awake – watching/crewing his brother in law Ferenc, who is doing well and should finished third place here soon. I also swiped back my Sirius Satellite system that I brought to hook into Jorge music system so we had COMMERCIAL FREE music and a variety of that. Everyone got used to it so I know they are going thru withdrawals now. Sorry guys.

I will close this out and become one of you – having to go to the results page to see the standing and the blog to see what Alan and Mary have posted. Again this year I enjoyed being around and helping so many athletes, meeting so many new people and being able to help Jorge with his race. Some of the new athletes I have met want to make plans to come to Virginia, if not this year, sometime in the future to participate in that race.

Good luck to all as they still compete.

Kirb

Race Day 9 Post 2

Marie-Josee (Canada) on left, Guy Rossi and his wife Annie of France, Guy has the most triathlons done in the world and is one of two people still competing in the Deca, which started in 1992. The other person is Jorge's wife Silvia.





Emmanuel Conraux France on the left and his support crew Gerard Buisson of France. Gerard used to compete in the old days in Doubles, Triples and the Deca but knee surgery has left him helping out others achieve their dreams







Yves Beauchamp of Montreal Canada. Tho he is hurting physically, he always has a smile for you. That is his trade mark.







We are at the stage of the race where you can usually tell the racers from afar from each other. They each have their gate, stance, swing of the arms, leaning etc. We are talking like 200 – 300 yards away. Uncanny!

Peter is off the bike – HUGE grin on his face. Now the party can start.

10:20 p.m. Marcel Heinig will finish the race soon in about an hour. He is very tired and hallucinating. I just tried joking iwth him and he didn't know what was going on at first. It was a hard fought one against some very good competitors. Follow the results page for the others as they finish throughout the night and tomorrow and the rest of the days.

I have to leave early in the morning to go back home. My boss told me I have to be there for Thanksgiving that we celebrate in the United States, which is held Thursday. I leave Monterrey at 6:40 in the morning and arrive in Virginia at 5:05 in the evening and by the time I get home my wife’s family will be arriving as well. Alan Barry and Mary Johnson (support crews for Stephen Johnson Canada) will continue the blog for me, in their style so you won’t go into shock and withdrawls.

You will still be able to follow the results on the results board too. I too will be following the race this way for the remainder of the time.

Kirb