Head swim coach Pat Savidge represented the Green Wave last weekend by completing his first Ironman race in Maryland.  The ironman is a long-distance triathlon race starting with a 2.4 mile (3.86 km) swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.26 km) bicycle ride, and finishing with a 26.2 mile (42.2 km) run.  Coach Savidge came out of the gate with a blistering pace and dominated the swim portion by finishing 1st overall in 50 minutes and 31 seconds.  Savidge powered through the bike and the run with times of 5 hours and 23 minutes and 3 hours and 58 minutes respectively.  Coach Savidge finished with an overall time of 10 hours and 28 minutes and placed 91st overall and 13th in his group, the very competitive men's 25-29 division. He embodied Succisa Verescit and showed the student athletes at Delbarton that anything can be accomplished with grit and determination.  I caught up with him to discuss his amazing achievement.  

What were your goals going into your first ironman?

I came in with an A, B, and C goal.  My C goal was just to finish - if I crossed the line I knew I could be proud of something.  My B goal was to come in under 12 hours, and my A goal, if I had what I thought was my perfect race, was under 11 hours.  It felt good, and it's honestly really hard to believe that I was able to hit my primary goal.

What was the most difficult part of the race and what were your thoughts while overcoming that adversity?

The most difficult part of the race was definitely the run.  By mile 13, I felt like my body was breaking down, and really started to question whether or not I was going to make it to the finish line without walking the entire back half of the run.  I walked by my parents and girlfriend at mile 16 and their encouragement got me running again.  For the last 10 miles, I kept reminding myself how much I would regret not pushing myself to the limit, and didn't want to look back on the race with any "What ifs?"

What are you most proud of about your first ironman?

I think I'm most proud of pushing through the run and finishing the marathon in under 4 hours.  That was the pace I had trained for if I felt amazing coming off of the bike.  To put it plainly, I was definitely not feeling amazing.  So I was proud of the fact that I was able to push through and still get under the 4:00 mark.

Congats to our Ironman Mr. Savidge on an incredible race last weekend!