WORTH A TRY

Sergeant Allan Lawrence battles through the 180km cycle leg during the 2002 Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon.

SERGEANT Allan Lawrence didn’t get his suntan in Hawaii on a beach or by the pool.

He got it after more than 11 pain-filled hours swimming, cycling and running vast distances through oppressive heat and humidity in what is regarded as the toughest event of its type in the world – the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon.

SGT Lawrence returned home from the October race with more than just a tan. Aches and pains in his legs, the remnants of the severe cramps he experienced in the event, meant he couldn’t run for about a month after arriving back in Australia.

The RAAF Base Williamtown athlete qualified for the Hawaiian Ironman with a 16th placing in the 40 to 44-year-old division at the Australian Ironman Triathlon at Forster earlier this year.

His reward was to join about 1500 competitors from around the world on a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and a 42km run.

In his first Hawaiian Ironman SGT Lawrence, who competed in his first long-course triathlon less than two year ago, gained an appreciation of the tough nature of the event.

“It was an eye-opener. Hawaii’s a totally different kettle of fish,” he said.

Storms before the event and misty rain during the opening stages of the race caused the humidity to rise well over 90 per cent, creating conditions akin to a Turkish bath.

Choppy seas made the opening swim leg, a section of the race that SGT Lawrence dislikes at the best of times, extremely difficult.

“At times you couldn’t see the buoys and didn’t know where to turn,” he said

“A lot of people actually got seasick in the swim because of the swell.”

Taking the conditions into account, he was pleased with his swim-leg time of 1hr 18mins.

His transition to the bike was smooth and the 180km cycle leg was going well until the sun came out, heating up the already humid air considerably and causing SGT Lawrence’s legs to cramp.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” he said.

From that point on the pain in his left leg was intense, hindering the rest of the cycling leg and the entire 42km run.

“You think about stopping, but in the end I paid too much money and prepared for too long to call it quits, so I pressed on,” he said.

His overall time of 11hrs 42mins and 55secs was almost an hour slower than his time for the Forster Ironman, but he wasn’t too perturbed.

“At the end of the day I was just happy to finish.”

SGT Lawrence said that would probably be his first and last Hawaiian Ironman, a decision based purely on financial constraints.

“I have absolutely no regrets at all. If I won Lotto tomorrow I’d go back, armed with a bit more knowledge of the race and how to prepare,” he said.

• By Ben Caddaye

.