The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Punches ticket to Kona
Gunnison resident turned St. George, Utah transplant Eric Sullivan opened the 2010 Ironman triathlon season winning the amateur title at the 2010 Ford Ironman in St. George on Saturday, May 1.
Sullivan has been racing in a variety of endurance endeavors for the past several years, including adventure racing, the Grand Traverse, and off-road triathlons to name a few. After testing the waters of the Ironman triathlon world last season, Sullivan decided it was time to take the next step and commit to training specifically for the races.
“After last year’s race in Kona I wanted to focus on Ironman this season,” says Sullivan.
He moved to St. George, Utah in January, hired a coach and set his sights on returning to Kona for the Ironman Triathlon World Championships.
His training regimen involved 30 to 35 hours a week on foot, on bike, in the water or in the weight room. Rather than battle the elements of the Gunnison Valley winter to train, he opted for warmer climes to get his workouts done.
“I’ve been able to bike outside rather than riding my trainer inside in Gunnison,” says Sullivan.
Last Saturday, the work paid off as Sullivan won the amateur division, placed 15th overall and earned a spot at the Ironman world championships in Kona, Hawaii in October.
“I had a great day on Saturday,“ says Sullivan. “I wanted to win my age division but deep down I wanted to win the overall amateur title. I was trying to be realistic and optimistic at the same time.”
Sullivan jumped in the water for the first leg of the Ironman, a 2.4-mile swim. The work he put in this winter proved itself right off the bat as Sullivan shaved significant time off his split last year in Hawaii posting a time of 1:06:46.
Sullivan switched to his road bike for a 112-mile slog on the second toughest bike course of the Ironman series.
While 112 miles is tough enough, the course also climbed a total of 6,000 vertical feet.
“There’s nothing flat on this course,” says Sullivan.
Sullivan maintained discipline on the first half of the bike portion before stepping on the throttle to finish covering the 112 miles in a time of 5:08:28.
“I just rode conservative the first lap because it’s easy to go out on the bike crazy and blow up,” says Sullivan.
With pros and amateurs littered all over the course, Sullivan had no idea where he was in the mix until he took off on the run and he heard the race announcer call him out as the second amateur to start out on the run.
The run portion stuck it to the athletes right from the start with the first five miles up hill and a couple more stinger climbs thrown in the mix.
“It’s the hardest run course of an Ironman,” says Sullivan. “The harder the course is better for me.”
Halfway through the run Sullivan pulled into the lead and held it the rest of the way to finish the run in a time of 3:14:24.
“I knew if I could just get to mile 22 I would have 4.2 miles pretty much downhill,” explains Sullivan. “You’re always running scared when you’re in the lead—you don’t know who is where. It’s a little more stressful but it’s worth it.”
Sullivan finished the entire course in a time of nine hours, 35 minutes and 19 seconds, five minutes ahead of the next amateur and in 15th place among pros. The first-place finish gained him an automatic entry to the world championships in Kona in October, allowing him the opportunity to focus solely on the big race.
While last year was a mad dash to qualify for the world championships in Kona, this year, Sullivan can train for Kona.
“Now I can choose the races that are the best preparation for Kona,” says Sullivan.
