Sullivan bikes his way to second place at Nevada Ironman

“I felt pretty solid the whole way through”

Gunnison resident Eric Sullivan added yet another podium finish to his growing list of athletic accomplishments taking second place at the Rage in the Sage Half Ironman held Saturday, April 19 outside Las Vegas, Nevada.

The race opened with a 1.2-mile swim in Lake Mead and, as is often the case for local athletes, the swim was the most difficult part.
Sullivan found himself battling with the field in the mass start while trying to stay on course.
“I got killed in the swim but I made it up the rest of the race,” says Sullivan. “The hardest part was trying to sight the buoys getting splashed the whole time.”
Sullivan exited the water in 23rd place with a split time of 42 minutes 10 seconds, and spent the opening section of the 56-mile bike ride picking off his competitors.
“I remember the first 20 miles going past a ton of people,” says Sullivan. “I wasn’t sure exactly what place I was in.”
Halfway through the ride, Sullivan realized he had pushed all the way through to third place with second place in his crosshairs.
Sullivan moved into second place on a long climb and by the end of the ride had posted the second fastest bike split overall covering the 56 miles in a time of two hours, 37 minutes and 41 seconds.
The leader took off on the final section, a 13.1-mile run, eight minutes ahead of Sullivan.
Sullivan looked to reel the leader in but the gap was too large. Despite posting the fastest run split of the field with a time of one hour, 31 minutes and 33 seconds, Sullivan still finished seven minutes out of first place in his first ever half Ironman race in a time of four hours, 51 minutes and 25 seconds.
“I felt pretty solid the whole way through,” says Sullivan. “The swim was definitely the most painful part. I’ve been swimming a lot since then.”