On July 27, Lt. Stephen Brennan, a 19-year veteran of the Wilton Police Department, took part in the 16th annual Lake Placid, NY Ironman. He completed the race in a time of 14 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds.
Ironman is an endurance triathlon event that covers 140.6 miles. It begins with a 2.4 mile swim, is followed by a 112-mile bike ride, and concludes with a 26.2-mile marathon. An athlete has 17 hours to complete this event with time cutoffs for each leg.
Ironman Lake Placid is the longest-running American event aside from the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, HI.
Athletes begin with a two-loop swim in Mirror Lake, transitioning in the Olympic Speed Skating Oval to the bike. Two loops of 56 miles bring competitors back to the Oval once again with a total elevation gain of 6,898 ft., where they begin their 26.2-mile run through the town and around the lake with an elevation gain of 1,604 ft.
To prepare for this event, Lt. Brennan followed a 30-week training program that involved either swimming, biking or running (or a combination), six-days-a-week, and ranging from six hours-a-day in the beginning to 15-hours-a-day in the peak phase. The majority of this training was done by waking up at 4 a.m. in the morning and hitting the gym by 5 a.m.
According to a release from the WPD, Lt. Brennan is already planning on competing next year in the Ironman Maryland event.
