Ironman heroes don’t disappoint fans

Good DNA is important if you want to be a successful triathlete. Just ask the three Garretson sisters. Or at least the two of them enjoying shade and cold ones on a hot afternoon while the third went cranking past on a bicycle out in the hot sun.

If you want to get all technical about it, only one of the sisters, Jen Garretson, actually was competing in Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene on Sunday. And as Garretson, a physical therapist from Boise, neared the end of her 112-mile bike ride about 4:30 Sunday afternoon, a cluster of friends from the Boise Hash House Harriers running club launched an explosion of cowbells, whoops and cheers. The happy, noisy throng included Garretson’s older sisters, Judi Brungs and Joan Garretson.

As they were growing up in the Detroit suburbs, Judi and Joan saw themselves as the genetic trailblazers in the family, identifying flaws in the gene pool and smoothing the way for their baby sister, Jen.

Judi, who now lives in the northern Kentucky town of Edgewood, is a runner. Or at least she was until two weeks ago. “I was out running, and I tripped over a pothole and fractured my foot,” she said.

As the afternoon temperatures climbed into the mid-80s Sunday, Judi was in the shade of a tree at the Parkside Bistro. She was in a wheelchair, a purple cast encasing her left foot and ankle.

“But just take a look at her face,” she said, pointing at Joan.

Joan, who has been training for a six-day race in South Lyon, Mich., is a cyclist. Or she was until a few days ago when she was riding her bike and T-boned a work van full-tilt. “You know how you trust people that they are going to stop? Well, he didn’t,” Joan said, describing her extreme makeover.

This only made them more proud for Jen.

“So our sister, she is definitely the least klutzy of us all,” Judi said.

Sure, the older sisters had been up since 4 a.m., zooming to prearranged spots to cheer for Jen, maneuvering Judi’s wheelchair so vigorously that a wheel came off.

But as the day got hotter, Judi and Joan were enjoying the company of their sister’s crazy Boise friends, along with music, shaded outdoor seating and beer. Jen had a marathon yet to run.

Which sisters got the good end of the gene pool?

It takes a lot of energy to party for 17 hours, but that’s part of the Ironman challenge – a challenge that got revelers up with the sun.

The enthusiasm – the cheers, the cowbells, the wave of signs and banners – rarely fizzled during the second-annual Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene on Sunday, where 30,000 spectators put nearly as much energy into the event as the 1,945 athletes who attempted the grueling 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.

“Make sure you do that all day long,” the announcer said as the crowd on Independence Point screamed and hollered just minutes before the cannon blasted at 7 a.m., kicking off the swim.

Family and friends made cell phone calls, shook signs and lifted digital cameras into the air in hopes of getting a few shots of their triathlete diving into Lake Coeur d’Alene.

The swimmers lining the shore of City Beach took about three running strides and dived into the lake. The hundreds of purple and yellow swim caps created a wave that slowly stretched past Independence Point.

The last of the swimmers stood knee deep, waiting for the water to clear. One last goggle adjustment, a nose wipe and they were in, leaving spectators on the shore to anxiously wait.

Four women stood squinting in the early morning sun trying to find Devon Dobek – their Ironman.

“He’s crazy,” said Dobek’s sister Katie, who traveled with her mom from Corvallis, Ore. Dobek’s girlfriend and her mother also came to cheer on the 29-year-old athlete. “He just loves it. He loves the challenge.”

Katie Dobek’s orange tank top read, “Devon Dobek is my hero.”

“He does everything; there’s nothing he can’t do, obviously,” she said.

The ladies planned to spend the day, like the majority of supporters, trying to catch a glimpse of their athlete and hoping their cheers would provide energy and encouragement.

Kathy Pierce of Post Falls waited, camera in hand, for her 55-year-old husband, John, to pass through the transition area where volunteers lined up to strip wet suits off the swimmers. “He’s so focused nobody talks to him this week,” said Pierce.

There were only a few accidents, with one of the worst happening about 8:40 a.m. when two cyclists – Shaun Grant of Kamloops, B.C., and Brad Williams of Sacramento, Calif. – hit head-on, sending them both to Kootenai Medical Center. Williams was treated and released, a nursing supervisor said, while Grant was still under observation Sunday evening for a concussion. He was listed in good condition.

“The pro (Grant) came around the corner and just nailed him,” said Tommy Magrath, a bike mechanic who ran over to help.

Williams, 43, had just gotten on his bike and was headed to Higgens Point when Grant, 32, allegedly took the corner onto Northwest Boulevard too wide and hit Williams. While paramedics were loading Williams on to the backboard, he kept asking about his bicycle.

“Is it ridable?” he asked. “Where is it?”

In Post Falls, a volunteer was hospitalized after being struck by a cyclist.

“We’ve had a few more bike accidents than last year, it seems like,” said Jim Washko, deputy chief with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department.

The rate of injuries was low at midafternoon. “Right now the rate has been pretty good … but it’s getting pretty hot. People are going to start dropping out,” Washko said.

A swimmer was pulled out of the water and brought to shore by a boat after complaining of shoulder pain.