I would like to pick up where Bobit Avila left off in his column last Tuesday about the need to reassess Ironman. Ironman is a triathlon, an endurance race involving three disciplines --swimming, cycling, and running-- and spread over a certain distance which, in last Sunday's case, was 70.3 miles.
Make no mistake about it, just completing the race after swimming, biking, and running for 70.3 miles is no mean feat. Let me be clear --I myself will not even attempt it. But let me be clear as well-- certain elements of the race tend to put a big question mark on the iron in Ironman. For example, the participants all had the “Red Sea” parted for them.
I mean it is perfectly all right and normal for a race to have the race course cleared, freed, and made safe from all hazards, obstructions, and encumbrances. But then again, not all races have the word “iron” prominently and inextricably attached to them. I would have thought that a race meant to test the stuff of which participants are made would have iron strewn all over the course.
As it is, Ironman is just another endurance race over a
certain course, conveniently cleared and cleaned, with the only measure supposedly qualifying it to use the word iron being the distance --in this case 70 something miles instead of the usual marathons that run 40 something miles. I do not think that is enough qualification.
For me, for the race to be truly Ironman, the swimming part of the race should not be at the cool, clear, and clean waters off the tourism side of Mactan. It should be in the dark, murky, and garbage-infested waters of the Mactan Channel. The waters here are literally full of iron. Accidentally ingest a mouthful and you are on your way to becoming Ironman.
For the cycling phase, mountain bikes should be required because this phase must be a "sprint" up and down the Butuanon River, which is just as full of iron, from its mouth at the Mactan Channel to where it meets Talamban Road and back. Finally, the running portion must make the runners weave their way through Hipodromo, Colon, and Carbon --all the time unescorted and unsecured.
And if my proposed course is too short, then the participants must be made to go all around again for a second circuit. Then and only then can the surviving participants truly claim to be Ironmen and Ironwomen. Because, really, there is a valid point made by Bobit Avila, whose idea of fun is to ride with his buddies on big, fat iron motorbikes through the countrysides where they bother nobody.
And that point is that Ironman cannot forever be allowed to have fun at the expense of the vast majority of Cebuanos who must endure the ensuing traffic and resulting inconveniences, not to mention losses. As for my own observations and suggested revisions, sorry but they were all just in jest, my own idea of good-natured mischief. If you allowed me to ruffle your feathers, it is your own fault. But you can always blame Bobit Avila for it.