What would you do if faced with running a half Iron Man or going through graduation
and saying farewell to your classmates one more time? For Zack Zander, 18, the choice
was…..participate in the half Iron Man.
The timing of both events was just one of those many life decisions where choices
had to be made and paths taken. Attending both events might have been possible were
it not for the distance – Boise, Idaho – and a noon start on Saturday, June 11 –
the morning following graduation.
The half marathon entailed a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride finishing with a 13.1
mile run, which Zander finished in 7 hours, 5 minutes. What made his first “Iron
Man” event so special was picking up the graduation cap and gown that his mom, Janice
(owner of Work It Out Women’s Fitness in Maple Valley) had left at the final aid
station. After donning the set, Zander took off running for his final 2-mile distance
when he had an uh-oh moment. An official on a four-wheeler drove up and took a picture
of Zander before buzzing off for the finish line. Not being sure whether he would
be pulled from the course and disqualified for “taking assistance,” he ran on to
the finish line where much to his delight – and relief – the official had merely
scooted ahead to alert everyone to come cheer Zander on through the finish!
Training continued for the next couple of months until his second half Iron Man
event on August 14 at Lake Stevens – much closer to home. While the Boise half Iron
Man was an introduction as to what lay before him, the Lake Stevens half Iron Man
was a last check to see what type of nutrition he would need for the full Iron Man.
Any small mistakes could be a killer on the full Iron Man.
Improving his time by approximately 30 minutes, Zander clocked a 6:32 for his finish
time at the Lake Stevens event. And as in the Boise half Iron Man, he had some fun
that was photographed and later seen by mom. ZZZZaaaaccckkk……….*smile*
Next up – Full Iron Man. This event took the Zander family, including dad, Roger
(Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force currently flying mission in Afghanistan and
who participated with Zack in the Iron Man events) and brothers Vernon and Sam to
Penticton, Canada on August 28. In order to participate in this Iron Man, participants
had to be signed up a year in advance. The race included a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile
bike ride and 26.2 mile run. Weather played a huge part in the 2011 event as it
was – hot to very hot – as the day wore on.
Unlike the half Iron Mans that had start times in staggered waves (age groupings),
the Iron Man had a mass gun start at 7 a.m. It was a long grueling day for Zander
who finished at 11:32 p.m. for a time of 16:32. Towards the end, mom was getting
rather concerned knowing full well the possibilities such an event could have on
the body in that type of weather. She was much relieved when he finally made it
across the finish line and all was well.
Looking into the future, Zander is heading for Navy Boot Camp. Already sworn in
as an enlisted man, he will be heading out to see what has been waiting for him
sometime mid-January 2012.
But before he leaves he wanted to thank his mom, dad, brothers and friends for all
their support over the years. He also wanted to specially thank his favorite teacher
and mentor, Mike Seger, in whose room he placed 3,000 blue and gold balloons as
well as 40 thousand Post It notes as his graduation good-bye…..only to find out
that there was a special speaker coming into the room in – 5 minutes!
Pictured: Tahoma 2011 graduate, Zack Zander finishes off his Boise half Iron Man
event in June donned in his cap and gown.
