By Kim J. Harmon

LAKE PLACID, New York – It has to be considered the most daunting challenge in all sports … the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike loop, and 26.2-mile full marathon of the Ironman triathlon.

But three Newtown residents (Joe Whelan, Chris McDonnell and Peter Perkins) proved their metal, er, mettle by meeting that challenge earlier this month at the Ironman USA triathlon in Lake Placid, New York.

Nearly 1,700 people finished the course.

“It’s all about pushing yourself further than you thought you could go,” said Whelan.

Joe Whelan

Age – 38, Finish – 10:43.46

Overall – 121st, Division – 25th

Back on May 29, Joe Whelan came within inches of being struck by a truck while biking on Route 302 (the accident severely injured Marianne Ryder, 43) and in the wake of all that accident, swimming and biking and running just didn’t seem as important any more.

But Joe – the owner of the Whelan Builders construction firm – was able to re-focus and took to the brutal Lake Placid course with a goal in mind.

“Everyone told me I should just relax and enjoy the thing,” he said, “but there is no way I couldn’t have a (time) goal. My window was as low as 10:42 and as high as 11:16 and I was able to hit my mark at each transition.”

He nearly hit his low-end time goal on the button and because of that he could have been heading to Hawaii – if only he had stuck around at the end of the race.

The top 14 finishers in each division qualify for the Hawaii Ironman and Joe, who was 25th, figured he was out of it. But if any of the top 14 finishers decline the spot, it rolls down to the available finisher.

One spot rolled all the way down to the guy who finished 26th in the 35-40 Division.

“That kind of bugged me,” Joe admitted, but his wife – Kristin – will say since this was his first Ironman it is probably too soon to be heading into a huge competition like that. Besides, the effort that has gone into this thing has already done wonders for him.

“About 10 years ago I got into this … for about two years,” said Joe. “When I stopped I gained about 30 pounds and had trouble with migraine headaches every day. What it took was to get back into this – training and eating right. I still get migraines from time to time, but not anything like it was before.”

And it goes beyond that.

“This has made me a better person and a better father,” said Joe. “(Kristin) has been very supportive. It was a very satisfying feeling to cross the finish line with my wife and kids and without my family with me throughout the whole thing, it wouldn’t have held the same meaning.”

Every day around 5 or 5:30 am, Joe would head to the pool. After that, he would get back home and get the kids on the bus and to pre-school and then go to his job sites. In the evening, it would be either running or biking. And on the weekend, he would really push himself – biking about 120 miles (six hours or so) at a clip.

“It’s about a whole lifestyle,” he said. “The personal growth I have gained through this has spilled into all aspects of my life.”

Despite all that training, he was still nervous about the competition. But the support he was getting from his family no doubt helped him get through the toughest parts of the competition – namely, getting bopped in the nose right at the beginning of the two-mile swim and, later on, the wind and the driving rain and the 12-mile climb (on his bike) up the mountain.

In the end – almost 11 hours after he started – he crossed the finish line.

And he can’t wait until next year.

“I am driven and focused,” he said, “and I’m already thinking about next year … being top 10 in my age group and figuring out what I have to do to get there.”

Chris McDonnell

Age – 40, Finish – 13:23.26

Overall – 1,010th, Division – 168th

Chris McDonnell needed a goal.

“I have been running marathons and so forth since 1990 and along the way running small triathlons,” said Chris, a vice-president of research and development with Stryker Spine, “and I just needed a new goal. The calendar was starting to work against me, so I just set the goal.”

About a year ago, the preparation began.

Since Chris has about 23 marathons (around two a year) to his credit he was pretty confident about his abilities in that final leg of the Ironman. Swimming those two miles didn’t worry him, either.

It was the biking.

“Biking was my one area of focus,” said Chris, “and I spent a lot of time on that. Since I travel quite a bit (Stryker has offices in France), on the road I was able to put a lot of work into that.”

The work – yes, with all the training necessary to accomplish something of this magnitude, it was apparent that the entire family would be involved (and not just because his brother, Stephen McDonnell of Bethel, was also running).

“The family support and understanding is critical,” Chris said of his wife, Lynn, and their two-year-old son Jack. “I do a lot of running in the early morning, so it will only have a little impact on the family, but the nights and the long Saturday and Sunday runs and bike rides make it a family thing.”

And in Lake Placid they were right there at the swim/bike transition point and the bike/run transition point cheering their hero on.

“They were so emotionally wound up,” said Chris, “I don’t even think they noticed the rain.”

Before heading to Lake Placid, Chris had fleshed out a time goal for himself. Breaking the event down by discipline and figuring the times he had been (or should be) able to accomplish, he was looking at a 12- to 13-hour window.

He came in at 13:23.26.

“I was pleased with the time and with how well I felt afterwards,” said Chris, who will be training for the upcoming Hartford marathon and looking to break the three-hour mark. “But I would have liked to have better weather. I think it added about an hour to my time.”

But he finished – an accomplishment in itself.

“I had a high degree of confidence I could finish it. I felt my overall conditioning would prepare me for it,” said Chris. “But I was searching for the next level and there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction that comes from setting a goal of this magnitude and accomplishing it.”

It doesn’t end here – oh no.

Chris is already registered for the 2004 Ironman.

Peter Perkins

Age – 52, Finish – 12:33.59

Overall – 689th, Division – 20th

If at first you don’t succeed …

Peter Perkins was two miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and eight miles of running into the 2002 Ironman at Lake Placid when he – 12 pounds lighter for all that effort – was forced to drop out.

But that didn’t stop him from trying again.

“I had no idea I would finish (this year),” said Peter, the manager of Chuck’s Steak House in Danbury. “I was just hoping. Last year I think I went out a little too hard in the swimming and the bike and it just fell apart in the run.”

A veteran of hundreds of triathlons, Peter was not about to give up.

“I think I’m the type of person,” he said, “that if I start something I want to finish it. I would have felt incomplete if I hadn’t given it another try. My goal was to finish and to feel good, not time.”

But he did finish in 12:33.59 – good for 689th overall and 20th in the 50-55 division. The torrential rain might have slowed him down a little, but it did not bother him all that much, he said, because it helped to keep his core temperature down.

Plus –

“I made sure I took in a lot of fluids,” said Peter. “A lot of what you can do in the run is based on how much fuel you can take in the bike.”

While Joe Whelan and Chris O’Donnell are already preparing for the 2004 Ironman USA triathlon, Peter won’t be going back next year. Instead, he plans on taking a bike tour of France – stopping in, of course, to get a look at the Tour de France.

“I’ve done about five bike tours,” he said. “They are really fun and can still be challenging.”

Not quite as challenging as the Ironman, though.

“I’ve learned something about myself,” he said. “I learned what I am capable of doing and I have a healthy outlook on it now.”