The Citizen, 2017-08-31, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017.
Studhalter places fourth at Quebec Ironman
Calm before the storm
Michele Studhalter of Walton, seen here before the race, challenged herself to complete a
gruelling Ironman triathlon, which consists of a near -four -kilometre swim, 180 kilometres on
bike and then a full 42.2 -kilometre marathon. Inspired by her former teacher, Blyth's Julie
Sawchuk, Studhalter completed the race in just over 12 and a half hours, battling sickness and
obvious fatigue along the way, placing fourth in her age division. (Photo submitted)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
After two years of intense training,
Walton native Michele Studhalter
recently placed fourth in the
gruelling Ironman competition at
Mont-Tremblant.
The Ironman competition consists
of a 3.8 -kilometre swim, a 180 -
kilometre cycle and a 42.2 -
kilometre, two -loop run.
Studhalter, who now works in
Waterloo for a technology company
called Igloo Software, originally got
involved in the event thanks to
Blyth -area teacher Julie Sawchuk.
Sawchuk, who was paralyzed
from the chest down when she was
struck while cycling near Goderich
two years ago, encouraged
Studhalter to get involved.
"Before her accident, we talked
about the Ironman competition," she
said. "I took it upon myself to do the
race in her honour. I've been training
since October for 10 to 20 hours a
week. It's a big undertaking."
Studhalter explained that, her
training, up until February, took 10
to 15 hours a week and consisted of
two workouts a day except for
Friday, her off -day.
"I would bike in the morning and
swim in the afternoon," she said.
"The sessions on the weekend were
longer, three to four hours each.
Every week the training was longer
and longer and, at my peak, I was
doing about 22 hours of workout a
week, not including stretches and
massage therapy."
She said, during her most intense
periods of training, she would cycle
for six hours and swim five
kilometres "for fun."
It all culminated in the Mont-
Tremblant race on Aug. 20.
Studhalter travelled to the Quebec
site with some friends the day before
and got settled in as best she could,
though she admits it was an exciting
place to be.
"It's hard to explain the
atmosphere," she said. "It's like
Disney World for triathletes. It's a
big show. There are over 2,000
athletes there and it's a lot of work to
compete."
The race started at 7 a.m., though
Studhalter said most people are up
and ready to go just before 4 a.m.
"We were lucky, as it was
supposed to rain and it didn't," she
said.
Her time in the first of the three
events, the swim, was decent,
according to Studhalter, but it
certainly wasn't easy.
"It was rough being in the water
with that many people," she said.
"I was kicked in the face a couple
times and got dragged down.
My time was one hour and 11
minutes, which was faster than what
I hoped."
She next hopped on her bike and
said that Mont-Tremblant is a
notoriously -hilly race.
Prior to hitting any of the hills,
however, she found herself a
Continued on page 11
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A true battle
Michele Studhalter of Walton can now count herself among
the few who have completed an Ironman triathlon. she is
seen here during the cycling portion of the competition. She
would eventually place fourth in her division. (Photo submitted)
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