By now most have heard that Gulf Winds Triathletes member Chuck Kemeny competed in, and set a world record at Ultraman Florida on Feb. 21 – 23, 2014. The first day of the 320-mile event brought the former Collegiate All-American swimmer a 6.2-mile swim in Lake Conway, in the shadow of Orlando International Airport, followed immediately by a 90-mile bike race from the lake to Cocoa, Florida, on the east coast.

Day two brought a 171.4-mile bike race from Cocoa through the hills of Clermont and concluding in Mount Dora, a 40-minute car drive northeast of Lake Conway.

The final day offered a 52.4-mile double-marathon run from Mount Dora south through Clermont (again), finishing in Windemere, Florida.  Maps of the swim, bike, and run courses are reproduced below.

 

 

 

 

Ultraman Florida 2014 announced that it had 40 spots available for competitors. It must say something about the difficulty of the event that six of those spots remained unfilled on race day: 27 men and seven women competed at Ultraman Florida.

Prior to Kemeny’s three-day effort, the Ultraman world record had stood since 1998, a 21:41:22 finish by Holger Speidel. Kemeny beat that time with a finish in 21:38:32, making him, as a writer for Lava Magazine called him, “the fastest Ultraman in history.”

Tri Club member Marci Gray was part of Kemeny’s historic race. In an event where each competitor’s support crew travels in a vehicle as a rolling aid and supply station, Gray jumped out during the run and helped pace, and sometime just exchange conversation with, Kemeny for 32 miles of his double-marathon. In the picture below, Gray and Kemeny are running with the eventual second-place finisher, Iñaki de la Parra of Mexico, who won Ultraman United Kingdom 2012 (they would run together for about 19 miles before Kemeny, with Gray as support, eventually began pulling away from de la Parra at mile 39).

Gray interviewed Kemeny in a Q & A format, the results of which are below. For context, however, allow two observations:

One, to break the world record, Kemeny put together two marathons at about 3:30 each. At 7:03:38, Kemeny averaged just seconds over an eight-minute-per-mile pace for seven consecutive hours. And three minutes. And 38 seconds. After riding 171.4 miles the day before. And after riding 90 miles and swimming 6.2 miles the day before that. Damn.

Two, the following observation is excerpted from the Lava Magazine article: “When his closest pursuer, former Ultraman United Kingdom champ Inaki De La Parra, went down on the bike, Kemeny went ahead to let his support crew know, then rode back and stayed with De La Parra until help arrived. ‘It cost me between five to eight minutes, but that’s not what matters. There’s more to it than that.’”

Chuck Kemeny:  Swim: 2:22:12; Bike Day 1: 4:11:25; Bike Day 2: 8:01:17; Run: 7:03:38; Total Time: 21:38:32

Questions for “The Man” From Marci Gray Marci Gray: What made you decide to do this race?

Chuck Kemeny: I was invited to the 2012 Ultraman World Championships, but was unable to race because I could not get the time off work. It was October 2013 while at the Ironman World Championships when I got the itch to race again. I emailed the Ultraman World Championships race director looking for an invite to the 2014 race. She advised me to race Ultraman Florida first. It was late October 2013 when I was invited to participate in the 2014 Ultraman Florida event (Feb 21-24).

MG:What were your thoughts when you got the “ok” that you were in and what was your first step next?

CK: My initial thought was “Oh No” as I had less than 4 months to prepare for the race. I had taken 7 months off cycling and running to train for the Pan American Masters Swimming Championships. I had to devise a plan that would allow me optimal fitness in such a short time.

MG: How long were your training sessions and how did you balance that with Life?

CK: My training sessions varied based on my available time. I was in the middle of completing the constructions of my new house, moving, renovating my old house, working full time and coaching. I am blessed to have such a supportive family and friends. I could not have pulled this off without them. My peak weeks of training for each discipline were swimming (20,000 yards), cycling (over 500 miles), running (80 miles).

MG: Logistically speaking, what makes this race so different from IM or any other?

CK: Ultraman is longer than any other race I have ever done. It is also a 3-day stage race. It started on Day 1 in Orlando with a 6.2 mile swim and 93 mile bike to Cocoa, Florida. Day 2 was a 171 mile bike ride to Mt. Dora, Florida. Day 3 was a 52.44 mile run from Mt. Dora to Orlando.

Fueling the body for the race was different as you had to always be thinking about fueling for the next day (ie: you did not want to deplete yourself too much on any one day of the event.) Ultraman is unique in that you had to bring your own support crew who would serve as your SAG and aid station support. They would drive the course and leap frog the athlete always catering to their needs. That means providing the athlete with bottles, food, ice, sponges, etc. Ultraman was the first triathlon I had ever done where you felt like you were racing as a team. Your crew would also need to help direct you throughout the race: turn left here, turn right up ahead, etc…. I could not have done as well as I did without an awesome crew to support me.

MG: What were your thoughts with each of legs of the race?

CK: DAY 1- I was worried about the swim distance. I had not swam 10,000 meters in one shot since high school. The water was 65 degrees so I was worried how that would impact me over time. I was pretty sure I would be first out of the water. I was hoping I would be able to finish the day in the lead. The Ultraman UK champion was in the race and hot on my heels on Day 1. He finished the day 4 min back.

DAY 2- We all started as a group for the 171 mile bike. Weather started out good, but once we exited town we ran into dense fog and heavy rain. I kept telling myself to be patient as I did not want to wreck. About 90 miles into the bike a rider went down in front of me on some slick railroad tracks. I nearly wrecked crossing the tracks too. This really worried me as he went down hard. I made sure he was ok and rode ahead to flag down his crew and send them back to help him. Concerned for his safety, I waited until I saw his crew go by before continuing on with my race. They informed me that their athlete was back on the bike and riding. We hit the infamous Clermont hills at mile 107 in the rain. This made for some scary downhills as the early bike wreck was still fresh in my mind. The rest of the ride was all about finishing safely.

DAY 3- This was a day of patience. I wasn’t sure how it would go as my longest training run had been in December and was only 32 miles. I reached 13.1 miles in 1:49. I was feeling good and picked up the pace. I reached 26.2 in 3:32. I was feeling better as the run was progressing. My crew continued to pace me and remind me to focus on my form and cadence. I reached 39.3 miles in 5:23. It was 90 degrees by now and my crew instinctively started to stop more often and provided me cold water, rags, sponges every ¼ to ½ mile until the finish. It was about mile 42 when I knew I had a shot at the fastest Ultraman time in history. Doing the math I knew I had to run a 1:43 last ½ marathon. We kept picking up the pace from that point until the finish. My last ½ marathon was 1:40. We ended up negative splitting the double marathon.

MG: When did you know you were going to break the world record?

CK: I knew I had a shot at mile 42 on the run. I was also a realist knowing that anything can happen in a long race like Ultraman. It was 91 degrees when I finished. That kind of heat could cripple even the fittest of athletes. It was with 1 mile to go that I knew I was going to get the record.

MG: What would you have done differently, if anything?

CK: I would not change a thing. The race, all 3 days, went perfectly.

MG: If someone was contemplating doing a race like this, what advice would you give?

CK: Be sure you dial in your nutrition and know your body.

MG: What was the single best and worst minute of this race?

CK: Best- Seeing my family as I was entering the finish chute. Worst- Watching the racer in front of me wreck crossing the railroad tracks.