I hear so many people tell me they enjoy reading our letters, so we are happy to keep them coming to keep you updated on our activities here at Ferris Painting.
After a 3 year pause, I finally was able to train for and finish my 6th Ironman Race. The race took place August 7th in Boulder, Colorado. Ironman races consist of a 2.4 mile swim, followed by cycling for 112 miles and finishing with a marathon run of 26.2 miles. These 3 events are done consecutively without stopping. The start is marked by a canon firing at 6:30am as 1500 of my closest friends and I began the 2.4 mile swim. We are allowed 17 hours to complete these 3 back to back to back events. I finished in 11 hours and 44 minutes which was 15th place out of 135 in my age group. That puts me into a high “intermediate” category but of course, I’m always trying to do a little bit better. Now that I have my competitive juices flowing again, I am looking at doing my 7th Ironman next year in Whistler, BC Canada but more on that later.
Back in the 1970’s, Hawaii had a large athletic community and there was always a friendly rivalry between swimmers, cyclists and runners each bragging about which sport produced the best athlete. So, to answer that question, in 1978 the first Ironman Race was held on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. 15 people paid an entry fee of $3 and started the race on the shore of Waikiki Beach. 12 people finished and a runner named Gordon Haller won the race in 11 hours and 46 minutes.
If you ever wondered how the race organizers came up with these odd-ball distances of 2.4, 112 and 26.2…they took the 2.4 mile distance from the annual Waikiki Roughwater Swim…the 112 mile bike came from the distance the locals used to cycle in order to go around the perimeter of the island...and finally, they determined the run distance of 26.2 miles from the iconic Honolulu Marathon.
In 1980, a TV show called ABC’s Wide World of Sports aired the race and popularity grew so much that in 1981, the event organizers had to move the race to the big island of Kona, Hawaii because they had enough room there to handle all the extra people riding and running up and down the Queen K highway. This year the event is on October 8th and it is so popular that now it has over 2000 racers that literally come from all over the world, all of whom need to qualify, instead of simply paying $3 to enter.
As you can probably tell by some of our previous letters, I like challenges. So if your property is giving you too much of a challenge with its peeling, rusting paint and rotten wood, give us a call. We will take on that challenge and see you at the finish line when we give you back a beautiful looking building.
Please call us today for your free estimate at 818-951-3207. You can also fax or e-mail us.
All the Best, Greg Lewis