Paralyzed racer tries 'impossible'
By Ron Staton
Associated Press
Jason Fowler says competing in Saturday's Ironman Triathlon World Championship will be tough, even acknowledging "it's the impossible for me."
But he deliberately chose the Big Island race as a personal challenge with its 2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.2-mile run — all in one day.
Fowler
"It is the biggest challenge I could come up with," said Fowler, who is paralyzed from the chest down from a March 1991 motorcycle accident.
Fowler, 30, became a wheelchair athlete four months after he struck a rock and landed on his head, severing his spinal cord, during a motocross training run in Kingston, Mass.
WHEN: Saturday, 6:45 a.m. Distances: 2.4-mile swim in Kailua Bay; 112-mile bike from Kailua, Kona pier along Kuakini Highway and Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway to Hawi and back; 26.2-mile run from the pier along Ali'i Drive to St. Peter's Church at Keauhou and back. Total competitors: 1,797 (including 452 women) Professionals: 85 men, 54 women STATES/Countries represented: 50/48
He had raced motocross for 11 years, winning eight New England championships and a national amateur ranking.
2004 Ironman Triathlon World Championships
Since his injury at age 17, Fowler has completed eight shorter triathalons, 140 road races, and 27 marathons, including the 1997 Honolulu Marathon.
He started his quest to compete in the king of all triathalons in September 2003 and began training full-time last April.
Fowler has never tried a full Ironman, but he's been practicing on the course since arriving in Hawai'i on Sunday. While heat and wind often take their toll on Ironman racers, Fowler purposely has not paid attention to weather reports.
"Whatever is there I'll be ready for," he said.
His main goal is to finish the race, and he hopes to do so in about 13 1/2 hours. Last year's winner, Peter Reid, finished in 8 hours, 22 minutes and 34 seconds.
In the swim portion of the race, "it's all arms," Fowler said in a telephone interview from Kailua, Kona, where the race starts and ends. He will use leg braces to keep his knees straight and tie his legs together.
He has a three-wheel bicycle which he pedals with his hands and arms while sitting about six inches off the ground. "The bike will be the most difficult," he said. "It's 112 miles and I'll be on the bike 8 1/2 to 9 hours."
For the run, he uses a three-wheel chair with a small wheel in front.
"It will be a challenge for sure," Fowler said, "A lot of people pace themselves. But I'll be pushing myself to my limit all the time."
Fowler is in the process of moving from Boston, where he received his MBA degree in finance at Boston University in May, to Minneapolis. He has accepted a position doing financial work for Medtronic, a company that makes medical devices, including one implanted in Fowler's abdomen that controls spasms, a problem common to people with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, stroke, brain injury and spinal cord injury.
Meanwhile, there's a race to conquer.
"I've done lots of training and I focus on finishing," Fowler said. "It will be tough. I've done everything I can. But in a 13- to 14-hour race, a lot can happen."
