March 28, 2024

Wise competes in Lake Tahoe Ironman event

LAKE TAHOE, Cali. — Andrew Wise, a 1999 Clarke Community High School graduate, competed in the inaugural Lake Tahoe competition here on Sept. 22.

Wise, 33, finished 206th overall out of more than 2,700 entrants with a time of 11 hours, 54 minutes and 25 seconds. That was good enough to place Wise 39th in the men's 30-34 age division.

The Ironman triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.

Wise set a new personal record in the marathon segment of the race in 3 hours, 48 minutes and 21 seconds. He ranked 39th in his age division and 206th overall during the marathon segment, averaging 8:42 per mile during the run.

He was especially happy with his time, considering how brutal the bike course was.

Wise was close to his PRs in both the swimming and the biking segments of the race, completing the swim in 1:18:25 and the bike ride in 6:33:28.

His performance in the swimming segment placed him 113th in his division. Wise then moved up in the biking portion, where he ranked 60th in his division.

Lake Tahoe Ironman, according to Triathlete Magazine, proved to be the toughest race of the top 30 Ironman events in North America in 2013. Reasons for this rating included the number of entries who either did not finish (DNF) or did not start (DNS) the race, altitude, weather (air temperature at the swim start was 36 degrees), elevation rise on the bike and run portion of the race (elevation rise was near 8,000 feet for the bikers) and length of daylight (many competitors had to finish the run portion in the dark).

Of the 2,700-plus entrants, only 1,719 were able to finish. The percentage of DNF was 32 percent, while those who DNS was 21 percent.

The average finish time for the race was 14 hours and six minutes. The Lake Tahoe Ironman event was the second most abandoned race in Ironman history.

The race marked the sixth straight year Wise had competed in an Ironman competition since he began in 2008 with his first competition in Tempe, Ariz. He and wife Megan have decided to delay their Ironman conditioning routine as they prepare for the birth of their first baby on March 5, 2014.

Wise currently lives in Denver and works as a pilot for United.

LAKE TAHOE IRONMAN RESULTS

Andrew Wise

2.4-mile swim — 1:18:25

Swim-to-bike transition — 10:57

112-mile bike — 6:33:29

Bike-to-run transition — 3:22

26.2-mile run — 3:48.21