This is a story from my long ago past, in the early 1970s, before triathlons became popular, even before most people knew what they were, before anyone had thought of combining running and swimming in an event, let along adding bicycling to the mix. The first ever Hawaiian Iron Man Triathlon did not start until 1978, and only then with 15 competitors. But there is always someone who has to lead the charge and be first. For me it was Bill Ingraham, who was like me a member of the Cambridge Sports Union in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1972 Bill was the organizer of a new event, a biathlon, consisting of a three-mile run, followed by a half-mile swim in Lake Boon in Stow, about 20 miles west of Cambridge.
As an elite runner at the time, I had no interest in the event. I thought it amusing, but not something I wished to try. However, that spring I had an Achilles tendon injury that forced me to stop running for a while, and even miss the Boston Marathon that year. As summer approached the tendons were gradually healing and I began to consider doing some racing again. Gradually though, my resistance lessened, and I thought it would be a good test of my fitness and my recovery from the injury. After all I told myself I had swum quite a bit as a kid, and remember fondly our two-week summer vacations at Gages Lake north of Chicago, swimming to the raft off the beach and spending hours diving into the clear green water and getting on the raft again and diving off over and over and over. I also swam at the local Clyde Park pool in Cicero about two blocks from my house, and even swam in a few swim meets. So I thought to myself, “How hard can it be to swim a quarter of a mile to a boat, turn around and swim back to the shore.” So I finally caved in and entered the event.
On race day I lined up with the other 120 or so competitors about to embark on an unusual adventure. When the gun went off we took off down tree lined streets, and before long I found myself in the lead, which I held until we reached the shore of Lake Boon in a time of about 15 minutes. I tore off my running shoes and dove into the lake. But then it all unraveled, as I realized swimming was not my strong suit. I did the Australian crawl for a bit, then I floated on my back for a while, kicking, but not making much forward progress, all the while seeing my Cambridge Sports Union friends and others pass me. I slowly made my way to the turnaround and headed back to the beach, getting passed by more and more people along the way–young people, old people, children were all faster than me. When I finally made it to shore I had been passed by over 100 people, finishing in about 110th place out of 120 entrants. Everyone who passed me thought it was a hoot, “I beat Will,” they said, and laughed, because I was an elite New England runner at the time who they could never keep up with in a footrace. I did have a good time as you can see by the picture my friend Rick Levy took as I came out of the water, smiling and laughing at the absurdity of it all. But I did learn my lesson not to mix running with swimming, let alone adding a bike to the mix. For all of you triathlon people out there, I applaud you and your efforts and courage to combine the three activities, but for me the only way I will combine running with water is the hot, soaking bath I take after my runs.
Boon Lake Biathlon 1972-First in water, almost last out, but as you can see I had a lot of fun
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