By Jason Emerson
Cazenovian Heather Ketcham completed her fifth consecutive Ironman race in Barcelona, Spain, on Oct. 7 and finished in a personal best time of 11:44:48, cutting 50 minutes off her previous best. And while she did not qualify for the world Ironman competition in Hawaii as she hoped, her quest is by no means over.
“I’m going to keep fighting and I am going to Hawaii — it’s only a matter of time,” she said. “I can’t wait to start training again and do it all over and just go for it.”
In Spain, Ketcham competed with 2,700 other racers from more than 83 countries — and out of that less than 400 were women. She finished 15th out of 75 in her age group, and 99th out of 362 in her gender group.
“It was incredible; I had the time of my life,” she said.
What started as beautiful weather on race day turned stormy, and during the first section of the triathlon, the 2.4-mile swim in the Mediterranean Sea, the waves were running 6-to-9 feet and were like a roller coaster, she said.
“I have never been in waves like that before in my life,” she said. “The thing about the Mediterranean is that you can almost time the waves … when you get to the top of the wave you just have to site the buoy to see where you are going.”
Despite the tough conditions, Ketcham “had the swim of my life,” and finished the swim faster than any course she has ever done, she said. She even got to see white and blue glowing jellyfish floating beneath her as she swam.
Out of the water, she jumped onto the bike for the 112-mile cycling portion of the race, which was “lightning fast” because of the rain, and then she ran the 26.2-mile run “incredibly well and finished strong,” she said.
While Ketcham shaved 50 minutes off her personal best time, her goal is to drop another 40 minutes to be in the top three in her age group at the next race and make it to the world championships in Hawaii.
“One hundred and forty miles is a long race, and generally it takes 11 hours to race, so it’s not hard to shave off 40 minutes,” she said.
In addition to having a great race, Ketcham also brought her three daughters Taylor, Julia and Vivianne with her to Spain, where they not only cheered on their mom but also celebrated Julia’s 16th birthday in Barcelona.
“It was incredible; the kids, they are my support crew,” she said. It was also “incredibly special” that Julia’s birthday was also on race day and they got to celebrate it in Barcelona, she said.
Ketcham was also proud that her oldest daughter Taylor, 19, not only was present for the race but also worked as a volunteer for the Barcelona Ironman. “Service to community is one thing … but to take that to Barcelona, Spain, be put in a situation where you don’t speak the language, and put herself out there is amazing,” she said.
Ketcham said the entire experience was incredible, and she thanks everyone who has supported her from family to friends to community members and her host family in Spain, Pepa, Clara, Maria Jose and Miguel Loran. “It’s like I’m taking them with me [when I race],” she said.
