Ironman® 70.3 Timberman

Steve West

I live in Orono Maine with my wife Carole. She is a critical care nurse at EMMC and I do mapping for Seven Islands Land Company, a timberland management firm – I call myself a ‘TreeMapper’. The land I map, 835,000 acres, is owned by a single family and it has been in the family for 9 generations and more than 170 years. Our adult children live in Louisville, KY; Naples, FL; and Shenzhen, China.

I come from a running background beginning about 14 years ago. Started with triathlon in 2009 at Lobsterman, an Olympic distance and was hooked. This will be my second time at Timberman and my 5th HIM so far. Funny thing is, I have never done a HIM as a stand-alone race. At Pumpkinman, Mooseman twice and now my second Timberman, I have participated in a Sprint or Olympic the day before.

I am competitive with myself, always wanting to PR or improve on my execution. However I take a more relaxed approach to training and racing. My time with family, work and life are important so my training tends to be mediocre most of the time. Someday I’d like to race to my potential, but I am usually content with the fitness I bring to the line. Racing then becomes a test of execution and to avoid grinding the wheels off the bus in the process. That is also why doing 2-race weekends is fun for me. There is no delusion of grandeur or podiums, just me having fun thrashing away at big challenges.

Goals for the weekend? Have fun, avoid injury and aim for a double PR! In 2012 at Timberman I went 1:36 & 5:48:55 (PR by 10 seconds). In order to PR the sprint I would need go sub 1:27.

Ironman® 70.3 Lake Stevens

Tom Box

This will be my second time racing Lake Stevens although the bike course is different from when I did it back in 2007. My last big race was IM Texas in May. I joined EN in January so I have done the Ironman® plan and now I’ve been in the half iron plan. I’m looking forward to testing my half iron fitness although I’m not too sure about the hilly bike course. Hilly bike courses aren’t necessarily my friend but if I can survive the downhills then I hope to have a good run.

Phil Mills

“I am from Graham, WA and this will be my first triathlon, not including the indoor sprint event I did in March. I’ve wanted to compet in an IM event for over two years, but didn’t think I could pull off the running portion.

I started running in Jan of 2013 and completed my first marathon last October. A huge accomplishment as I had not run further than a mile before this time. Now that I knew I could run the distance, my next goal was to train for and complete a long course triathlon.

My race day goals are to finish with a strong run and a smile on my face. “