On the same day that the 40th anniversary of the Ironman was celebrated in Hawaii, many kilometers away, the second edition of the Spirit of 78 Triathlon was held in the city of Porto, and this year, also to commemorate this anniversary.
It all started in 1978 in Kona, Hawaii. Some soldiers stationed on a base decide to join and organize the first Ironman, they swam 3.8 km, cycled 180 km and in the end ran 42 km. It was precisely 40 years ago that started a competition that marks the imaginary and feeds the dreams of athletes around the world.
In 2016, a group of Porto triathletes, returning from a race, begin to cook the idea of holding a race at this mythic distance in the city. From this idea, on October 7, 2017, the Spirit of 78 Triathlon was born, an event that aims to honor the 12 athletes who finished the first Ironman. As in 1978, there were 15 athletes who appeared on the starting line, but unlike what happened in the first edition, only 10 were able to finish.
Last Saturday, October 13, 33 athletes accepted the challenge and showed up well before sunrise, on the right bank of the river Douro, to start an adventure that would last all day, and change their lives.
The idea of the organizers of the event was to make the experience as close as possible to the first race, as result, most of the athletes tried to replicate the best they could, the look of the seventies triathletes, with flowing mustaches, speedos and tops, and some of them coming up with steel bikes, some of them over 30 years old.
With the first rays of sunlight, athletes throw themselves into the water of the river Douro, for a straight course through the river’s dark waters. The fastest in this segment was a great triathlete well known in the Portuguese long distance triathlons, Paulo Adão Coelho, who gave no hypotheses to the competition.
The cycling section was carried out in a course of 30 km, which the athletes had to do 6 times. In the only supply area, there was already a great party, among assistants, volunteers, relatives and onlookers. At the front of the race, the fight was always very strong, with the leadership constantly changing.
In the running section, which was hold in a 6 laps on a 7km circuit, the story was different, Pedro Reis, athlete who started the race defending the title won in 2017, soon took the lead and never left it again, finishing the event 30 minutes ahead of Rui Pedro, the second classified. The third place went to Carlos Gomes Ferreira 3 minutes later.
In terms of women, of the 4 who started swimming, only Margarida Cunha Reis, who made her debut in the distance, had the strength to complete the race and become the first champion of the Spirit of 78 Triathlon.
But what makes Spirit what it is, besides the champions, are the little stories of overcoming, it's the friendship and the mutual aid among the athletes. Are the ones who made their debut in the distance. Are those who have cycled on old bikes, much more demanding than their usual bikes, making the race much more painful. Are the ones that did the cycling on bathing suit, without pad, which for 180km can become quite uncomfortable. Is the athlete who made an Ironman a week before, and who initiates the Spirit only to see how far can he get, and carried away by the enthusiasm, concludes the race. Are the 3 athletes who, in order to complete the race, are forced to do the last 20 kms at night, alone, under heavy rain and wind.
In the middle of the small crowd that started the challenge, there is a special story. The story of the only foreigner present, a Belgian, an experienced triathlete, with some Ironman finished. Between the start of his preparation and the race day, he was diagnosed with cancer, which led to a complicated operation days later. Having done well, it forced him to do all of his training simultaneously with the chemotherapy sessions. He comes naturally quite weak to Porto, but presents himself with his best smile at the entrance of the water. Swimming is bad for him, with some pain in one of his arms, being forced to be the last coming out of the water. He handled the cycling well, but in the running he felt again the effects of chemotherapy and made part of the running practically walking. Just after passed the finish line, he went to rest, quite weakened. The next day he was already recovered, and still quite moved by of the way he was received by the other athletes. The cancer fight is almost overcome, having promised to return in 2019, this time to fight for the first places.
From the 33 who started the race, 28 crossed the finish line. From Pedro Reis, who finished in 10:03, renewing the title and becoming two-time champion of the Spirit of 78 Triathlon, honoring again, the great Portuguese triathlete that is Lino Barruncho, to Manuel Faro, which ended well into the night, under a great storm that settled in the city.
Like last year's athletes, all those who finished this year’s race will have reserved for the future, the bid number they took, the athlete they honored and the possibility of being on the starting line, in future editions, whenever they wish.
But the Spirit of 78 Triathlon is much more than the sport event, there were hundreds of people, among assistants, family, friends, triathletes, athletes of other sports and curious, many curious, who were there, all day, along the course of the race. Once again, a great sport and triathlon party was held. With a lot of friendship, mutual aid and a sportsmanship that is already difficult to observe in other sporting events.
Final classification of the Spirit of 78 Triathlon - 40 years special edition:
Female:
1st - 13h35 - Margarida Reis - Daniela Ryf
Male:
1st - 10h03 - Pedro Reis - Lino Barruncho
2nd - 10h32 - Rui Pedro - Thomas Hellriegel
3rd - 10h35 - Carlos Ferreira - John Howard
4th - 10h43 - Miguel Lobão - Sergio Marques
5th - 10h47 - Tiago Amaral - Tom Warren
6th - 10h56 - Nuno Maia - Rich Roll
7th - 11h19 - Rui Amorim - Ian D. Emberson
8th - 11h23 - Sérgio Suzano - Emanuel Matos
9th - 11h34 - Paulo Costa - Dave Scott
10th - 11h35 - Pedro Conceição - Harold Irving
11th - 11h41 - Paulo Perreira - Frank Day
12th - 11h42 - Paulo Marques - John MacLean
13th - 11h49 - Peter Lissens - Garth Prowd
14th - 11h57 - Carlos Canito - José Massuça
15th - 12h17 - Fernando Ferreira - Craig Alexander
16th - 12h30 - Emanuel Matos - Peter Reid
17th - 12h38 - José Silva - Henry Forrest
18th - 12h48 - Rui Pena - Dan Hendrikson
19th - 12h50 - Paulo Adão - Luc Van Lierde
20th - 12h53 - Marco silva - Tom Knoll
21th - 13h13 - Miguel Vieira - Mark Allen
22th - 13h19 - Pedro Leiria - John Collins
23th - 13h21 - José Canela - Scott Tinley
24th - 13h30 - Paulo Pereira - Tim DeBoom
25th - 14h18 - António Silva - Lionel Sanders
26th - 14h19 - Luís Caldeira - Ricardo Costa
27th - 15h22 - Manuel Faro - Gordon Haller
