IN WORLD CLASS COMPANY

 by Mark Sherry

It is the Super Bowl of triathlons, and local resident Am y (Christopherson) Fuhrmann can now say she has participated in it—the Ironman World Champi onship in Kona, Hawaii.

Fuhrmann qualified for the World Championship with her secondplace finish in the 35-39 age division for females in last year’s Madison triathlon. It was her first Ironman event. In early October of this year, Fuhrmann headed to Hawaii a week ahead of the Oct. 12 World Championship to continue her preparations for the event. Fuhrmann said she kept her goals fairly modest— first, she just wanted to finish; second, she wanted her time to be somewhat close to what it was in Madison the previous year and was hoping to finish in the top 25 among the 88 or so participants in her age/gender division. It was a successful experience on all those points and more for Fuhrmann. She wound up finishing 19th in her division with a time of 10 hours, 45 minutes. Over 600 women started the event and Fuhrmann placed 117th among them. “Overall, I’m really happy,” she said as she recently recounted the experience. Her time was within eight minutes of what she had done in Madison, and her swim time was faster than Madison and faster than the top U.S. woman who competes as a professional. “ I enjoyed the day,” she said. A standout swimmer at Kiel High School and later at the Uni versity of Wisconsin-Green Bay, it might not come as a surprise that she excelled in the 2.4-mile swim in Kailua-Kona Bay. But this experience was new to Fuhrmann as she had never competed in an ocean swim before. On top of that, the surf conditions were reported to be the worst they had been in 10 years. While some competitors actually got sea sick, Fuhrmann said she was not affected by the swim conditions on the day of the race and had only felt it a bit during her practice swims the week before the event. Area woman competes in Hawaii’s Ironman | SPRING 2020 4

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There is another challenge about swimming in the ocean versus her usual practice swims in Elkhart Lake— she later found out that officials were monitoring the bay for two Tiger sharks which had been spotted. “I did not see any sharks while I was swimming,” Fuhrmann said, adding, “ I was happier I didn’t know.” Fuhrmann also said she prefers competing in colder water but that the Hawaiian bay was warm enough to not need a wet suit. As for the running and biking portions of the Ironman, Fuhrmann said the humid 85 F conditions can be draining. “ I don’t know if it’s ever not humid there,” she said. In addi tion, the bike portion across lava desert can be windy—especially on the return leg— but it was not as windy this year as it sometimes can get. Not surprisingly, Fuhrmann said competing in the Ironman World Champi onship was a whole new level STRONG WOMEN | Iron man strong

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for her. “You kind of felt like a celebrity,” she said. “It’s like you’re on the red carpet of Ironman.” A parade of nations is held on Tuesday before the race. The U.S. has the most competitors with over 600, followed by Germany with more than 200. The event was live streamed and portions were nationally televised later. Announcers keep the many spectators informed on what is happening and who is passing by certain spots, and at one intersection Fuhrmann said it was neat to hear “ New Holstein, Wisconsin” announced as she passed. Fuhrmann had a lot of support along with her at the World Champi onship, including husband Mike and their children Ava, 10, and Isaac, 9. Ava took part in a swim to run event while in Hawaii. Al so in their group of 14 people who stayed together in a rented home for the week were her parents, her brother with his wife and baby, a sister, and a friend with her children. Fuhrmann said her family and friends did some tourist things in the week leading up to the race while she was continuing her training, but she and her family stayed an extra week after the race to enjoy more of Hawaii. “Even just driving you’re in awe,” she said of the scenery. She said she felt better after this race than she did last year in Madison. She attributes that to hydrating better and also having her friend/massage therapist along on the trip. Fuhrmann said she preferred staying in the house—complete with a pool and hot tub—as she does not like all the “hustle” in and around

the hotels located close to the event. She said she is very competitive and gets a little nervous when she competes—but she views that as a good thing. “Being

nervous keeps you in check with what you have to do,” she said. Fuhrmann said she is still contemplating what comes next in her athletic career.

She said she sometimes wonders, “Why am I putting all this time into it? It’s hard.” That said, she indicates she likely will do another Ironman and maybe some half Ironmans. “I’m not exactly sure,” she said. Fuhrmann finished ahead of some professionals in the Madison event but— asked if she would ever consider turning pro—she also hesitated. She said she knows some athletes who went pro in triathlons and then got back out because they said it took the fun out of it. Ask ed if she would consider competing again in Hawaii, Fuhrmann said, “Yeah, I think I would. It inspires so many people. I’m amazed by that. It ’s pretty cool to hear my swimmers

You kind of felt like a

(whom she coaches) say, ‘Good luck.’ It’s a lifestyle is what it is.”

No matter what direction she decides to go in her athletic career, she can always say that she competed in a world championship event—and that is something not many people can claim. 

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