Hundreds of kilometers in the water, on the bike or at a run have paid off, our technical director Damian Szarapanowski is an iron man!
On August 19, 2018, the time had come, after months of preparation, at six in the morning the starting shot was given in Wolsztyn, Poland, for one of the most famous and strenuous competitions in the world. “Fortunately, six o’clock in the morning is not a problem for me, I often go running at this time so that I can start my day-to-day work well.”, Damian explained with a wink. The start time is traditionally set early as the time limit for the competition is 17 hours. Thanks to the good preparation, the set goal seemed realistic to undercut 14 hours, but the pulse increased shortly before the starting gun and gave rise to first concerns and doubts.
With the start signal, however, that was history. The first discipline of 3800 m swimming in Jezioro Wolsztynskie Lake was exhausting. Nevertheless, Damian took 27th place with a time of 1:26:44. “Officially it should be 3.8 km swimming, but I’ve also spoken to other athletes, it was probably 200-300 meters more. Of course, that takes strength, ”says the athlete. After the swimming discipline, it was time for Damian’s “big” weakness, the 180 km on the bike. “Although it was my big problem child, I am really satisfied with the time I achieved,” said Damian. The goal was an average speed of 28-30 km / h, which was achieved with the Avion racing bike . The time of 5:57:42 on the bike gave Damian a good starting point for his favorite discipline – running.
Although the marathon is actually Damian’s strength, he noticed the kilometers already covered. With increasing time it became more and more difficult for the passionate runner, and the sun did the rest: “Since I was already tired and it was also very hot and sunny, I had to stop very often and pour water over myself to cool off.” The spectators and the sight of the target degrees released new strength for Damian, so that he could start again for the final sprint. The marathon could be finished with a time of 04:43:51. “I think that’s a very good result,” Damian stated proudly.
With a total time of 12 hours, 20 minutes and 41 seconds, Damian was able to undercut his set goal of 14 hours by 1 ½ hours and has been officially called Ironman since August 19, 2018 and 6:20 pm and 41 seconds!
The entire Avion team is incredibly proud to have such an exceptional athlete in their own ranks!
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