What is an Ironman triathlon?  You swim 2.4 miles, you ride the bike for 112 miles and you run 26.2 miles.  What is a triple Ironman triathlon?  You swim 7.2 miles, you ride the bike for 336 miles and you run 78.6 miles.  How much time do you have?  The course is closed after 60 hours.

During September 15-17, 2000, Ross Galitsky completed the Odyssey Triple Ironman triathlon in a time of 42 hours 27 minutes for a third-place finish.

CYCLING

• Photo 01:  Lesson #1 --- you must have no sense of humor.  This is a photo of a very mean looking Ross Galitsky, ready to bark and bite.

• Photo 02:  "Stop asking me questions!  Can't you see that I have food in my mouth?"

• Photo 03:  "Oh, I ate so much that my belt won't fit around my waist anymore!"

• Photo 04:  "What!?  Only 250 miles of cycling left?  Are you sure?  I want to get my money's worth."

RUNNING

• Photo 11:  This event takes place at Colonial Beach, Virginia and the run goes through a small town neighborhood.  It is doubtful that the participants were thinking too much about the surroundings.

• Photo 12:  The run is a multiple repeats of the same out-and-back course.

• Photo 13:  Part of the run is along the beach.

• Photo 14:  ... and there is the dock on the bay ...

• Photo 15:  We take this opportunity to give some air time to the sponsor, EnduranceWorld.org

• Photo 16:  This is an odd thing to say, but the triple ironman is in fact a team sport.  No, we are not talking about a relay race.  We are talking about how each participant needs a support crew of four persons working in shifts.  Here is Ross Galitsky taking a short break, while Ramon Bermo sees to his needs.   Take a look at the tent, food, drinks, clothing, shoes, chairs, icebox and equipment scattered all around.

• Photo 17:  During the run, Ross Galitsky developed an ankle problem being attended to by Ramon Bermo.

• Photo 18:  Here, Ross Galitsky is testing out that ankle.

• Photo 19:  You must be wondering if the race participants continued the whole time or stopped to sleep.  That depends on the individuals.  Ross Galitsky sternly warns his crew, "I don't want to sleep any longer than 10 minutes, because I would never be able to start again."

• Photo 20:  This is all about repetitions, one after another.

• Photo 21:  By this time, the sun is ready to set.

• Photo 22:  This leads to another question --- do these people continue after dark?  Well, unfortunately, this is not a 9-to-5 job where you put in 8 hours per day, then go to to the pub for a few before hitting the sack.  This photo shows Ross Galitsky heading down for his umpteenth loop.  The fact that this photo is pitch black simply reflects the actual conditions.  Okay, we'll show you the infra-red version of the same photo to show you that he was actually there.

• Photo 24:  This is a tribute to his faithful support crew peering into the darkness for the runner.  Oops, sorry, we'll have to show the infra-red version of the photo for you to see Ramon Bermo.

(photo credit:  Guillermo Rojas, another member of the support crew, who took these photos in his spare time)