I don’t think I was ever as relieved to finish an IRONMAN than in 1983!
At that time I was in an intense rivalry with Scott Tinley. “ST” had beaten me in February of ’82, then I’d come back and won in October of ’82. (BTW, his brother Jeff finished 3rd in both races.)
The 1983 World Championships was our “rubber match”.
Throughout the race I held a commanding lead… until 5 miles to go. Then my wheels came off. ST carved my 2′ 35″ lead down to just 33″ at the finish.
I don’t remember the last 200m… But my 3rd victory was finally in the books!
