Belvidere native prepares for demanding IRONMAN triathlon in Rockford

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The first-ever IRONMAN triathlon to take place in Rockford is only days away, and competitors are preparing for the demanding challenge.

23-year-old Noah Anderson, of Belvidere, began training for the competition almost one year ago.

“I typically train here on this path, right?” he said, standing on the Rock River Recreation Path. “Two times a week. I usually run three times.”

The IRONMAN competitors will meet near the Rock Guardian statues to begin their grueling competition, which will begin with a 2.4-mile swim in the Rock River.

“I have always kind of had the idea that I would do an Ironman at some point. And the catalyst to finally start training for one was that it came to Rockford, and then I was just like, you know what? This is the sign. I’m gonna do it,” Anderson said.

The swimming part of the race will be followed by a 112-mile cycle race, finished with an entire marathon through the city.

Sound crazy? That’s what Anderson said attracted him to the contest.

“Such an insane race. So to me, that idea of just testing yourself and putting in so much effort over a long period of time to meet that goal was really exciting,” he said..

The training has been almost as difficult, Anderson said. He almost competed in an IRONMAN in Florida, but it was ultimately postponed mid-competition.

“I’ll do three of each discipline a week. So I’ll do three swims, three bikes and three runs. And recently, my mileage has been like 100 miles on the bike, 15 to 20 miles running, and then probably like three miles and swimming. So it is certainly a lot. And I don’t know how you would fit it into a schedule if, like you had kids or that sort of thing,” he said.

Anderson said he is proud to compete in an IRONMAN so close to home.

“Rockford is pretty cool. I mean, they brought in IRONMAN 70.3 here. That’s just really exciting. That’s really cool. It’s something that I’m really excited about, and I hope the city is excited about,” he said.

The IRONMAN triathlon will be run on Sunday, June 22nd.