CLARK FINISHES FIFTH OVERALL IN LAKE PLACID IRONMAN
Doug Clark of Morristown finished the Lake Placid New York Ironman in fifth place overall last Sunday out of a field of two thousand triathletes. If it weren’t for a bit of bad luck on the bike leg, he might have placed higher.
Clark was in fortieth place coming out of the water in the two and a half mile swim. Although the entire field of two thousand start at once, and not with a wave start, Clark said that it is not a problem.
“Everybody gets more spread out because the swim is so much longer (than in a shorter swim). Everybody positions themselves correctly - where they think they need to be,” said Clark. The stronger swimmers are in the front and the weaker ones are in the back. It’s not as bad as you would think.”
Clark considers the swim his weakest event, but he more than made up for it by having the fastest transition of the entire field. That takes practice said Clark.
“You practice getting out of your wet suit quickly,” he said. “You practice getting on your bike quickly. There’s a lot of things.”
The Lake Placid course is considered the most challenging of all the Ironman triathlons in north America. The bike leg is two laps of a hilly 56 mile course for a total of 112 miles. Clark credits his new bike, made by Van Dessel Sports of Dover New Jersey with his speed on the bike leg. At the end of the first lap Clark had moved into third place and that’s when his luck changed.
“Things were going well,” he said. I was halfway through the bike and then I got a puncture – a flat.”
Clark figured that he lost seven minutes and several places changing the tire. He started the hilly, 13 mile double loop marathon run in 12th place. On the run he was able to overtake seven men, running 3:12, to claim fifth place in 9:37:01. Had he not suffered the puncture he might have had fourth place.
“Puncture” comes naturally to Clark’s vocabulary. He moved from Manchester England in 1997 to come to the states and work for Lucent Technologies as a software engineer.
In the United Kingdom Clark was a cyclist but added swimming and running to his repertoire after moving here. He has been to the Ironman Hawaii three times with his best time of 9:45 coming in 2003 and has now qualified to go again. This year’s race is October 15th.
Clark uses an interesting mix of training. Twice a week he runs to work in Whippany, a seven mile trip, and after work, he runs home.
He is no slouch in road races, usually running 5K in the mid 16’s. In 2004 Clark placed second in the Morristown JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge by one second. His Lucent team captain tried to woo him into running this year’s race, a mere three days before Lake Placid but Clark wisely declined.
Three times a week Clark is in one of several pools where he trains. Much of his cycling is done indoors in his basement.
“I find it’s a much more effective use of your time,” said Clark. “I turn on the television. It’s not more than an hour. I watch whatever’s on, usually news.”
He also rides outdoors and gets in one long ride every week, of four, five or six hours.
“When I’m training for Ironman I try to do a couple more,” he said. “I just head west from Morristown. The further west the prettier it gets.”
“I always use the quiet roads,” said Clark. “It’s hard to hammer for six hours, but I go pretty hard.”
Clark won the Morris Center YMCA Triathlon in Randolph on July 10th and knew he was in good shape and able to place well at Lake Placid.
“I knew it was possible if everything went well,” said Clark. “I’ve had a few injuries, but with hindsight it looks like the injury forced me to rest and the rest did me some good.”
Clark and his wife Hillary’s first anniversary coincided with the Lake Placid race. When Clark exited the transition area on his bike, he surprised Hillary by handing her an anniversary card that he had stashed with his gear. As he left on the run, she was handed a second card.
Most folks, after swimming two and a half miles, cycling 112 miles and running 26.2 miles would be flat out, but not Clark. That evening the happy couple went out to dinner to celebrate their first year of marriage and his outstanding performance.
Originally published on Sunday, July 31, 2005 in the DAILY RECORD of Morris County
Copyright, MADELINE BOST, 2005