The other day while she was at work, a reporter from the local paper showed up to interview my Mum. At first she thought it was about the tourism project that she is working on, but it turned out her co-worker had sent a note to the paper re: Ironman. Just thought I'd post it for all you ladies to read! From the Brockville Recorder and Times:


It takes an iron will just to finish an Ironman triathlon

By TRACEY TONG

Staff Writer

In her second Ironman race, Athens resident Margaret Taylor-Picard placed third ... to last.

But despite finishing in 2,043rd place, the 47-year-old is glowing with a mixture of pride and exhaustion from the triathlon, which was held at Lake Placid in upper New York State Sunday.

"I'm still proud of it," she said of her accomplishment. "Anyone who gets to the start line is a champion. The whole experience is inspirational. It's awesome."

Part of what made the experience so great for Taylor-Picard was that in Sunday's race, she was in good company - her son Jason Picard, 25, daughter Laurel Picard, 23, and her sister, Carol Taylor, 45, also participated with her for the first time.

Taylor-Picard moved from Burlington to west of Brockville in December, and to Athens last week.

"Not a good thing to do before an Ironman," she laughed.

One of 2,100 athletes to compete Sunday, Taylor-Picard completed her second Ironman in 16 hours, 56 minutes and 39 seconds.

The race was the result of "wanting to do something that was a challenge," she said. "I always thought it would be neat to do a marathon. I thought, the clock is ticking, so I'd better do some of those things now."

Years ago, she entered a 10-kilometre race, but afterwards, wanted to push herself further.

"I thought that if I could do 10 kilometres, I could do a half marathon and then once I did that, I thought I could do a full marathon."

After completing her first full marathon in 2002, she knew it was time to add swimming and biking. She completed several triathlons before competing in the Ironman in Lake Placid for the first time in 2004.

"It was the most amazing experience you can imagine," she said. "There's an electric atmosphere around you."

Taylor-Picard trained for 10 months for this Ironman, putting in 10 to 16 hours a week.

One of six Ironman venues in North America and about 20 worldwide, Lake Placid, located in the Adirondack mountains, is one of the most popular, Taylor-Picard said. Next year's event was sold out 90 minutes after spaces went on sale Monday.

The Ironman started at 7 a.m. Sunday with a 3.8-kilometre swim, followed by a 180-kilometre bike ride. Each segment had its own time limit - the swim had to be completed by 9:20 a.m., the first bike lap had to be finished by 1:30 p.m., and the second by 5:30 p.m. The last event, the 42.2-kilometre run, had to be finished by midnight.

"Most people get the most tired on the run," said Taylor-Picard. "It's the end of the day and you've already done most of the distance."

But cycling was her hardest event, because of the mountains.

Although the family members participated together, it was still very much an individual challenge.

"You do your own thing while you're on the course, but instead of only worrying about whether you met the time goals (for each section), you end up worrying about whether other family members are doing well."

She is gearing up for the Thousand Islands Triathlon in Brockville in August but plans to compete in the Ironman in Lake Placid again in 2008.

Sunday's event wasn't always smooth going, Taylor-Picard said. At one point, it started to rain and became very cold.

Her daughter, who suffered from hypothermia in the last leg of the race, was five kilometres short of finishing. Taylor-Picard herself was mildly hypothermic at the finish line. Taylor, of Quebec, completed the race in 12 hours and 39 minutes and Jason Picard, who is living with his parents for the summer, completed the course in 13 hours, 59 minutes.

Despite having raced before, Taylor-Picard continues to learn lessons for racing and for life.

"You can prepare as much as you can and visualize every scenario, but there's a certain element of luck to it as well, she said.

"It's amazing how determined your mind can be. Your body wants to stop but your mind keeps going, even after your muscles are so tired you don't think you can do anything. It's about perseverance."

"Margaret's my hero," said Tanya Hutton, Taylor-Picard's co-worker at the Brockville tourism office. "It's the determination, the mindset that it takes to do it, the drive that I admire."

Tracey Tong writes in this space every second Friday. She can be reached at 613-342-4441 extension 237 or by e-mail at ttong@recorder.ca.

* Published in Section A, page 3 in the Friday, July 28, 2006 edition of the Brockville Recorder & Times.
* Posted 4:31:28 PM Friday, July 28, 2006.