A U.S. Soldier and a civilian contractor prove anything is possible
By Brad Culp
Photos Courtesy Scott Runion
Sept. 19, 2007 -- If you weren’t a triathlete, you’d probably think that civilian contractor Scott Runion and Navy Lieutenant Commander Craig Sylvester were completely nuts. But, since you’re on this website, chances are you have at least a loose tie to the multisport world, so you may only find their story mildly insane.
About one month ago, on triathletemag.com, we ran a story about a group of American soliders, stationed in Baghdad, who organized and completed a sprint triathlon under the scorching Baghdad sun. As a triathlete who trains in the most mild-weather city on the planet (San Diego), I was absolutely in awe of the determination of these athletes and I was honored to tell their story.
Mere hours after posting that story I received an email from Runion, the contents of which were as follows:
I saw your story about the Baghdad Triathletes. That was great what they did. I just wanted to let you know that my friend and I piggy-backed off the Coeur d’Alene Ironman and did our own Ironman in Baghdad this summer. Maybe we could talk about it and you could do another story. My response was something along the lines of: “Hell yes I’d like to talk to you. Oh, by the way, you and your buddy are absolutely out of your minds.”
After about two weeks of playing phone-tag with Scott (Baghdad has an 11 hour time differential with San Diego), Scott finally got a hold of me and got his chance to defend himself against my allegation of his mental instability.
Before you rush to the same judgment I made, here’s their story:
Craig headed to Baghdad as an avid cyclist and triathlete with a few Ironmen under his belt. He knew bike rides would be impossible in a war zone, but he was allowed to bring along his bike and CompuTrainer. He downloaded race courses onto his computer and felt as though he were racing back at home.
In June, he decided to do the Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene – In Baghdad. Scott heard about Craig’s undertaking by word-of-mouth and he didn’t have to think twice about joining the now two-person event (a number of other soldiers participated alongside in relays).
“I thought, why not do it?” Scott said. “It was a chance to do something that nobody had done before. Not many people can say they’ve done something like that.”
For Scott, it would be his first triathlon. However, he is far from a non-athlete. Scott runs so frequently around the base that he has earned the nickname “Forest Gump”. He runs just about every day, no matter what the conditions (Baghdad is ungodly hot), or what else is happening around the base. He typically tries to run late at night, when the mercury drops to a cool 100 degrees.
“One night, I was running inside the base and a motar shell struck about 30 feet from me,” Scott said. “I later learned that we lost a couple [soldiers] that night.”
Despite the extremely adverse conditions, Scott and Craig rarely miss a training session. They get very little free time, so when they do, they head straight to the gym, pool or running loop.
The pair began Ironman Coeur d’Alene, Baghdad Edition, at 6 am on June 24th, which due to the time difference, was as close to they could get to the actual start in Idaho.
After the smallest Ironman mass start of all time, the two were underway with a 2.4-mile swim in Saddam Huesein’s palace pool (168 lenghts). After the swim, the pair parted ways. Craig headed to his room, where his CompuTrainer was waiting, with the IM CDA course already downloaded. Scott set up a stationary bike outside, where he pedaled for over seven hours – until the little read numbers said “112”. To level the playing field, Craig turned off his air conditioner and opened the windows.
Scott glanced at a thermometer as he began the run.
“That was a big mistake,” he said.
It was 127 degrees.
Craig and Scott began running along the roughly two-mile loop surrounding the base. There were no aid stations, but each athlete had set up their own mini support crew. Basically, Scott kept his cell phone by his side and when he needed something (Gatorade, electrolytes, a sandwich), he would phone it in and refreshments were waiting when they came by the base.
Scott finished his 140.6-mile journey in about 14 hours and then waited for Craig, who was forced to walk due to severe electrolyte depletion.
“Probably the best part was that Craig and I became such good friends through the whole experience,” Scott said. “We didn’t even know each other before this. Now, he’s one of my best friends.”
While Scott waited for Craig to finish, he ate – a lot, and then made an extra sandwich and found another slice of pecan pie. He figured his friend would be hungry when he finished.