The IRONMAN Heroes of Maryland, One of the coldest triathlons in history

October 19, 2015Updated on January 4, 2024

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The thermal sensation around 2-3ºC made IM Maryland one of the "coldest" in history.

In many of the great wars the hardest and most epic battles take place with the cold winter ... and last Saturday during the celebration of the IM Maryland In U.S.A. the triathletes had to face one of those epic battles against the cold.

The swimming had to be delayed an hour due to the low temperatures that there was of good morning (4-5 ºC, although the water was about 16-17) and above all due to the swell and strong currents. It seemed that the US Navy was not going to give permission to swim, but eventually it was not and the triathletes could start swimming, although this sector was cut to 3000m.

After leaving the water the temperature in the environment was about 6 ° C that rose to 8 throughout the day, which caused that practically all the participants had to perform the triathlon "old-fashioned", that is, changing completely in each of the transitions, in addition to wearing winter clothes in both cycling and running.

Those who suffered the most from the cold were all athletes from Caribbean countries who are used to training and always living with temperatures around 30º. In addition to the cold, we had to add the wind that was present throughout the competition that caused a thermal sensation around 2-3ºC, which undoubtedly made the IM Maryland one of the “coldest” in history.

After the end of the race we have been talking to Pierina Luncio who was 3ª of the general. Piernia is Argentine although she lives in Puerto Rico, she is the wife of the Olympic triathlete Manuel Huerta.

"The IM Maryland was my debut in full Ironman ... and one of the toughest and coldest races of my life. We had to start an hour later because the Navy did not give permission to swim because of the cold, the waves and the current. The wind made the bike very hard, especially due to the thermal sensation. I changed my clothes totally in each transition so I took so long but I made sure I was warm, I just wanted to complete the event and I left it. After crossing the finish line they had to take me to the tent for hiportermia, I almost died, hahaha "

As you can see in the photo, Pierina ran the marathon completely warm, with long sleeves, a hat and gloves… a curious image in IM where we are used to always seeing races in heat.

The final results were:

Men: