Sara Hughes, Miwako Ohta-Agrersta and Tom Agrersta are seen at the Ironman Village on Saturday, July 20, a day before the Ironman Lake Placid triathlon. (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

Lake Placid and Kona, Hawaii, are the Mount Rushmore of Ironman races, according to several professional and high-end athletes I met in the Ironman Village on Saturday, July 20. Most said Lake Placid has the most challenging course. The bike route, hills, scenery and warmth of the community, along with its Olympic vibe, also set Lake Placid apart.

On July 19, responding to a local’s frustration on Facebook that Lisa G’s wasn’t crowded one evening during Ironman, a competitor, Ann Marie Scheidegger, responded, “I’ll be spending $3-4,000 in Lake Placid this week. If we weren’t racing here, we’d be spending that at another race location. Yesterday we ate early at the pub. Most athletes aren’t out late causing a ruckus. We were asleep by 9:00 PM.”

Scheidegger added, “Also, (we) came up three times before this for long weekends and spent about $1,000 each weekend, likely another $2,000. I’m not saying we’d never come here if the race location was moved; I am saying the $9,000 would go somewhere else.”

Noting this, I decided to visit the Ironman Village to understand who is participating, who is supporting the athletes, and what products they enjoy. Driving into town searching for a place to park (I found one near Mr. Mike’s), I noticed that Lisa’s G’s was mobbed, so its daytime business seemed robust.

The Ironman Village featured a grilled takeout packed with enough protein to get one around the bike course at least once, a bike repair shop, lots of places to purchase official merchandise, a chance to taste a prize-winning non-alcoholic beer, and a chance to win an ice bath (I need only leap into Chapel Pond for that experience).

Bud Sturm and Karen Ferrara, two of Lake Placid Baptist Church’s volunteers, are seen at the Ironman Village at the Olympic Speedskating Oval on Saturday, July 20, a day before the Ironman Lake Placid triathlon. (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

Arresting my attention were a dozen athletes lounging on lawn chairs wearing what looked like black moon boot-styled fishermen’s waders. Their legs had the puffed-out look of Michelin Man, the leggings of a space suit. The product is Hyperice Normatec, which uses dynamic air compression for a “restorative massage.”

“We’re trying to help athletes recover from their training before the big day, and our product is very beneficial after the race as well,” said Will Smith. “It’s all about the mobilization of fluids; our product helps the body flush metabolic waste and lactic acid; the more oxygen your bloodstream carries, the quicker we heal, recover and repair ourselves. We sponsor the bobsled team USA. We just had one of the women skeleton athletes come by.”

“My legs felt lighter after only 15 minutes,” said Sylvian Picard of Quebec. “Because of my age, I am sure the product will help me recover quicker.”

Mary Smith said the product is for more than just athletes and recommends people use it daily, especially people with poor circulation. Over at the bike repair shop, I met Omar Jimenez, who has been competing since 2005 in 30 Ironman races, including Hawaii and many international events. He said that he took up Ironman after his professional basketball career.

“I went from a team sport to an individual sport,” said Jimenez. “I have competed in Brazil, Europe, all over, and I kept hearing Lake Placid, Lake Placid, you have to try Lake Placid. So this is my first time here. I did the course route yesterday. It’s the toughest course I have experienced. It was tougher than Hawaii. There is the sun and wind, and here it’s the hills in both the bike and the marathon course.”

Mike Bergeron and Cheryl Armitage Bergeron are seen at the Ironman Village at the Olympic Speedskating Oval on Saturday, July 20, a day before the Ironman Lake Placid triathlon. (Provided photo — Naj Wikoff)

Jimenez said it’s an expensive sport, especially in terms of the bike and traveling if you compete internationally, but the best part is the friendships he’s made. He aims to race for another ten years so his grandsons can see him race and take up the sport.

Cheryl Armitage Bergeron and Mike Bergeron from New York City have raced the course three times, along with two Lake Placid half Ironmans. They have also spectated at least three times, and this year, they are spectating, training for a September race and volunteering while Cheryl heals from an injury.

“This is our third time in Lake Placid this year,” said Cheryl. “We came for the eclipse. It was astonishing.”

“Life changing,” said Mike. “It was much better than I expected. We watched it from the Crowne Plaza parking lot.”

“The people here are amazing, it’s gorgeous and right now our friends in New York are envious of the perfect weather,” said Cheryl. “It’s so fresh, clean and beautiful up here, and I can’t say enough about how nice and welcoming the people are. Plus, there are many great restaurants.”

Twenty-five cheerful volunteers brought in by the Lake Placid Baptist Church supported the Iron community by serving pancakes and snow cones and volunteering where needed. Two were Bud Sturm and Karen Ferrara, both attired in “God, People, Sports and Pancake” T-shirts.

“Aside from providing free pancake breakfasts and snow cones, we help with registration and race day. We help with every watering and food station,” said Bud Sturm. “Our mission is to be of service.”

Dmitri Polushyn, a resident of Montreal who came from Ukraine and, before that, Russia, was enjoying Lake Placid for the first time. While he has not had a chance to practice on the full course, he and his friend feel that they will be fine as they have raced in other challenging courses such as Mont Tremblant (discontinued last year).

“I am in my 40s and desire to be in good shape,” said Polushyn. “After training and competing in Ironman, I feel like I am in my 20s. Avoiding alcohol also makes a difference. Training for Ironman is good for mental health as it gets us away from sitting and looking at computers all the time, which is especially important for me because I work in the IT industry, information technology.”

Sara Hughes was in town supporting her fellow Connecticut Women Ride Group members racing. Support included volunteering at one of the aid stations.

“Lake Placid is wonderful. It’s like a little European city in America,” said Sara. “You have mountains, lakes, beautiful roads to ride and run on, and plenty of streams to take a cold plunge in. What could be better than that?”

Several participants praised the Adirondack Rail Trail, adding that it provided their friends and family with a great outing while they were here.

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(Naj Wikoff lives in Keene Valley. He has been covering events for the Lake Placid News for more than 15 years.)