Jonesboro pastor steps away from pulpit to swim, bike and run
11-10-2008[Editor’s Note: John Miles II, a 53-year-old United Methodist pastor from Jonesboro, recently swam, biked and ran in a 140-mile Ironman Triathalon in Oklahoma City. He describes the experience in the following narrative.]
By JOHN MILES II
I got interested in triathlons around the year 2000. I had taken up running a few years before, and I had been a swimmer in college. I felt the combination of swimming, biking and running might be fun and challenging.
I competed in my first half Ironman distance race in 2002. We had just purchased a modular medical center for our Christian health facility at Heber Springs First United Methodist, where I was pastor. In August 2002, my contributors and I raised nearly $22,000 to pay off the entire debt on the health center. It was a wonderful day. I was not just racing for myself but also for the health center and all those who had contributed.
I have had a desire to compete in an Ironman distance race since then. The Ironman Triathlon is the most difficult. It includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. Even though I wanted to do the race, I found the 140-mile distance daunting, to say the least. I just had not been able to get motivated to do the training it would take to complete the race.
When I moved to Jonesboro and was appointed pastor of First United Methodist, I quickly became impressed with the work of City Youth, a ministry to low-income and at-risk children. I realized here was my perfect motivation. I could collect money to help pay off the debt for the City Youth facility as the incentive to do the training required for the Ironman race.
I began training in March and gradually began to work up my mileage in both the bike and the run. Over the next few months I spent from 15-20 hours a week in training. The training became difficult when the temperature rose over 100 degrees this summer, and I had to work through back and leg injuries. The race itself was a relief because it meant the end of the constant training I was doing.
Over the months I kept a narrative of my workouts on our church website. On the day of the race, Sept. 20 in Oklahoma City, many people kept up with my progress with a link for our website to the triathlon website. The site kept track of my progress electronically.
By race day we had collected more than $16,000 in cash and pledges for City Youth.
There were approximately 140 athletes who participated in the Ironman race. We started with a 2.4-mile swim at 7:15 a.m. The swim started out in chaos as 140 people all tried to swim in one small area. For about 500 yards we swam over each other as we struggled to find our own place and pace. I finished the swim in an hour and 16 minutes, which was faster than the average. Getting out so quickly inspired me to go faster on the bike to begin with than I should have. By mile 100, I was shot. At that point I quit racing and began surviving.
When I got to the transition site at 2:45, my family told me I was 38th overall and first in my age group. I calmly told them it would not last because I was exhausted. Sure enough, the five-hour marathon I had hoped for turned into a six-hour one. I finished at 8:45 in the evening running in the dark. I was fifth out of 13 in my age group and 64th over all. I was happy with my time and with the day.
On Sunday, Oct. 12, I presented a check to Renell Wood, director of City Youth, for $20,000 to help low-income children. I have finished my Ironman and I am done with training. It was a great experience that I cannot imagine doing again.
[John Miles II is senior pastor of First UMC, Jonesboro.]
