Algebra Class 1979

I was sitting in Mr. Hauser's algebra class where I usually read either Sports Illustrated (SI) or Hot Rod Magazine when I was done with my assignment...or maybe instead of it occasionally. On one particular day I was reading an unusually long article (10 pages) in SI about this new-fangled endurance event in Hawaii. It seemed really cool. I had just started running marathons and I wondered what else was out there to test myself against. There was the 100 mile Western States Run I had read about in The Runner (NOT Runner's World) and then there was this "other" thing called Ironman. I liked the fact that the trophy was just a little handmade nuts and bolts guy. Such a humble token for such a gargantuan effort. Anyway that "Ironman Dream" went into my head and heart and it has been residing there until the time when I could actively pursue it. It seems so strange how long you have to wait to do some of those things you've always wanted to do. I recently heard someone quip, "Make sure you chase your dreams while you're still young enough to catch them." Fair enough. Well Barry McDermott's article is history now but I never forgot it. Now of course, that race I read about in SI has become the Ironman World Championship: "Kona" and the Word Triathlon Corporation (WTC) has formed to push a "brand" etc. And I think all that is fine because I do appreciate my LAVA subscription and I've had nothing but good experiences from doing WTC sanctioned events but my dream came from 1979. Just a small group of people pushing themselves well beyond current norms and for some reason I've been waiting, ever since I sat reading magazines in algebra class, to do the same thing. I guess the '69 Camaro "Backyard Buildup" will just have to stay on hold a little longer.