It must be a rush to fly by people on the run (wheelchair) portion after having to work so much harder on the handcycle. He clocked the first section @ 5'/mile! But most impressive, I thought, was his very, very fast swim time of 1:05. He's a real inspiration, and it's great to have someone like him to take the torch from Scott Moleda (sp?), who retired after last year.

I thought it was tremendously brave of him to race in Lanzarote this year, having to go by the site of his accident. I hope to race the Marc Herreman's Classic 70.3 race at some point, since I'd love to support a race that honors a guy like him.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

I'm pretty emotional watching all the finishers, but I about lost it when I saw Marc finish. Sure hope I'll never have to see how I'd deal with such a devastating injury.

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"It doesn't get any easier, you just go faster"

I missed it. What's his story?

The Steve Larsen of the challanged divison!

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Lewis

Marc was a pro from Belgium who finished 6th overall in his first trip to Hawaii IM. About three months later, he wrecked his bike training on Lanzarote and is paralyzed from the waist down.

He returned to Hawaii about 9 months after the accident (!!!) to compete in the hand-cycle division. He DNF'ed the first year due to a urinary track infection, but has been racing Ironmans ever since.

NBC's coverage in 2002 and 2003 focuses a lot on him. If you ever whine about "sore legs" while training -- or whine about anything, for that matter -- his experiences and attitude will give you a wake-up call.

Ray

I have been fortunate in my 25 year triathlon career to meet and get to know many different people among them, challenged athletes the late Pat Grisgus the first challenged athlete to compete in Ironman, Jim Mac Claren, Dave Lindsey and the the thing that always strikes me is the wonderful determination and competetive drive they display.These athletes really put into perspective the things we take for granted and always made me dig deeper within myself to push forward. I was lucky enough in my younger days to be competitive enough to win a few triathlons and that pales in comparision to these athletes battles and acheivments.

So in closing I again must congratulate Mark Hermanns victory and add it to the legend of the Ironman because it equals all the victories by all athletes in this great race.