What an eventful weekend it was for Sarah Taig as she tackled her second Ironman of the year at Ironman Wisconsin last weekend. A training prep done completely solo and in peak winter training conditions!
Prepping for an Ironman at this time of year is no easy task. Most of the key training happens during the coldest months, which makes Sarah’s achievement even more impressive. Her commitment and resilience truly shone through.
Race week saw her travel across the world, adapt to a new time zone and climate, and arrive excited and ready to race.
She kicked things off with a strong, consistent swim (non-wetsuit by choice), finishing in 1:10. Heading into the bike leg, we were confident — after troubleshooting some nutrition issues from her last Ironman in New Zealand, she was better prepared this time around.
Then came the unexpected: a mechanical failure with her gears early on the bike course, which featured over 2,000m of climbing. Sarah was stuck roadside for 40 minutes waiting for a mechanic. When help finally arrived, she was given two options: DNF or ride the rest of the course in a single gear.
She chose to ride on — and climbed all 2,000m in one gear, finishing the bike leg in 7:40hrs. Given the delay, that’s an incredible effort and a true display of determination. “The tech was like “you can come back and DNF or you can ride it as a fixie” and I was like okay yea I guess that’s what’s we are doing…” Sarah said when there was no fix for her on course.
Not letting the setback throw her off, she pushed through transition and headed out onto the run course — finishing strong with a 4:20 marathon, an amazing 30 minutes faster than her IMNZ time.
Sarah said after the race. “It was an interesting day but I’m proud of how I handled it. Rode 150km of the bike in a single gear as my derailleur stopped working… my legs actually felt okay, the hills were tough but annoyingly I feel like I could have really rode well on the course if I had more than one gear to ride in haha.”
On a positive note, when things don’t go to plan, we can always learn.. “Haha yea definitely learned hard. But I’m not letting this take away from the day and how I handled the obstacle. Even it was inadvertently of my own doing.” Sarah said of her experience afterwards.
Huge congratulations, Sarah — this race was a true test of grit and perseverance. You found a way forward in the face of adversity and finished stronger than ever. What an achievement!
