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Osan maintainer competes in Kona IRONMAN

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Michael Battles
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  A 51st Maintenance Operations Squadron senior weapons coordinator competed in the 2011 Ford IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Oct. 8, 2011.

Staff Sgt. Bradley Williams finished 225th out of nearly 1,800 competitors from around the world in the 140.6 mile IRONMAN challenge.

"My dream competition was to race in Kona; now that I have raced there, I accomplished a dream," Williams said.

An IRONMAN challenge consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race and 26.2-mile run. The Kailua-Kona race originally began as three separate events -- the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the Around-Oahu Bike Race and the Honolulu Marathon. The three events merged in 1978 into what is now the IRONMAN.

Over the next 33 years, the number of competitors increased from a meager 15 to 1,800 professional athletes. Despite the high level of competition, Williams finished 32nd in the 25 to 29 age bracket with an official time of 9 hours, 36 minutes, and 39 seconds.

Williams trains 13 to 20 hours a week to prepare him for endurance competitions. He has competed in more than 70 marathons, triathlons and IRONMAN competitions, 20 events this year alone.

"I self-coached for the first two and half years that I competed in endurance sports," said the 25-year-old athlete. "When I made the jump to IRONMAN, I wanted a coach to oversee my schedule and lay everything out for the competition. I chose Scott Defilippis a pro tri-athlete and we ended up having great success our first year together."

Former training partner Capt. Zach Garrett, 23rd Aeromedical Squadron Human Performance Flight commander at Moody Air Force Base, is now coaching Williams for his next endurance competition from halfway around the globe.

"Training with (Williams) is great because he's always willing to do the difficult stuff, such as start a workout right at daybreak or even when there's a good chance of rain," Garrett said. "Those are the admirable qualities that show how bad someone wants to attain a goal."

Williams' overall goal now is to stand on the podium in his age group at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship or IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.

With only two official slots available to represent the U.S. Air Force at the 2012 Ford IRONMAN Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Williams will train for next year's competition with hopes of earning one.

"I was the second overall military finisher this year, but since I was not an official representative it did not count for the individual or team categories," Williams said. "I believe I have a good shot at doing well again at Kona next year, and I would like to be the official representative."

Until then, Williams is setting his sights on the 2012 Tour de Korea, which is an 800-mile endurance cycling competition throughout the Republic of Korea in April.