Nolan Morris of Cedar Falls doesn’t do triathlons. He runs marathons. He runs half marathons.
He did one triathlon – a very historic one.
It was 1978. Morris was stationed at Camp Smith on Oahu, home of the Fleet Marine Force of the Pacific. The Marines gave him his start in running. Required to pass fitness tests every three months, Morris decided he might as well stay in shape between tests. He became a member of the Hawaii Marine Road Racing and Cross Country Team.
Marines rarely pass up a challenge. Here is the story of one of Morris’ greatest challenges.
“My last year in Hawaii, one of my running buddies called me up one night and said, ‘Have you seen the Honolulu paper today?’ I said, ‘No, why?’ He said ‘Take a look and call me back,’” Morris said.
“On the front page down at the bottom, there was an article with big headlines that said ‘Are you Crazy Enough to Try?’ It described a new race -- the first ever Ironman. It said if you’re willing to try this, come to this guy’s house on such and such a date.
“I called my buddy back and he said, ‘Can you swim?’ I said ‘I can get the job done, but it’s not my easiest thing.’ He said, ‘Do you want to do it together? My wife will provide support.’ I thought it sounded like a challenge to a Marine, and you know what that means.
“I hadn’t biked since high school. I had to borrow a bike from another guy that I ran with a lot. We had a month to prepare. Now, people prepare far in advance. Running was no problem because in December (two months earlier) I had done a marathon, so I knew I could do that part. I figured the bike -- 112 miles -- I could do that, probably slow, but I could do it. I was worried about the swim, a two-and-a-half mile ocean swim. Being in Hawaii I swam a lot, but never that far.
“There were 16 of us (participating) the first year. I think seven of us were Marines. You had to provide your own support. Each racer had to have a person on a surf board beside you the whole time. Today, they have people out in the water with boats.
“We started on the far end of Waikiki Beach, swam out past the breakwater, then down past the Hilton Hawaiian Village where there is a military hotel. Unlike now where people immediately get out of the water and jump on their bikes, we took showers, got the salt water off us, stiffened up in the meantime, then we got on our bikes. This was the first time. We didn’t know what we were doing.
“It rained that day. The bike seat got uncomfortable. My support person got lost once. There wasn’t sports gel or anything like that back then. We had to figure out what to eat that wouldn’t upset our stomach -- chicken noodle soup, an apple here and there. On the run, I ate those caramel squares just to give myself energy. I got through the bike part, changed into my running shoes, took off and thought, ‘Gee, my legs won’t even move!’ They were like that for three miles, very heavy. A bunch of my Marine Corp pals came out and helped me with the run, otherwise I don’t know if I would have made it through.
“We got done. I finished 12th of 16. My goal was just to finish. My buddy finished right ahead of me. He was a better swimmer, but I caught up with him on the bike. We just decided to do it together. Normally, I was a better runner than he was, but it was more a walk than a run.
“There were no t-shirts, no fanfare, none of that like it is today. We met at a guy’s house three or four days later and silk screened our own t-shirts. It was pretty low key. None of us really thought it would take off.
“When I got done with it, I said, ‘This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done! Nobody will ever do this again!’ And now it’s so popular.
“In the third or fourth year, Budweiser got a hold of it and started the Bud Lite triathlon, and from there it’s just kind of taken off.”
Morris’ love of running continues to this day. Two months after finishing the first Ironman, he did a 50-mile race. He has completed over 20 marathons, including three times in Hawaii, Chicago twice, and Minneapolis, Seattle, Dallas, Fort Dodge and Iowa City.
Always up for a challenge, he has completed the second toughest marathon in the United States held in Boone, North Carolina, three times.
“You start out at Appalachia State University, the first 16 miles running on rolling hills. Then from mile 16 through 26, you go up 100 feet every mile. You finish at the top of Grandfather Mountain where the Scottish Highland Games are taking place and run onto the track in front of all these Scottish people,” Morris explained.
His favorite distance is a half marathon, which he has finished 26 times in the Sturgis Falls race in Cedar Falls.
What lesson did he learn from his Ironman experience?
“You can do anything, if you put your mind to it. Most people, when it starts to hurt, they back off. Your body can do amazing things if you can push yourself past the mental part.”
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