BOULDER — As a steady stream of exhausted athletes crossed the finish line of the Ironman Boulder, the volume of cheers rose Sunday at 10:30 p.m. to welcome James Banks and David Slomkowski to the end of their long ordeal.
The duo from Baltimore had begun 15 hours and 45 minutes earlier. Banks, whom Slomkowski pulled and pushed for more than 140 miles, smiled broadly after a finish-area volunteer hung the Ironman medal from his neck. .
“Booyah!” a group of friends shouted, knowing that is Banks’ favorite word for expressing happiness.
“Booyah!” he replied to whoops and hollers.
“You are an Ironman!” someone shouted.
Slomkowski founded Athletes Serving Athletes in Baltimore a decade ago after being inspired by the story of Team Hoyt. Dick Hoyt has pushed and pulled son Rick, who has cerebral palsy, through 72 marathons and seven Ironmans. Banks was one of ASA’s first athletes, and it was a “dream come true” for Slomkowski to give him the Ironman experience.
“He did great,” Slomkowski said. “He wasn’t feeling so hot before the race, and he never is not feeling well, so we were concerned about him and said, ‘Letap take a nice boat ride, a couple hours, and see what happens.’ We were checking his vitals and he was saying, ‘Letap go.’ ”
Slomkowski, 48, felt “really wasted” after the bike segment and considered dropping out, thinking, “I got four kids, I want to make it back to them.” But he felt a little better after walking the first two miles of the run and fought to the finish.
“Itap a young man’s game,” Slomkowski said wearily. “I feel like I’m crashing a Justin Bieber party.”
As for seeing Banks wearing an Ironman medal?
“He’ll be a hero for the rest of his life,” Slomkowski said. “Itap an old Muhammad Ali quote, ‘Suffer temporarily and live the rest of your life as a champion.’ “