At the end of the school day on Tuesday, Oct. 1, staff and students at Kincardine District Senior School lined the halls to give Carrie Houghton a special send off before she went to Kona, Hawaii, to compete in the Ironman World Championship. Houghton, a physical education teacher and guidance counselor at the school, ran a mock triathlon through the ls, while staff and students gave her highfives and wished her well. Her run through the school culminated with a presentation of a Canadian flag that had been signed by most of the staff and students. “That was absolutely amazing – very unexpected,” said Houghton. “I really appreciate the support of staff and students for sure.”
An Ironman Triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile (3.86 kilometre) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 kilometre) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.20 kilometre) run, raced in that order. “Ironman World Championship is the top event for Ironman, so I had to qualify last year at Ironman Louisville,” she said. “I ended up second in my age group, which got me a spot to go to Kona.” Houghton started training for triathlons in 2002. Over the years she increased the distances of the competitions and then eventually did Ironman in 2011. “This would be my ninth Ironman that I’ll be doing,” she said. “I think the biggest challenge is finding a balance between being a mom, working, a wife and training, just finding that life balance is the biggest challenge for sure.” She is taking the opportunity to have a family vacation in Hawaii before she competes in the Ironman competition on Oct.12. “We’re going to enjoy the whole experience of going,” she said.“It will be lots of fun leading up to the race, and then I’ll enjoy the Ironman too. It’s going to be great. I’m really excited.”