Cadet triathletes tackle IronMan Published Sept. 7, 2012 By 020912 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Cadet Triathlon Team marks its 100th IronMan triathlon Sunday when Cadet 2nd Class Megan Cox and Cadet 1st Class Loring Ross line up to start the IronMan regionals in Madison, Wis. The IronMan Wisconsin will be her first IronMan triathlon. The Ironman is the pinnacle of triathlon competitions, where simply finishing an IronMan triathlon is an accomplishment. "For the IronMan, it's about twice the training as an Olympic Distance Triathlon, because you must first swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles and then do a marathon run of 26.2 miles," said Cox. To train, she's been on a strict exercise and diet for the past year, training 3-4 hours per weekday before and after classes, and doing 18-20 mile runs or 80-100 mile bike rides on the weekends with the rest of the Cadet Triathlon Team. Cadets 2nd Class Max Bierman and Margaret Haley were the Cadet Triathlon Team's 98th and 99th cadets to cross the IronMan finish line, after completing the Ironman Louisville in Kentucky on Aug. 26. Bierman swam a time of 1:02.56, clocked in at 5:53.47 on the bike, and ran the final stretch of the Louisville IronMan Triathlon in 4:25.24. He finished 12th in his division and 294th overall with a combined time of 11:33.52. "I was just relieved to cross the finish line," said Bierman. "I put a lot of effort into it training for over a year, and I was glad to see it pay off." "It is definitely one of the hardest physical and mental challenges ever," he added. "You never know what to expect until you actually get there. You have to be confident in your training and you have to be confident in your mental abilities. That's how you're going to get through it." Bierman is already thinking about competing in his next IronMan. "I really want to qualify for the championships, and right now IronMan Florida is probably my go-to-goal for 2014," Bierman said. Bierman was the cadet triathlon team's 98th cadet to finish an IronMan, and followed by fellow junior Haley. She finished 97th among the women, 7th in her division, with a swim time of 1:04.55, a bike time of 6:22.40 and a run time of 4:45.31 to cross the finish line in 12 hours, 25 minutes and 11 seconds of exertion to be the 527th athlete to complete the IronMan in Louisville. But after this weekend's IronMan, the Academy Cadet Triathlon Team will be far from done. Their next competitor is Cadet 1st Class Samantha Morrison of Cadet Squadron 6, who is scheduled to compete Oct. 13 in the IronMan world championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Results from the IronMan Wisconsin will be available online at: http://ironmanwisconsin.com/ -30-