IRONMAN: Blue Streaks coaches enjoy competing as relay

SANDUSKY — Tommy Patterson hadn't experienced many weirder things in his time as Sandusky High School's head swim coach. On Sunday morning, he was receiving encouragement from his athletes. "Yeah, (it's weird) having a young kid cheer for you when you're old out there getting after it," added Sandusky elementary athletic director and assistant track coach Todd Downing. Patterson, Downing and William Barrett completed the inaugural Sandusky Ironman 70.3 on Sunday under the moniker Team Coaching Streaks. Patterson is the swimming coach. Downing helps with the track team, as does Barrett, who's also Sandusky's head cross country coach. Together, they put together a time of 5:42:19, the 12th-best relay out of 74 in the field. "My last race was over 22 years ago," Patterson said. "It took some special guys to get me back into it." It was Downing's idea to do the Ironman as a group. "I've been having some crazy ideas lately, trying different things," Downing said. "... Threw it out there to these guys, hey, want to do the relay race in the Ironman, and here we are." "There's always hesitancy when it comes to a race," Barrett added, "but once you get started, you're out there." Patterson kicked the group off with the 1.2-mile swim. He recalled jumping off Jackson Street Pier into Lake Erie when he was 15, but that was a while ago. Multiple times after the race, Patterson referred to himself as a "swammer," focusing on the past tense. He hadn't competed in an open-water race like Sunday's before, either. Patterson performed well, though, finishing 1.2 miles in 38:25. "I swam it like a swammer and a coach," Patterson said. "Todd's idea, and it was one of the best things I've ever done." Downing was up next for the 56-mile bike ride. He had recently completed a 100K (62 miles) in Vandalia. "Just to make sure I could finish," Downing said. "Didn't want to waste these guys' time, get on the course and quit. That wouldn't have been good." Downing called the bike course beautiful and flat. He finished his leg in 3:07:13. That set up Barrett, who was running in his 19th half marathon. He's also training for the New York City Marathon in November. "I run almost every day," Barrett said. "I put in double digits every day. It's nothing new to me. It's just getting in the miles and doing the best that I can. Not running too hard, too fast. This is not my peak race, but I have to show something to look good for Sandusky." Barrett ran an 8:11 mile pace for the 13.1 miles. That brought him across the line for his leg in 1:47:15. "It's just amazing," Barrett said. "People from all over the country, all over the world, came here to Sandusky to compete. That's pretty amazing." Afterward, as the trio reconnected once they had handled their separate events during the race, they kept looking at the medals that they had earned for completing the Ironman. They already had their sights set on next year, saying they'd be more prepared the next time around. Besides, the coaching trio now had set a personal best. Their natural instinct will be to beat that. "We set our PR today, so now we've gotta beat it," Downing said. "I never thought that the best experience of my life would be right here, right back here."