Ironman brings the energy

SANDUSKY — Logan Laurer was hanging out with a group of friends last year when someone brought up an interesting topic: triathlons. Laurer, who will compete in Sunday's Sandusky Ironman 70.3, listened and learned. "Me and my friends like to try hard stuff," he said. "We were sitting around and someone mentioned a triathlon. I really didn't know what that was, but I thought it would be a cool thing to try." Laurer, a 2017 Fremont Ross High School graduate who went on to graduate from Ohio State University, puts words into action and competed in his first triathlon on May 19 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. "It was a real hard course," he said. "Tennessee is very hilly and it was very hot. I've been preparing for (Sandusky) to be my 'A' race, and it's right in my back yard so I don't have to stress about it." Laurer will be among about 1,500 athletes who start the Sandusky triathlon by jumping off a ferry boat parked at Jackson Street Pier starting at 6:30 a.m. Sunday as the Ironman brand puts on its third triathlon in the city. Laurer, who now lives in Perrysburg, attended Friday's athlete briefing at Ironman Village with his mom, Lydia Laurer. He looked relaxed and sounded confident. A lot has changed since that chat with his friends. "I didn't know how to swim, I never jumped on a bike except for a Mongoose in high school," Laurer said. "I didn't run, either. It was a new concept for me. It was like three new things to learn." The triathlon course consists of a 1.2-mile swim in Sandusky Bay, a 56-mile bike ride through Erie and Sandusky counties and a 13.1-mile run in downtown Sandusky. Sunday's forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies and a high temperature of 83 degrees, so not a total scorcher. Rain is not expected. The Ironman finish line is being built on Columbus Avenue near the State Theatre. The winners should finish the course in about four hours. In addition to individual racers, there is a relay division. Shores & Islands Ohio has a relay team consisting of Ben Simon (swim), Quyen Wolfe (bike) and Larry Fletcher (run). When asked how training has been going, Simon said: "I'm gonna start training tonight. ... I'm kidding. I feel great. I've been swimming for a month; I can swim. This is a test for me, for sure. I'm not going to break any records." Teammates Fletcher and Wolfe have each completed triathlons individually. Athlete check-in will continue Saturday and Ironman Village, which includes a merchandise tent, will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday's awards ceremony is scheduled for 4 p.m. Athletes from 15 area towns will compete in the Ironman, led by Sandusky with 37 and Huron with 34. Victoria Luma from Castalia was the area's top finisher (male or female) the last two years. She opted to participate in a relay on Sunday because she has already qualified for the Ironman World Championships later this year. Kim Wikel, an accomplished duathlete from Milan, is participating as an individual this year after biking for the winning relay in 2023. A group of volunteers at one of the tents in Ironman Village had a similar Sandusky-Huron makeup. Linda Dalic of Sandusky is in her third year as a volunteer. On Sunday she'll help out at the finish line after catching the start of the race. "My daughter (Bridget Hovde) is a marathon runner so I've been exposed a lot to this environment," Dalic said. "She just called and said, 'Mom, I wish I was there.' "It's an exciting atmosphere to be in. It's a very positive thing for the city. To bring it to Sandusky, Ohio, that says something for us. It's a perfect setting." Bridget, a Sandusky graduate who now lives in San Antonio, competed in a triathlon when Cedar Point staged such events. Dalic was handing out T-shirts to runners who were checking in on Friday. Like all the volunteers around her, she was very cheerful and exuded an upbeat attitude when athletes approached. "When I say, 'have fun' a lot of them say, 'Have fun? Have you done this before?' "