Less than a month ago, Norway’s Jarle Wermskok broke his elbow after an accident with his bike, but that didn’t stop him from participating in last weekend’s Ironman Copenhagen. It didn’t even stop him from pulling of a great race, as he took the overall Age Group win home. Wermskok even managed to run to an impressive PB of 8:29:16 hour, clocking a 1:08:37-hour swim, which he mainly did with one arm, a 4:28:03-hour bike part and – to top it off – a 2:45:03-hour marathon. “This was beyond all expectations,” he wrote on Instagram under a photo of himself running while wearing a sling.
At the last moment, Wermskok decided to throw caution to the wind and start the Ironman. “I swam 350 meters on Monday this week (22 days after the arm injury) and after a chat with the orthopedist on Wednesday, I decided to start the race. I was very unsure if I could swim 3800 meters.” That he eventually needed only 1:08:37 hour was a surprise. “I used my left arm for about 1000 meters, but then I switched to some alternative technique by using my legs and making use of my right arm only.”
By taking it easy on the turns and technical parts, Wermskok got himself through the following bike leg, but after racking his bike back in T2 and taking his run shoes out, he was really on fire. “The legs were amazing, and I had to stop myself from running faster than 3:40/3:45 pace. I learned from past mistakes, so I now stopped at all aid stations. Each time I drank three to four cups and I had a total of six gels all throughout the run. In between kilometer 31 and 35 I had a rough time, but it got better again after that. 2:25 hour… Only one pro and Ironman super star Lionel Sanders were one minute faster.”
