Farrugia overcomes adversity to finish race
Every picture tells a story and every Iron Man is no different. Nicky Farrugia's participation in the Cologne Iron Man earlier this month covered many chapters. On a cold and windy Sunday morning, over 400 triathletes took to the waters of Lake Fulingen.
Every picture tells a story and every Iron Man is no different. Nicky Farrugia's participation in the Cologne Iron Man earlier this month covered many chapters.
On a cold and windy Sunday morning, over 400 triathletes took to the waters of Lake Fulingen. After a 50-minute delay, the race finally set off. Farrugia emerged from the water after a 57-minute swim, ensuring a good position for the start of the 180km bike segment.
Bike conditions were somewhat cool and windy but the threatening rain kept off for most of the day. During this part of the Iron Man, language problems made communication with a race marshal difficult, resulting in Farrugia being given a six-minute penalty. The Maltese eventually finished the bike section in a time of five hours 24 minutes.
Despite this mishap, Farrugia was still well-placed to run the 42km marathon. Fourteen kilometres into the run, which passed through cobbled streets and uneven terrain, Farrugia experienced a sharp pain as he pulled a muscle in his right calf.
A request for first-aid help proved futile once again due to language barriers. Ironically, the aid ambulance featured a Maltese cross and the world 'Malteser' on its side.
Up to that point, everything had been going as planned and it looked likely that Farrugia would lower his personal best time of 9 hours 48 minutes which he had set in Holland and Germany on two previous occasions.
Farrugia continued to jog, walk and limp till the end of the race, finishing in a time of 11 hours 36 minutes 40 seconds. It was at the finish line that Farrugia was attended by doctors who identified the problem as a tilted hip injury.
The outcome of the gruelling race was not what Farrugia had hoped for but it was another chapter to add to his rich Iron Man experiences.
Farrugia's participation in Cologne was made possible thanks to the assistance of Triton Sports, IRC Vacations Club, Radisson SAS Golden Sands and Good Earth of St Paul's Bay. In a statement, Farrugia also thanked coach Andy Colbourn and Maria Mifsud Bonnici, a sport and exercise physiologist, for their guidance in the build-up to the race.