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THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: July 5, 2014

| July 5, 2014 9:00 PM

When Wallace High graduate Jordan Beehner was driving back to Moscow for work a few years ago, he saw Ironman Coeur d'Alene unfolding in the Coeur d'Alene area.

He called them crazy.

A few years later, he's one of them.

BEEHNER, A 24-year old accountant at Hecla Mining Company in Coeur d'Alene, took on Ironman last Sunday, finishing in 12 hours, 46 minutes and 39 seconds - good enough for 693rd overall - in his first Ironman competition.

"A couple of years ago, I was driving to Moscow and saw it going on," said Beehner, who played football and basketball at Wallace High, graduating in 2008. "I said these guys are crazy and there's no way I'd ever do that."

"I started running last year, and thought I could add a bike and triathlon to it," Beehner said. "It was a leap of faith, but it all came together."

Beehner finished the 2.4-mile swim in 1:07:01, then the 112-mile bike in 6:30:49 and the 26.2-run in 4:57:23.

"The swim was by far my best," Beehner said. "I struggled on the bike with a headwind. There was so much wind going south on (U.S.) 95. I put a lot of effort into the bike, and that killed the marathon."

But the swim?

"The swim was easy," Beehner said. "Having the rolling start was like paradise. I know that if I do it again, there's some areas that I can cut down. I did my fair share of walking and talking, so maybe I'll cut that down. There were other people that were walking. It's just boring as hell if you were by yourself."

FOR BEEHNER, completing an Ironman was more of a pride thing than anything else.

"It always bugged me that I told myself that there was no chance I could do it," Beehner said. "I was fat and drinking too much at U of I (University of Idaho).

Nothing is impossible, so I took my leap of faith and threw my 700 bucks (entry fee) at them. It was more of a pride thing, but it was really everyone around me putting their foot forward to do it."

How about the next one?

"I definitely want to do another half(-Ironman) again," Beehner said. "The bad deal is that you can't train outside. My busy work season is the beginning of the year and there's some a lot later in the year. I might do one, but it will be different one late in the year."

Having a large collection of family and friends at the finish line helped push him at the end.

"That was the amazing part," Beehner said. "I had a neighbor, a bunch of co-workers, and a lot of the Hecla guys were tracking me. Having my mom, dad, sisters and girlfriend waiting for me at the end wanting pictures and hugs, behind able to reach across the finish line and touch them was awesome."

AS FAR as inspiration for the event, Beehner carried a photo of his late grandfather, who died last year, in his bike bag. A few times during the bike ride, when he's stop to eat, he saw the picture of his grandfather.

"He was a really close friend of mine that happened to be 86 (when he died)," Beehner said. "There was a couple of times I saw those that helped me through this journey ... Dan Plummer let me borrow some wheels just to see how'd they do, trained me on the bike and got me to do better. Derek Garcia, my coach who I wanted to fire all the time, and my family, when I turned and saw them, and saw my sisters three times along the course, that really saved me. Quitting never crossed my mind."

From calling those that competed crazy to now, Beehner has learned a lot about Ironman.

"I finished around 7:30 p.m.," Beehner said. "I know I could have finished a lot closer to 6 though. For my next long race, I know where to push it and where to hold back. They say it's an individual sport, but it was my family, girlfriend and friends that were along with me for this ride. They pointed me in the right direction. They made sacrifices, just like I did, to make this happen. Without them, I'd still be out on the course."

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.