Sweet stuff from Ironman Coeur d'Alene

A pretty sweet moment happened at Ironman Coeur d’Alene this past weekend.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Kevin Portmann won in more ways than one. He was the top overall finisher with a time of 9 hours, 28 minutes and 29 seconds, well ahead of Brian Schaning (9:38:15).

But it was right after he crossed the finish line that was pretty cool. His fiancée, Mariesa Carrow, and Portmann live together in Carlsbad, 35 miles north of San Diego via Interstate 5. I’ve driven that route before while visiting family and friends in Orange County; it’s a pretty hairy route with the traffic.

So Portmann fell to the ground, flat on his back, looking super happy and of course, a bit exhausted. Carrow ran to his side — she was pretty darn excited when she heard her fiancé was about to cross the finish line a few minutes prior to that happening, as I was interviewing her. Portmann gave Carrow a big ol’ hug and a kiss, then was a bit under the weather following his race after talking with the local media. Carrow of course, was overjoyed at her man’s finish. They set a wedding date for May 20, 2017, and she works as a program manager in Carlsbad.

“We talked about this possibly with him possibly winning,” Carrow said. “He was looking to finish, so it’s amazing. He works extremely hard, this is his third year competing and his first win. It’s surreal, for him to work so hard and to see it finally pay off, I’m so proud of him.”

Carrow shared a very nice, life-changing memory.

“He proposed to me at Kona last year,” Carrow said.

THERE WERE no professionals competing as pros in the race — there were three other Ironman races going in New Hampshire and a pro male-only triathlon in Copenhagen, Denmark, and another competition featuring some pros in Quebec, so the pros were scattered elsewhere. However, they did compete on June 25 in Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene, with Andy Potts and Heather Jackson winning those triathlons.

But that meant Portmann and the other 64 overall finishers behind him qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on Oct. 8. Dr. Morgan Busko was the overall female finisher (10:24:45). Had the pros raced in this event, perhaps Portmann and Dr. Busko would have still qualified for the Ironman World Championship, perhaps not. Just as a reference point off of last year’s race that did feature pros, with their times, Portmann and Busko would have finished among the top 65.

So next year, Ironman Coeur d’Alene is set for Aug. 27, 2017, with the 70.3 race set for June 25, 2017. Be there or be square.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, via e-mail at bbourquin@cdapress.com or via Twitter @bourq25