Cd'A teen tackles Ironman

COEUR d’ALENE — Paul Janke will be going after his first Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene on Sunday. 

He’s ready. 

Not to win, but to do well. And have fun, too.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” the 2023 Lake City High School graduate said. “I would like to put out a solid effort."

Hundreds of men and women will start the race at 6 a.m. at City Beach. They’ll swim 1.2 miles in Lake Coeur d’Alene, following by a 56-mile bike ride, most of that on U.S. 95, and then a 13.1-mile run that winds through the Sanders Beach neighborhood and follows the North Idaho Centennial Trail along Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive before turning back.

As one of the youngest in the race at age 19, Janke is hoping that his background in swimming and his strength in running will make up for his inexperience at road biking. 

He spent several years on the Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team. In April, he ran his first marathon, finishing the Eugene Marathon in 3 hours and 23 minutes. 

“I felt pretty good in that one," he said of the 26.2-mile race. 

One of the biggest challenges Janke has faced is balancing work and education with training. 

He just finished his freshman year at George Fox University in Oregon, where he’s studying biology and chemistry. 

Now, he’s working full time as a medical scribe for a cardiologist at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. 

He takes it all in stride.

“I manage,” he said Wednesday evening after finishing a shift at the hospital. “Just early mornings and late nights.” 

It was just last year he decided to see what he could do in Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene. 

“It just kind of popped into my head,” he said. “I like swimming and running, signed up in the winter and here I am now.” 

To prepare, he swam three days a week at a pool, biked a little more than 100 miles a week and cranked out some long, steady runs to build a solid aerobic base. 

He also got into Lake Coeur d’Alene a few times for some swims this spring, and while he grew up swimming in it, it was chilly. 

“It’s been a little cold,” Janke said, smiling.

Still, he is confident in the water. 

“I hope to put out a strong first leg of the race,” Janke said. 

A sturdy 5 feet 7 inches tall and 150 pounds, Janke is well-suited to the half-Ironman's demands of strength and endurance.  

“It was a lot of long weeks of swimming, biking and running,” he said.  

If Janke has a worry about Sunday’s race, it’s the bike, where his time on the road has been limited. 

The hilly course is the opposite of flat and fast. It takes cyclists south on U.S. 95 and its rolling terrain is difficult for even strong riders. 

“A lot of elevation on the bike. It looks pretty brutal,” he said. “I think that's probably going to be my weakest one. I’ll probably have to do some catching up after the bike."

But no matter what happens, he intends to enjoy the day. 

“I’ve never done anything like this,” Janke said. “I thought it would be really fun. I’m excited to get out there and put up a good race in my hometown."

    Paul Janke wears his blue scrubs at Coeur d'Alene City Park after finishing a shift as a medical scribe at Sacred Heart Medical Center on Wednesday.