Lance Armstrong has nothing on Northwestern’s Boyd Seevers, associate professor of biblical and theological studies.

On Sept. 19, Seevers went to Oklahoma City, Okla., for an ironman distance triathlon. He was there for the weekend with his brother, who was able to take pictures for him. 

Seevers explained that what is now referred to as the Ironman started from a bar bet in Hawaii when a group of men decided to do a race of three events all in one day. The term Ironman was coined for the winner and the name is still in use today.

The race consists of three endurance events. First the participant swims 2.4 miles, then bikes 112 miles and, finally, runs 26.2 miles. 

“The biggest challenge I had to get over was the thought of swimming and biking for eight hours and then starting a marathon,” said Seevers. 

Seevers explained that the race started at sunrise. “We started in the dark, which made it all the more surreal,” he said.

It was raining while he was swimming and biking. Although the rain made the air cooler, wet feet made it harder to run the marathon.

When he participated in an Ironman two years ago, his time was 15 hours. Last month, he made it in 13.5 hours. 
“I was pleased with my time,” he said. “I shaved off some time, which was a significant improvement.”

Seevers has been running triathlons since 1992, when he was living in Israel. In his first triathlon he ran around the Sea of Galilee, which is near where he was living at the time.

He has always enjoyed running, swimming and biking. Besides the enjoyment, he says it is a stress reliever and a great way to stay healthy. 

“I like to feel challenged and to have that sense of accomplishment,” he added.

Seevers said that one must set a goal to accomplish something like this, and “you have to like it.” He set his goal two years in advance.  Accompanying that goal was commitment. 

Seevers did much to prepare for the big event. In the past year, he swam over 100 miles, ran over 600 miles and biked 2, 600 miles, which is the length of the United States. He built up endurance to the point where he was training seven to eight hours at a time. 

Another piece of advice that Seevers gave was on how to eat and drink. He said that at the peak of his training, he was drinking up to a gallon and a half of fluid per day. In addition, he was consuming 3,000 calories daily. 

Seevers imagines that he will participate in other races in the future, but for now he does not have any plans. 

“You first have to make sure life allows it,” he said.

Next semester Seevers will return to the place of his first triathlon. He will be a visiting professor at Jerusalem University College, where he will be teaching part time and working on a book about Old Testament warfare. His wife and two daughters will be joining him.