After his third place finish at the Florida Ironman competition, Bill Wiseman shows off his qualification certificate for the World Championship competition in Kona, Hawaii. Below, Wiseman in the three phases of Ironman competition.
Blythewood athlete takes 1st in 1/2 Ironman
Blythewood’s Bill Wiseman recently qualified to compete for both the 1/2 Ironman and the full Ironman World Championship titles later this year.
Wiseman took third place in his age division in the Florida full Ironman competition in November, qualifying him to compete for the World Champion Ironman title in Kona, HI in October, 2014.
Wiseman turned in his personal best records in all three phases of the Florida competition, biking, running and swimming for an overall time of 9 hours, 48 minutes. The full Ironman competition includes a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run.
Two months earlier, Wiseman finished first in his age group in the Augusta Half Ironman competition to qualify for the Half Ironman World Championship to be held next September in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. In the Augusta competition, Wiseman turned in a time of 4 hours, 38 minutes. The Half Ironman competition requires half the distances as the full Ironman competition.
In June, Wiseman finished first in his age group and third in the state in the Charleston Springs Series Triathlon.
Since he began competing 10 years ago, Wiseman has completed a myriad of triathlon and Ironman competitions around the country, including placing 15th in the Half Ironman World Championship competition in Clearwater, Fla. in 2010. Since he began competing, he has taken more than two hours off his time.
Wiseman said he typically races in one or two Half Ironman races and a full Ironman race every year along with several shorter races. He spends about 15-20 hours a week training to include swimming three days a week, biking four days a week and running five days a week.
Wiseman said his strength is on the bike and his weakness is the swim.
“I always have to make up time on my bike,” he said.
Ironman competitions began in the late 1970s as a challenge between a group of Navy Seals and has grown to become one of the most recognized endurance events in the world.
