18 LAKESIDE
November 2020
Local athletes challenge Lanier on way to Ironman competition Shore Lines
powerlifting and body building. Soon he qualified nationally as a bodybuilder. “I could have gone From the fascinating to the remarkable, Lake Lanier harbors many personalities and places along its shores. Lakeside pres- pro in my early 20s but decided to become a chiropractor.” ents “Shore Lines” – stories about people who live, work and He moved to Georgia where play around the lake and the places that make the area special. he attended Life College in his By Pamela A. Keene Heading to Florida mid-20s, graduating in 1998. By ver the past several “We’re all going to Panama June 1999, he had opened his months, if you had City,” said Merrifield, 48, who practice in Buford: North Georgia been boating near Big works in IT. “I’m doing my first Spine Center. Here he treats paCreek and Holiday Marina, it half-Ironman and Jose is on his tients from all walks of life, inwouldn’t have been unusual to second full. The training has been cluding athletes. His office “Wall see a bright orange buoy moving tough and, personally, I will just of Fame” boasts photos of along the shoreline and the nobe happy to complete the compe- Olympic, collegiate, local and wake markers. On closer inspec- tition.” professional athletes. tion, that buoy was attached to a Gonzalez, 57, has completed “For a long time, I thought that swimmer named Alonzo Borja, a two half-Ironman competitions. lifting weights was all athletes 52-year-old former NCAA swim- As his second full, the trip to needed to stay fit, but when I demer and nationally ranked body Panama City is helping him meet cided to start running, I realized builder. his goal. fitness was much more,” he said. With bundles of medals to his “I’m doing these competitions “I also was an avid cigar smoker credit, these days Borja is training with a goal in mind,” said Gonza- for about 20 years. A good cigar in Lake Lanier for his fourth Iron- lez, who has also completed two two or three times a week wasn’t man, slated for Panama City, half-Ironman events. “I want to healthy, but a good cigar is much Florida, on November 7. He’s get to Kona and the World Cham- less toxic than cigarettes. In fact I also completed six half-Ironman pionships.” started running so I could keep events, all over the past three The Hawaii competition began smoking my cigars. years. in 1978 on Oahu, moving to “The first time I ran, I went “Lake Lanier is the perfect Kailua-Kona in 1981. It is the about 50 steps and almost colplace to train for the open-water World Championship Ironman. lapsed,” he said. “Then I realized part of the competition,” said the To quality, athletes must have ‘I am a smoker,’ and decided to Buford chiropractor last month completed at least 12 full-disquit. Even now, with my variety while preparing for a late-aftertance Ironman races. An official of training, I still suffer from connoon swim. “The waves from the Ironman competition, sanctioned sequences of smoking the cigars.” boat traffic simulate the wave ac- by the World Triathlon CorporaHe continued to run, building tion we’ll experience in the Gulf tion, comprises three consecutive of Mexico as we swim the 2.4sections: a 2.4-mile swim, usually mile portion of the Ironman in in open water; a 112-mile bike Florida.” ride and a 26.22-mile marathon On this particular day, Borja run. Usually limited to an overall and two other athletes – Scott completion time of 16 to 17 Merrifield and Jose Gonzalez – hours. In 2019 German athlete prepared to swim the distance Jan Frodeno set the World Chamover 90 minutes or so. The water pionship course record of 7 hours, in the cove was comfortably cool 51 minutes and 13 seconds. Swiss and calm for a Thursday afterathlete Daniela Ryf set the noon. women’s course record in 2018 by finishing in 8 hours, 26 minutes and 18 seconds. Most competitors clock completion times of between 11 and 13 hours, depending on age. Staying fit via Ironman For Borja, doing PHOTO BY PAMELA KEENE multiple Ironman Alonzo Borja displays the orange events is a way to buoy that helps keep him safe during training on Lake Lanier. stay fit, combining several disciplines. “I’ve always up his endurance and distance. been an athlete,” he “Then I asked myself, ‘What can said. “It just comes I do to run better?’ It was like a naturally for me to lightbulb turned on and by 2015, stay active.” when I was 45, I stopped smokAs a competitive ing. swimmer at the From doing weekend races PHOTO BY ALONZO BORJA University of around the Southeast, he soon Borja’s collection of medals and ribbons hang on Rochester, he began needed another challenge.
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his wall.
PHOTO BY PAMELA KEENE
Ironman contenders Alonzo Borja, Jose Gonzalez and Scott Merrifield adjust their gear before a late-afternoon swim in Lake Lanier.
“A friend introduced me to Spartan Military races, and got me hooked on doing obstacle courses,” Borja said. “As I progressed I was doing up to three races each weekend. I’m very competitive and I got pretty obsessive about it.” Battling injuries To make it to three races in a weekend, sometimes in three different states, he’d sleep in his truck. By 2017, Borja had qualified for the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships in his age group. Finally, injuries caught up with him. “Over a couple of years, I had three major injuries that required surgery. My bicep pulled off the bone and had to be reattached. Then I had a complete muscle separation on my right shoulder; another surgery. “And my left rotator cuff will be operated on five days after I get back from Panama City.” Still Borja continues to train, doing plenty of stretching and prep before each session. “Every time I lift my arm to swim, I feel the pain, but I know I must just keep going.” He also continues to work full time in his practice and spend time with his family: wife Carmen Elisa, and his two children who are both in high-school. “In all honesty, we thought that all the competitions in 2020 had been canceled because of
COVID-19,” Borja said. “Then in September we were surprised to receive a letter from the Panama City event that it would take place. All of a sudden, we were faced with a compressed training window of about six weeks.” The three sometimes train together and sometimes separately. For Borja his week consists of one to two 2-mile open-water swims, three bike rides that total more than 150 miles and 20 to 26 total miles run each week. “An Ironman, or any marathon event, requires constant nutrition at least every 10 miles, so I’ll either have food or liquid in my mouth to keep myself going,” he said. Ironman competitors’ ages range from the minimum of 18 to older than 70. Events are set up in age groups. As he reflected on his pursuit of the Ironman, Borja shared a story about one of his patients who became a mentor and friend. “Back in 1978, Henry Forest from Grayson was one of the first competitors to cross the line at the original Ironman in Oahu and he was a patient of mine before he died several years ago. He never knew that I am now competing in Ironman events,” Borja said. “But you know, every time I race, I know in my heart that he’s pushing me to do my best. He’s watching over me and sending me encouragement.”
