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14
Year Old Ethan Berg
Takes on Rota Blue Half-Ironman
by Mike Berg (Ethan's
Dad)
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14 year old Ethan
Berg arrives at the Rota Airport.
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(18
November 2007) Most fourteen year olds have
ambitions like getting a high score on Quake,
going out with that pretty girl in class, or
just surviving their Freshman year in high school.
Not Ethan Berg. He decided this was his year
to complete a half Ironman. The 14th annual
Rota Blue race was decided as the venue and
a rigorous six month training program embarked
upon. Rota Blue typically has 30 Half Ironman
entrants and about a hundred Olympic distance
participants. Ethan awoke each day at 4:30 AM
to workout. He then went to school, swim team
practice, and did homework until 9:00 PM. On
weekends he would do longer "brick"
workouts. He learned to "like" nutritional
shakes and supplements. He included this in
his school work where he researched positive
and negative ways athletes enhance their performance.
He maintained a 3.60 GPA while doing all this
in his first semester of High School.
As
race day approached, he tapered and religiously
took vitamins and anti-oxidants to boost his
immune system. We learned how to travel with
a bike. It wasn't as tough as I thought it would
be. We arrived in beautiful Rota. With a population
of 2500, it makes Guam feel very busy.
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 Lots
of bikes on the rack after the swim means you
had a good swim. Ethan gets ready to start his
bike. |
We
rented a minivan and checked into our accommodations,
the Valentino Hotel. The suites we rented
were in the "long term" building
with a kitchen, but no pots, pans, etc. The
rooms were nice, but things we would consider
basic- like a phone or alarm clock, were missing.
But the view, wow. How can you live in the
paradise of Guam and still be impressed? Rota
is a whole new level.
We
checked out the island while Ethan hydrated.
We concluded his glycogen loading at lunch,
and had a lightish dinner. We attended a "race
briefing" given exclusively in Japanese
(this race is organized by the Japanese Triathlon
club KFC). He was ready. He trained hard,
was healthy, his equipment was ready. Nothing
could stand in his way. We awoke race day
to realize that T2 was not where we thought
it was. Robbie Cabreza pointed us in the right
direction
We
were running a little late when he realized
he needed to do a "Number Two".
It seems no matter how early he wakes up this
"Crops" up at the last minute.
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 Ethan
gets into his tuck on one of the flat sections
of rhe Rota Blue Half IM bike course. |
I
set up T1 for him and he got there just in time
for some rudimentary stretching and into the
drink. Well, the only way in and out of the
water (it's a deep water start) is a pretty
rough boat ramp. There was a major traffic jam
trying to get in the water. Ethan tried going
around, but slipped and cut his foot.The race
started without Ethan. He put his swim team
training into gear and hammered into the 1.5mi
swim. 52 minutes later he was out of the water
and into T1.
The local announcers really seemed to like seeing
another "local" doing so well and
were very encouraging, saying "Go GUAM!",
referring to his GTF tri suit. |
 Not
many 14 year olds have the discipline and talent
to tackle a half-ironman distance triathlon. |
Into
his bike shoes and down the road he went in
the two lap, 56mi, bike leg. The bike leg included
a 500' climb near the turn around point. He
completed the bike in 2:52 and pulled into T2.
Now, his injury at the race start started to
bother him. The first few miles of the 12.6mi
course hurt a lot. Then, he reported that he
was fine, because his feet were numb. We followed
him to the 5km point and he continued another
5km by himself to the turnaround point. When
he returned he was hitting a brick wall. He
asked me to run with him, which I did on and
off in flip flops. He finished by himself in
2:09 for a total time of 5:58, beating his goal
of six hours. He won his age group. Matt Suess
also completed in 6:53 and Ray Camacho in 8:22,
a huge improvement over last year. In the Olympic
distance race, Robbie Cabreza won his age group
in 2:51 and Dana Suess won her age group in
3:14. That evening was a very nice fiesta with
plentiful and delicious food, beer, and Tuba.
Ray spent several months on Rota doing cave
and hydrology surveys. He was a fantastic guide
the next day. He showed us the best of the best.
We stayed an extra day and found "pictograph
cave" with prehistroic pictographs and
more recent WWII artifacts. |
 Ethan
is the top finisher for his age-group and for
Guam in the Half-IM distance. |
Ethan
was changed by this event. The challenge was
intense. The training required consistency
and discipline. On race day, it took all his
determination to complete. And he exceeded
his goal. I am very proud of the young man
Ethan is becoming. None of this would be possible
without the extensive support Robbie, Ray,
Eric, Jude, Mark, Art, and the rest of the
GTF has shown Ethan over the last three years.
Thank you,
Mike Berg
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RESULTS
OF GUAM FINISHERS
OLYMPIC DISTANCE
Robbie Cabreza - 2:51:36
Rudy Villegas - 2:56:36
Dana Suess - 3:14:08
Danny Joe Gonzales - 3:24:25
HALF
IRONMAN DISTANCE
Ethan Berg - 5:58:05
Matt Suess - 6:53:41
Ramon Camacho - 8:22:54
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