Neither fear nor pain kept him down: Maple over comes injuries to tackle Ironman
MARBLEHEAD — On a dark, rainy night in 2019, Christian Maple of Marblehead and his passenger, Maria Rodriguez of Norwalk, were driving across the Edison bridge when a wrong-way driver hit them head on. Although Rodriguez sustained only minor injuries, Maple felt his ankle shatter along with, he thought, his ability to run competitively.
“My first thought after I knew my girlfriend was OK was, ‘I’m not going to be able to run,’” Maple said.
That initial fear gave way to determination, and he put 100 miles on his ankle within a month. On July 23, Maple competed in the Ironman 70.3 Ohio in Sandusky. During the race, competitors swam 1.2 miles in the Sandusky Bay, biked 56 miles and ran 13.1 miles.
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Maple finished Ironman in 5 hours, 33 minutes
Maple finished the race in 5 hours and 33 minutes, closing the door on a dark season of life and opening up the world.
“People ask me why I do this. For me, the situations that challenge me the most, when I don’t think I can do it and when I’m pushed to the absolute limit, that’s when you find out the most about yourself and realize what you can take,” he said.
Maple, now 20, was a star runner at Sandusky St. Mary’s prior to the accident. He ran cross country for six years and swam for eight, and then his cross country coach, Perry Fraylick, who had competed in Ironman races, suggested Maple start riding bike.
“I started doing short bike rides — five or six miles. I really liked it, and when I got my first road bike, he said I should do an Ironman,” Maple said. “It was kind of a joke at first, but after my accident, we started talking about the Sandusky Ironman.”
By the day of the Ironman, Maple had months of training behind him, and he entered the race with a friend, Brett Reed, amongst a huge crowd of competitors and spectators.
“There were so many people bustling around. It was awesome to see so many people who worked hard to get there,” Maple said.
Maple described the final nervous moments before the race began as “steady confidence.”
“It was like when you’re at the top of the Top Thrill Dragster. You know what’s coming, but you can’t do anything about it,” he said.
Maple knew the Ironman was where he was supposed to be
At the same time, he knew he had found his place in the world. Regardless of his accident and the months of pain and sacrifice, he was exactly where he was supposed to be.
“When we were on the boat before we got in the water, my teacher from high school sang the National Anthem, and it felt like home. This was my place,” he said.
The swim, Maple said, was a total blur. He had spent months training, but nothing prepared him for swimming in the bay with dozens of people. The mass of swimmers made the water rise and swell around him, and there were no lane lines to follow.
“This was not the same at all,” he said.
The bike ride went well, and he finished it 30 minutes faster than he expected.
“But the run was where I had issues,” he said. “You can’t put that much stress on your body and not expect something to happen.”
By mile one, his thigh began to cramp. Nine miles from the finish line, his calves “felt every stride.”
“I didn’t realize how bad it could get,” he said. “I told myself, ‘Keep going and something will ease up. Just don’t stop.’”
At mile 11, Reed caught up with him and steadied his pace to make sure Maple was OK.
The last 2 miles of the Sandusky race were brutal
“I told him to keep going. I told him not to sacrifice his time, but he stayed with me for 4 or 5 minutes,” Maple said. “The last 2 miles were absolutely brutal. Each step sent a shock up my leg. It was all mental at that point.”
Standing near the finish line was his younger brother, Noelton.
“My little brother was waiting for me, and he told me to keep going,” Maple said.
“Keep going” had been Maple’s motto since he felt his ankle crush on the Edison Bridge. Fear didn’t stop him, and neither did pain.
“It feels horrible, but finishing it and finding out what you can do is beyond rewarding,” he said. “Not a single person thought that the race felt good, but it’s about finding something from it.”
Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Pushing to absolute limit: Maple over comes injuries to tackle Ironman
