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A Method To His Madness

Sunday, July 27, 2014
By: 

Looking back at Tom Warren’s achievement at the 1979 “Iron Man," it’s hard to argue his recent induction into the USAT Hall of Fame. I was taken myself once again at the level of admiration for Warren that I heard in the words of Sport Illustrated writer Barry McDermott, when I interviewed him for my book Iron Will -- a full 10 years after the race. Surely, it was McDermott’s prose and Warren’s singular approach to victory on that hellish day that launched a sport.  Triathlon would probably still have happened, sure, but the runway would have been longer, the takeoff more arduous, and certainly less colorful. It’s a story that, for a lot of us, never gets old. What follows is  Chapter 5 of my book Iron Will, as it originally appeared in 1985. -- MP