Corvallis Gazette-Times

Even Evensen is in his recovery phase, swimming a few times a week and spending time on an exercise bicycle after completing the Hawaiian Ironman.

A veteran with 15 Ironman completions, including four over the brutal Kona course, Evensen is immensely proud of finishing the 2006 race in his slowest time ever: 15 hours and 38 minutes.

The sheer accomplishment of completing the event when he was unsure he would even attempt the final leg, a 26.2-mile marathon, leaves him bursting with pride. That his wife, children and several friends offered him the encouragement and support to complete that marathon left him overflowing with emotion.

"It was a thrill having them there," Evensen said.

To even attempt an Ironman takes courage and immense amounts of training. To qualify takes a level of ability that demands pushing beyond preconceived limitations. Evensen fell in love with triathlons at the age of 40, starting with local sprint triathlons. He retired from the U.S. Forest Service in October 2002, to pursue a lifestyle of training for and competing in the events.

A month after retiring, while riding his bicycle at Ironman Florida, Evensen was struck by a truck and sustained five crushed or fractured vertebrae, two fractured ankles, a broken foot and five fractured ribs.

Several surgeries followed, including the installation of titanium rods to stabilize and support his back with its fused vertebrae. He spent two months in a wheelchair while his wife, Gayle, saw to his basest needs.

"I didn't even know if I'd ever get back to walk, so to do the Hawaiian Ironman …" Evensen said. "I thought I was finished (doing triathlons). I just wanted to walk."

It took time, first with a walker after leaving the wheelchair, then while wearing a back brace. Eight months after the accident he was able to function without the brace and gradually his thoughts returned to triathlons.

He started back where he had originally begun, with local sprint triathlons and worked his way back to the longer Ironman distance.

He attempted the Ironman in Couer d' Alene, Idaho, in 2005 and had to drop out. This past June he tried again and found himself succeeding, not only finishing, and qualifying for the Kona event.

"I was happy to cross the finish line in Idaho," he said. "That was the first (triathlon) I was able to complete."

Having qualified, he made the commitment to compete in Hawaii. Then his back worsened.

His training focused on swimming and biking. Running became difficult, almost tortuous. In fact, he rarely ran at all in the final weeks leading up to the trip to Hawaii.

As a result, his plan was to do the swim and bike portions at Kona, then drop out. But he felt good with the marathon remaining, and with a brief consultation with his support group he set out, willing to drop out if it became too difficult.

There was no running the 26.2 miles. Evensen walked each yard of it, facing the temptation to stop and leave the course several times. But time and again, there were his adult children, son Steven and daughter Shari, his wife or friends from the local triathlon community cheering him onward.

"I've never been the fastest runner and walking or running, that was torture," he said. It took him 7 hours and 52 minutes to complete the marathon and the final few hundred yards he walked in company with Gayle, all of his supporters cheering him toward the line.

At 15:38, the finish was his slowest time ever, but given where he had been recently, it was a personal triumph beyond measure.

"Crossing the finish line was a fabulous moment for me," he said. "I'd walked the whole marathon and she came out and walked the line with me. She has been my guiding light and it was cool to share that moment with her."

Having averaged 11:30 in his previous Ironman races, Evensen still considers the most recent finish his crowning achievement. Although unsure of his immediate competitive future, Evensen knows he will remain involved in the triathlon community.

"My Ironman future is pretty much in doubt, but it's a life passion," he said. "It's more than racing or the challenge. The fact of life is sometimes things change. I'll still go to the races and watch my buddies and stuff."

And he'll always have the memories of his wife coming out of the darkness of a Hawaiian night to urge him forward, to push beyond his pain and conquer the ultimate personal test of endurance.