It takes a special kind of person to run a marathon. It takes an extraordinary person to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles all in the same day. Jen Lenarz, Dakota County Sheriff’s Deputy, is one of only 1,800 people in the world to qualify to compete in the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii on Oct. 9. Lenarz will complete all three grueling challenges in what has been called “the triathlon’s Super Bowl, Wimbledon, World Series, World Cup, and Tour de France all rolled into one.” Only the extremely lucky or talented even get a chance to compete.Lenarz is one of the very talented. On Aug. 29, she placed third in her age group at the Ironman in Louisville, Kentucky to earn her spot with a time of 11 hours, 2 minutes. Other competitors, both men and women, earned spots by competing in one of 28 races around the world. About 200 slots are determined by lottery and go to the “extremely lucky.”
When asked what it takes to qualify, Lenarz said, “Hard work and dedication and never giving up on my dream.” Over the last five years, Lenarz completed seven Ironman competitions. The average triathlete trains 18–22 hours per week, which includes swimming about seven miles, biking about 230 miles and running almost 50 mile—every week.
When Lenarz isn’t training, she patrols Dakota County, serves on the SWAT team and volunteers to help with the Minnesota Special Olympics. Jen Lenarz is happy to share her story. Contact her at 651-438-4750 or Jennifer.lenarz@co.dakota.mn.us. For more information about the Ironman World Championship, visit www.ironman.com.