To a list which includes the likes of the Dalai Lama, Madeleine Albright and Bill Whitaker, we can now add the name of IRONMAN triathlon GOAT Mark Allen.
Allen of course is revered in swim/bike/run circles for an astonishing athletic career topped by six IRONMAN World Championship titles in the brutal surroundings of Kona, Hawaii.
Those memorable victories on the ‘Big Island’ – notably that 1989 ‘Iron War’ win over arch rival Dave Scott – have gone down into endurance sports folklore. They also gave Allen a wider platform to talk about what drove him to glory.
Not bad for a guy who admits he was in limbo after completing his degree in biology at University of California San Diego in 1980, and who took part in his first IRONMAN event without truly knowing what he was letting himself in for, and with the sole goal of finishing it, rather than winning it.
Allen returned to his alma mater UCSD (UC San Diego) last week to deliver a commencement speech to the graduates of 2025 – joining that illustrious list of previous speakers. He described it as “the highest honour that I have ever received in my entire life”.
His rousing, inspirational words were very much focused around that journey of being able to turn those feelings of frustration around into ones of hope and determination.
Learning how to win
Recalling how his first race in 1982 had sadly ended early due to a bike malfunction, he said the race had whetted his appetite for more, and had also served up a first, intriguing, tussle with Scott as they rode out of the swim in first and second place before disaster struck with his gears.
“From 1982 to 1990, I raced the IRONMAN [World Championship] six times, and my results sounded pretty darn good. I finished fifth twice. I finished third once. I even finished second twice. But those results don’t show what was going on, on the race course.
“I could be leading at the end of the bike. I could be leading halfway through the marathon. I could be leading even with a few miles to go in the marathon, but I always kept falling apart and slowing down, sometimes even walking. And Dave Scott kept winning, and I kept not winning.
“I was getting disillusioned, disappointed. I wrote a letter to the universe. I said, ‘Dear universe, Mark Allen here, I think you forgot about me. I did 15,000 miles of swimming, cycling and running, and I did not win that race. I deserve to win that race. In fact, universe, you know what? I resign. I quit. I’m gonna give up on this dream. I’m gonna go to the other races around the world where it’s easier for me to race well, where I’ve shown that I can win, where I can beat Dave Scott’.
“What I did not realise at the time, was that those six races – where I did not win, where I struggled, where I thought I had it, and then it would get ripped from my hand – I was learning skills that were going to eventually help me to become the IRONMAN champion many times.”
Focus on yourself
The key lesson learned was for Allen to focus on himself, rather than think about needing to beat Scott, whose tactic was to be aggressive and try to control the race. He had to run the race his way and not get caught up in what other competitors were or were not doing.
He said: “When I went to Kona, I was trying to be like Dave. To be aggressive, and it takes so much energy to try to be like somebody else. It takes no energy to be yourself. You know, there’s that saying, ‘you may as well be yourself. Everybody else is taken’.
“When I went to Kona in 1989, after preparing for what would now be my seventh IRONMAN. I could hear the island calling, like a whisper in the wind. ‘You have to come back… You have to come back’. And I knew that little pitchfork inside my heart was still humming and buzzing. I still had a purpose and a reason to go there.
“Dave Scott and I swam the entire swim together. I stayed on his feet the entire 2.4-miles of swimming. Every three or four minutes, I would just tap his foot to let him know I was back there. I knew he hated that. We biked 112-miles through incredible winds. We ran side-by-side, mile-after-mile of the marathon. At the half marathon point, Dave decided he was going to play his best cards. He started surging and surging, and surging, and it started to get more difficult and harder to stay with him.
“Eventually, it got to the point where I did not think I could do it anymore. And then my mind went nuts with all the stuff that does not help me out. Ah, ‘Dave Scott’s so strong, he’s gonna win again. I shouldn’t have come back. My legs are killing me. When I’m done with this thing, I’m gonna get an office job’.”
Trusting in life
It was at this point where his new levels of mental strength kicked in, and focusing on an image he had seen days before the race of a smiling, 110-year-old Medicine Man from Central Mexico
“It was a smile that was truly that smile of trusting in life,” he said. “Like, you know that you’re going to have tough times, but you trust enough in life and in yourself, that you know that you will make it through those times. It may not be easy, but you will make it through.
“When my mind went quiet, his image came back to me. And suddenly, my whole race changed. I trusted that no matter how that day turned out, I was going to be okay. Whether I won, got second, fell apart. I stopped focussing on the impossibility of staying on pace with this great champion, but instead, I saw all of the things that were still possible in that race.
“I was still with Dave Scott. It was hard, but he had not broken away yet. There was still about 13 miles to go in this marathon. Something might change. And everything did. The only sound that you could hear was the sound of our four sweat-soaked shoes hitting that hot lava pavement, squishing over and over and over.
“At mile 24-and-a-half, with just over a mile to go, I played my card. I surged, and Dave Scott did not have an answer. I came down that finishing chute and I had a smile spread across my face as wide as the universe. This was a performance that had taken me seven years to get right.”
Allen’s speech last week was not just about triathlon of course, but constantly through it ran the thread of hope and desire and ambition. It was stirring stuff, and the class of 2025 absolutely loved it.
Not for nothing is ‘The Grip’ rightly regarded as a true legend of the sport… with his ‘never give up’ attitude clearly still serving as an inspiration to this day.
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