One of the last two massage therapists standing, Ramona Pleva gave her all during the 2006 Ford Ironman Triathlon World Championship.
Living into the legendary contest that drew about 2,000 athletes to Kona, Hawaii, Pleva was one of an estimated 100 volunteer certified massage therapists who soothed aches and pains at the finish line. She and her friend Sue Looney, a certified massage therapist from Wichita, Kansas, were the last two therapists working when the 17-hour event ended at midnight on October 21.
Massage therapists got busy in their tent as the first finishers began trickling in eight hours after the race began. Pleva did not break pace even when a 30-minute monsoon swept through the area that evening and wreaked havoc on the massage tent. All afternoon and night, when Pleva finished with one person, she just called for another.
"We were acknowledged and thanked the next day,” said Pleva of her and Looney's effort. "One of my athletes gave me his lei as a thank you "” all the athletes are very gracious for all the support they get.”
By the time the race was over 1,628 athletes completed grueling test of skill and stamina that had them swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run a marathon.
The massage therapists gave each finisher a light sports massage, meant to soothe and relax a hyped up, overtaxed nervous system. This approach is different from the focused therapeutic massage Pleva provides clients in her Traverse City practice, but the lower intensity also helped her pace herself for the duration.
Plus she had a healthy dose of motivation from the Ironman participants.
"Your feet are killing you but you don't care, you're there for the athletes "” they're so inspiring,” said Pleva, who has practiced in Traverse City for nearly ten years. "They've been through more mental and physical exhaustion that day that my aches and pains meant nothing.”
Pleva did take a break for an hour to watch the finish line, amazed at the intensity of the experience and how the crowd cheered each person completing the odyssey. She saw lots of matching T-shirts among family and friends cheering an athlete on the course, some with heart-tugging messages like one stating: "From Cancer to Kona.”
"Every athlete that crosses the finish line is a champion,” she noted. "And unlike every other sport where there's one winner, they get the same enthusiastic response from the crowd at 17 hours as they do at 8 ½ hours.”
Pleva estimated that about 100-150 of the competitors were professional athletes while the remaining amateur athletes were selected from 400,000 applications. The participants in the amateur ranks came in all shapes, sizes and ages. One 76-year-old woman, who has set records in her age group, finished with 57 seconds to spare before the midnight cut off, earning wild applause from the crowd.
"It is a family,” she said of the athletes and their support team. "You see people crossing the finish line in the final hours and they don't have the physique of an elite athlete, they might be 60 or 70 years old and it's amazing to see them cross.”
Pleva's connection to Hawaii came via Italy: while attending a massage class there last year, another student asked her to join the Ironman massage team. Pleva jumped at the by-invitation-only opportunity, saved her money for the trip and spent just over a week in Hawaii last month. She made time for sightseeing, parasailing and more massage training around the October 21 Ironman event and has every intention to go next year.
A devoted Traverse City Rotary Club member, Pleva gave a nod to the organization's motto of "Service Above Self” as another facet of inspiration.
"I kind of felt that way when I was there,” she said of her stint in the massage tent. "But I think I'll have a hard time justifying that as Service Above Self: a trip to Hawaii.”