Hamilton resident Chris Draper rides through the bike portion of the 2012 Ultraman race in Hawaii.
Hamilton resident Chris Draper races 320 miles through Hawaii
There are easier ways to tour a Hawaiian island than the way Chris Draper does it.
But Draper would have it no other way.
A Hamilton Township resident for the past 10 years, the 37-year-old Draper just completed his fourth consecutive Ultraman World Championship competition in November. He has finished in the Top 3 of the 30-39 age group the last two years, and this year’s 26:24.39 time was his best-ever; it earned him eighth place overall.
For those familiar with the rigorous Ironman competition—a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon— the Ultraman takes it even further.
Established in 1983, the Ultraman bills itself as “an athletic odyssey of personal rediscovery, as such, it is the next step in the endurance challenge of being human.”
What that breaks down to in statistics is mind numbing. Taking place on the Big Island of Hawaii, the UM contest requires each participant to cover a distance of 320 miles, including a 6.2-mile ocean swim, a 261.4-mile cross-country bike ride and a 52.4-mile ultra-marathon run, all over a span of three days.
It takes a lot of guts just to fill out an application in search of an invitation for such an event, let alone compete in it. But bolstered by his past athletic successes in power lifting and marathon races, Draper applied in the summer of 2010 and was originally chosen as an alternate that year. He would be invited if someone pulled out or got injured.
The UM is run over Thanksgiving weekend, and Draper was already entered in the Ironman Florida competition the first Saturday in November. As luck would have it, in October, 2010, Draper was invited to UM after several athletes pulled out.
“Now, I had a decision to make—do Ironman Florida or not?” Draper said. “Well, I did it and had my best Ironman performance, going sub-10 hours with a time of 9:45.”
That time is considered a stellar accomplishment by Ironman standards, as the competitors are given 17 hours to finish the event.
Three weeks later, Draper had to step it up a notch. He figured his first UM would probably be his last.
“It was to be an event that I was just happy to be involved with,” he said. “Kind of like a deer in headlights…utmost respect for a distance event feeling. The goal was just to finish.
“Amazingly, I did very well in all aspects of the first race. I would not have changed anything about it. My preparation was great, my crew was stellar and I was very happy with my outcome.”
At age 34, Draper finished 15th overall and sixth in the 30-39 age group with a time of 26 hours, 13 minutes and 4 seconds.
“I really enjoyed the journey UM provided and like my early marathons, I thought ‘Hey I can do better,’ and lo and behold my quest to crack the Top 10 began,” he said. “I immediately started analyzing and projecting what I could do better for 2011, 2012 and now 2013.
“Luckily, I have been blessed with physical well-being and support from family, friends and loved ones to continue my quest to move up the finishing ladder.”
He credits much of his internal drive to his grandfather teaching him baseball in the backyard at age 7.
“I remember standing in his backyard hitting baseballs piled high in a box like a golfer’s bucket at a driving range,” Draper said. “It is this obsessive/perfectionist personality that allows me to excel, that pulls me into training sessions at 4 a.m. and sometimes doubling up after 12 to 15 hours work til 8 p.m.”
In 2011, Chris finished 10th overall and fifth in the 30-39 age group (25:59.58); followed by a ninth-place overall finish and first in 30-39 (26:45.08). This year, he had his highest overall finish in eighth place and was second in 30-39.
“I would have to say this year was one of the most competitive races,” Draper said. “When one looks at the pure finishing times it may not seem like it. The weather on the Big Island goes through 11 different climate changes, and Mother Nature did not disappoint this year.
“There were hot temperatures, 30 to 40 mile per hour winds, downpours and everything in between. Take these conditions and even the best possible fitness I could have spells, something may happen to that fitness.”
Draper said the swimming portion has always been his nemesis. He has spent countless hours training for the discipline but said “the more I have trained … the more the course has pushed back.”
The swim goes from Kailua Bay to Keahou Bay, and Draper said “it can be calm one minute and then produce swells and rip currents the next. The challenge for each athlete is usually around the three-hour mark entering Keahou Bay, as there is a washing machine effect from two bays entering and emptying water.”
Last year, Draper swam a time of 4:22.23, while this year he improved to 3:54.51.
“The swim challenged me once again going into Keahou Bay,” he said. “The bike did not disappoint, I thrive in tough conditions. I like to go fast when the race is slow. This possesses risk, but maximal reward.”
Draper said he benefitted from both the risk and reward. On the second day of the two-day bike discipline—170 miles—he crashed on mile 30 and suffered tattered garments and road rash.
“But it’s UM, you must keep going and I did,” he said.
He finished fifth that day with a personal best of 8 hours, 17 minutes. But the effects of the crash “haunted me” the next day on the 52.4-mile run.
“It made the effort harder than ever, even with superb form,” said Draper, who finished in 8:17.33. “I was hoping for a 7:30 finish, but I knew it wasn’t meant to be after the first marathon mark where I was fighting to keep my goal pace.
“But, thanks to my (support) crew of wife Michelle and DT&N-coached athletes Marty Hammond and Jim Dennis I was able to salvage a seventh-place run finish and an overall best eighth place.”
Draper said the biggest emphasis this year was on the bike, as he finished fifth in both days of riding.
“Sometimes when you push the envelope you can go over,” he said. “I did, but I would do it again. When I arrived on the island, Oliver from Cycle Station called and said, ‘Your bike is toast.’ My bike had been cracked in half in transit.”
With a little help from a local business owner, Draper’s bike was fixed in time for the race.
“You can do all the preparation in the world; it is these little bumps in the road that can be disastrous,” he said. “Again, I had to pull from my training to be patient, to ‘Keep calm and carry on.’”
That is the attitude he took in the grueling running portion of the event, even when suffering from his bike crash the day before. And he again got help from his standout support crew.
“It takes all the mental concentration an individual can muster,” Draper said. “I like to set a goal of not stopping. By not stopping I can keep a rhythm pace that makes the run enjoyable as it can be.”
Draper said the most important parts of the process are hydration, nutrition and a strong support system. His crew, including UM official Jay Plasman and his son Tyler, Draper’s wife Michelle and Tony Vitella, Julia Rucco, Jim Dennis and Marty Hammond, all athletes he trains, have stuck with him every step, pedal and stroke of the way.
Draper grew up in Scranton, Pa. and earned a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from Marywood University. He is the owner of Draper Training & Nutrition (DT&N) in Ewing, which opened in 2000. The business caters to local, national and international clientele.
Through DT&N he now coaches, trains and councils health and wellness to endurance individuals. A conversation with one of his trainees led to his starting to train in biking and swimming for Ironman competitions and, ultimately, Ultraman events.
“It’s kind of funny how life works out,” Draper said. “But when you listen to your instincts, good things happen. In this case it has been 10 glorious years.”
With all the training required for the UM, Draper is unsure about returning next year or how many years he has left. But he senses his competitive urge will kick in.
“Too soon to tell, we will see,” he said with a grin. “I gotta let the body recover. But, ahhh, what the heck, I would like to continue to challenge myself and move up in standings.”
,
