Ready for race day

COEUR d'ALENE — "Oh, that's cold."

With that comment, Kayla Bowker stood on the final step at Independence Point and paused before going for a 30-minute swim in Lake Coeur d'Alene on a sunny Friday morning.

The 58-degree water, though, is the last of her worries before she joins about 2,500 athletes in Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene on Sunday.

In fact, the Spokane woman has no fears about swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and then running 13.1 miles.

She plans to enjoy every stroke and step.

"I love this race," she said.

The reason for this year's optimism is simple.

A few years ago, she was hit by a car during a training bike ride, broke her ankle and missed the race.

Last year, she was pregnant and had to bow out.

This year, she's happy, healthy and strong.

She loves the race-day vibe in Coeur d'Alene. The crowd support is fantastic and the run course that winds through the Sanders Beach neighborhood and along Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive is a favorite.

"I love this run. It's fast, it's fun, it's challenging. And the people that come out for it are amazing," Bowker said. "I don't know that there's very few runs on all Ironman circuits that have people everywhere. It's awesome."

And that's not even the best part.

Her family, including the 11-month-old son who kept her out of the 2021 full Ironman, will be at the finish line to greet her with hugs and kisses.

"I'm looking forward to a great day," she said.

Many of the athletes registered for Sunday's Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene were at Independence Point and getting used to cold Lake Coeur d'Alene with some practice swims.

The water is expected to be calm for the 6 a.m. start that's followed by the bike and ends with the run.

Brett Heron of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, finished a swim and said the water was "a little bit chilly off to start. Got used to it pretty quick."

He and wife Brittany were married a few weeks ago, and both are entered in Sunday's race.

They laughed as they explained competing in a half Ironman wasn't part of their honeymoon. They're here because Coeur d'Alene was driving distance for them, and they heard great things about the town and the race.

"I feel pretty good. Not as well trained as I'd like to be because we were planning a wedding," Brittany said, smiling.

They'll start together, but Brittany will likely have a big lead out of the water.

"She's a fast swimmer, but I hope to catch her," Brett said.

Greg Lowhorn of St. Louis will be at the starting line, despite crashing on his bike last week and suffering some broken ribs and maybe a fractured hand. He's not really sure of the extent of his injuries because he didn't really want to know.

"I didn't go get checked on purpose because I didn't want them to put it in a cast and couldn't race," he said.

Does it hurt?

"Oh yeah, it hurts," he said. "But that's OK."

Lowhorn said he was going about 25 mph on a downhill when his hands slipped off the handlebars and he went down so hard he shattered the face of his watch.

Which, turns out, was a good thing.

"I think it saved me from breaking my arm, which is good," he said as he sat on the steps of Independence Point, putting on his wetsuit to go for a swim with sister Christina.

It will be the first half Ironman for both, with brother Michael set to arrive Saturday and join them.

Greg said they selected Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene from a spreadsheet of races Christina created for their consideration.

"The hardest one on her spreadsheet was how I selected it. I was like, 'Which one is the most vertical?' I figured if I'm going to be doing half of an Ironman, I want it to be a hard one," Greg said.

Each has high hopes for a great race. Greg talked about wanting to average well over 20 mph on the hilly course that travels south on U.S. 95, and finishing in five hours, while Christina is shooting for seven hours.

"I'm excited," she said. "I think I have a little more respect for the course."

She added that last August, when she decided to participate in Ironman 70.3 CDA, she couldn't run a mile without stopping. Since then, she's lost 35 pounds, trained over 2,000 miles and completed shorter triathlons.

Coeur d'Alene's course will be a challenge, but Christina said she and her brothers are up for it.

"This one isn't recommended for beginners and we're all beginners, but we're tough," she said.

They haven't settled on whether to start near the front of the swim pack, or hang out in the back. But Greg does know how he plans to celebrate when it's over.

"A case of Bud heavy," he said, laughing.