By David Freeze
Katie Efird Shines at Kona Ironman Championships
Katie Efird has been running since she was a child, encouraged by her dad, a runner himself. Katie said, “I have always just loved it and felt most alive when running.”
Then in 2021, her husband, Caleb, completed the Smiley Sprint Triathlon in Clemmons. Katie brought the kids and cheered him on, thinking it looked like fun. At the time, Katie didn’t own a bike and didn’t know how to put her head under water to freestyle swim.
Katie wanted to do a triathlon herself and said, “The following summer of 2022, we did the Smiley Tri together. A few months later Caleb completed the NC 70.3 in Wilmington. Again, I thought it looked like fun, so I signed up, and we completed that same tri together the following year. In September of 2023, he did the Chattanooga full Ironman. You’ve probably noticed a pattern here.”
The following year, September 2024, both Efird’s completed Ironman Chattanooga together. Unfortunately, Hurricane Helen came through that weekend, and the swim portion of the race was cancelled. The bike and run are Katie’s two stronger legs, so it being a bike/run race worked in her favor. Katie said, “I never expected to qualify for Kona, so it was never really a goal. But I managed to come in 3rd in my age group at Chattanooga which had five Kona World Championship slots. I was honestly conflicted on whether or not to even accept the slot, but everyone I spoke to told me it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and that I absolutely needed to accept it. Since the swim was cancelled at Chattanooga, I really wanted to do a “full” Ironman where I could compete in all three disciplines. So why not do it in Kona?”
Katie spent the past 22 weeks training for the October 11th event in Kona. She was most nervous about the 2.4-mile ocean swim, so she signed on with a swim coach. After teaching herself how to swim for the Smiley Tri, Katie knew her technique had a lot of room for improvement. She said, “I worked really hard on that this summer. My training block went well. Many of my weeks, I spent between 17-19 hours training. That training included four 100-mile bike rides. I did most of my swim training at the YMCA, my long rides in western Rowan/Iredell County, and my runs around Salisbury and China Grove. I felt so incredibly supported by friends and family going into this race!”
Katie’s main goal in Kona was to just finish but she hoped to beat 12 hours. She was very happy with a finish time of 11 hours and 53 minutes. Katie’s initial thoughts on the world-famous course were that it was absolutely beautiful, but also very challenging. Katie said, “The ocean water was very choppy which made it difficult to see her best route because of the waves. The bike segment was windy and hot, and the run was also hot. I say that just to highlight the difficulty of the course, not to complain about my experience. I did double up on my usual water intake during the event.”
This year’s Ironman Championship in Kona was the women’s only race. The Men’s World Championship was in Nice, France two weeks before. Next year, both male and female championships will return to Kona. Katie added, “It was an incredible experience with the beautiful scenery, the amazing volunteers and knowing I was out on the course with the best triathletes from all over the world! I was so inspired by the other women and their speed, grit, and determination. There were several para-athletes, and also an 80-year-old woman who finished and set a record as the oldest woman to complete an Ironman.”
Katie is a 38-year-old stay at home mom who homeschools their two kids, ages 6 and 8. Caleb works at Food Lion. Close friend Hannah traveled to the Big Island with them to support the couple. They left the Big Island on Tuesday and flew to Oahu for a few days before returning home.
Katie said, “We wanted to make sure to maximize our time in Hawaii and see as many National Parks, state parks and monuments as possible while soaking in as much of the scenery, history, and culture as we could. We returned to Salisbury on Friday. I’m not sure what’s next yet, but I know my main goal is to glorify God in whatever I do, whether that’s racing again or stepping into something new.”
Next weekend has the St. Matthews 5K on Saturday morning and Spooky Sprint 5K on Sunday afternoon. Look for more on both races and other events ahead at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org
