They didn’t compete in the race, but 11 medical students played a big part in pulling off the 40th annual Ironman World Championship on October 13 in Kailua-Kona.
The students from the (JABSOM) flew to Hawaiʻi Island to report for duty, staffing the first-aid tents at the race.
Fourth-year medical student Keahi Horowitz is the veteran. He has volunteered four years in a row, this time showing the ropes to second-year students Lucia Amore and Jenna Yoshisato, co-coordinators of the JABSOM trip, and eight first-year students who enthusiastically pitched in at the legendary sporting event.
“It was non-stop from when we began our afternoon shift at the medical tent at 3 p.m. until the next morning at 1 a.m., when we signed off,” said Amore. The Ironman is a 140.6-mile race by swim, bike and run.
One of the first stops for race participants is the weigh-in tent, where medical workers assess dehydration that an athlete has suffered. The JABSOM students helped with the pre-race measurements of all athletes, then treated those who needed help with oral rehydration therapy consisting of water, Gatorade or hot broth.
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—By Tina Shelton