Edwards Airman participates in Ironman World Championship

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William O'Brien
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  An Edwards Airman from the 95th Aerospace Medicine Squadron placed 10th in her age group at the Ironman World Championship held in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, on Oct. 11.

First Lt. Lisa Newman-Wise, a bioenvironmental engineer, competed against some of the best Ironman athletes in the world in swimming, biking, and running, finishing with a time of 11 hours and 14 minutes.

"Lieutenant Newman-Wise is a role model officer who cares about the well being of others," said Maj. Waikwong Kan, 95th AMDS bioenvironmental engineering flight commander. "She is a living example of a 'fit to fight' Airman."

The race is comprised of three endurance events -- a 2.4-mile swim, 26.2-mile run, and 112-mile bike course -- for a total of 140.6 miles. More than 1,700 people participated in the event.

"I started doing triathlons as a hobby," said Lieutenant Newman-Wise. "And in my first few races, I did well. That motivated me to work harder and strive to compete in bigger competitions like the Hawaii Ironman."

She said that the 95th Medical Group has provided great encouragement to her in this extracurricular athletic pursuit.

To prepare for the race, Lieutenant Newman-Wise trains around 20 hours a week. She usually performs about five hours of swimming, a minimum of five hours of running and about 10 hours of biking.

The night before a big race, Lieutenant Newman-Wise says she eats pancakes for dinner and goes to sleep early because race days start early.

Lieutenant Newman-Wise finished 10th in her age group, and was the first to complete the event out of all other female military competitors.

"I'm proud of my completion time," Lieutenant Newman-Wise said. "It's my personal best in Hawaii and an improvement over last year."

Lieutenant Newman-Wise competes in various Ironman, Half-Ironman and other shorter triathlons throughout the year. She said she would be willing to talk with anyone who is interested in taking up the sport.