With a mending broken collarbone, Siobhan (pronounced “Chivon”) Maize, age 38, recently came in second overall female in the Kiawah Island Olympic Distance Triathlon. Although respectable, this feat isn't what's impressive. It was the fact that Maize completed the Ironman Coeur d'Alene three months earlier after having fallen off her bike, which resulted in a fracture of her collarbone.

Upon successfully completing the swim portion of the race - coming out of the water sixth in her age group - she started out strong on her bike and fell off it between miles 2 and 3 of the 112 mile bike leg after making an error in judgment. Maize says, “I knew immediately I was hurt, hurt to the point of knowing I should go to the nearest medical tent. Three spectators came over to me and helped me up, picked my bike up and motivated me to keep going. I was in so much pain and couldn't move my arm but I looked over my bike as best as I could and it seemed OK. Had my bike been damaged I could have been immediately disqualified so I was thankful that it seemed unaffected from the fall. At this point, I figured I would get on my bike and ride to the nearest medical tent. However, once I got moving, I made the mental commitment to finish. I knew with the pain I was in, it was going to be the hardest physical and mental struggle of my life. I had worked too hard for 12 months straight though to give up. At around mile 80 my chain came off my bike, which required me to stop, dismount from my bike and try to get it back on. I couldn't lift my bike to confirm that I put the chain back on properly but it appeared to be on right and couldn't wipe the grease off one of my hands because I couldn't apply the pressure necessary to move it. So to make matters worse, for the remaining 30 miles I was constantly fighting with the grease that was now on my handlebars.”

Maize pushed through and finished the bike leg. As she entered the transition area, a volunteer realized she was in severe pain and immediately came to offer her assistance to help Maize off of her bike. Maize continues, “When the volunteer came up to me I told her I needed a minute as I thought I dislocated my shoulder. I had been hunched over in the biking position for 110 of the 112 miles and was in excruciating pain at this point. She offered to bring me to medical but reminded me if I did go I would be disqualified. I had just completed a 110 mile bike ride injured and wasn't going to walk away from the marathon portion. I had trained too hard for this day…20+ hours a week of biking, swimming and running. She then told me there were doctors in the transition area that could take a look at my injury without me being disqualified.”

As the volunteer left Maize to go find an available doctor, Maize went into the female changing area where other volunteers helped her change from her biking gear to her running wear. As Maize stepped out of the changing tent, two doctors were waiting for her. Maize says, “When I saw two doctors I knew that wasn't good as they were expecting to pop a dislocated shoulder back into place. Thankfully, I didn't have to endure that as one of them said my collarbone was broken…he could tell just by looking at it. I told them I didn't want to go to the medical tent and be disqualified and wanted to walk the marathon portion of the race. They agreed to let me continue and made a sling for me to wear and gave me a big ice pack to put on the injured area.”

As soon as the doctors helped her to her feet, she set out to face the 26.2 mile marathon leg of the trip. At this point, Maize had nine hours remaining to complete the race. As a frame of reference, she was expected to have finished the marathon portion in about four hours, had she not been injured. She calculated that by walking the distance, it would take her eight hours to finish the marathon leg, which would have allowed her enough time to cross the finish line by the mandatory cut-off time imposed on all racers. All racers are required to finish the course in full in less than 17 hours. As Maize had a strong swim and could maintain a somewhat consistent pace on her bike, she still had nine hours remaining in which to cross the finish line. Maize continues, “It helped that the initial two to three miles of the marathon were through the town. The people cheering for me really gave me the motivation to persevere. At around mile three or four, the ice from the ice pack had melted and the thought of walking 22 more miles was very daunting and it would take me that much longer to get the medical treatment I needed. So I committed to run/walk intervals. I had seen my husband, John, at around mile eight on the bike course and tried to yell to him “I fell!” so he knew I was hurt but never slowed down enough so he could fully understand me. Afterwards he told me he thought I yelled “big hill!”. At about mile 60 I slowed down enough to tell him I thought I dislocated my shoulder. It wasn't until he first saw me on the marathon course at about mile three that I could tell him I broke my collarbone. He gave me so much motivation throughout the course it was incredible. It really helped having him there to push me in a positive way.”

Even with a significant injury, which slowed her bike and marathon pace collectively by a few hours, she finished the Ironman in a respectable 13 hours, 15 minutes, 48 seconds. Out of a starting field of 2,153 racers, 120 did not finish. (As a comparison the first person finished in 8:32:12 and the last person finished in 16:58:14.)

Maize credits her ability to finish by personally repeating what a close friend told her throughout the year of training, “the race is all mental, the hard part is in the training.” She also found motivation from a song she had listened to earlier that day in the hotel room getting ready for the race. It was “Waking Up in Vegas” by pop-singer Katy Perry where she continuously repeated the lyrics, “Shut up and put your money where your mouth is”. And of course, her husband's motivation and support throughout the marathon leg.

After successfully completing the race, Maize and her husband were walking to their car so they could go to the local emergency room. While walking the route to get to their car, which was some distance away, they had to pass by the Coeur d'Alene police station and stopped in to ask directions to the local hospital. Maize says, “The police officers were so nice. Apparently, they had heard about my injury and that I was determined to finish the race. I was amazed that word got around the course about what I was going through. Everyone was so supportive! The officers made sure we got to our car quickly and out of the crowd.”

Maize was then diagnosed and treated for a fracture of her left collarbone at the Kootenai Medical Center Emergency Room in Coeur d'Alene, ID.

Once she returned to her home in Charleston, SC she soon thereafter began training for the Kiawah Island Olympic Distance Triathlon where she placed second overall female - even with a still healing collarbone.

Stephen Schlachter, her coach from TrySports, says, “Siobhan Maize is one of those people where you say her name in conversation and whether she's around or not everyone smiles. Whether it's her athletic achievements, her devotion to her family and friends, or her `do anything for anyone attitude' if you've ever met her you've remembered her. In terms of her ability to finish the Ironman, when it comes down to race day you have put so much effort into this training it doesn't matter what happens, no one is going to keep you from finishing this event. But finishing with a broken collarbone, that's another matter. Such sheer determination could have only come from one individual. You might ask where does this determination come from? I can't tell you exactly where it comes from, but I can tell you she has more of it than anyone I have ever met.”

When not fulfilling her responsibilities as an adjunct professor of psychology at the College of Charleston, Maize will turn her focus to train for the demanding 2010 Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge in Orlando, where she will run a half marathon on Saturday, January 9 and a full marathon on Sunday, January 10. On average, this mother of two young girls, ages 3 and 5, wins first to second place in all the events she participates in. Maize's training schedule varies depending on the race she is preparing for; however, on average, she bikes between 60 - 100 miles, runs 20 - 30 miles and swims about five miles each week. She also represents the TrySports Charleston, SC athletic store's Team Believe. Achieve. as a member of the Elite Triathlon Team.

Drawn to distances, Maize plans to participate in an Ironman again within the next three years and an ultra marathon one day but is looking forward to trying her hand at endurance coaching. She plans to enroll in the USA Triathlon's Coaching Certification Program in Las Vegas in December to become a Level I USA Triathlon (USAT) Certified Coach. (The USAT is the sanctioning authority for more than 2,000 diverse events, ranging from grassroots to high- profile races nationwide.) Once she finishes the Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge in January, she will immediately focus on a half Ironman and other distance triathlons.

Born in Northern Ireland to American parents, she learned young while living in many different states and countries that participating in sports was a great way to meet friends. Maize had been a recreational runner when she decided back in 1999 to train for her first marathon, the San Antonio Marathon, to meet new people after moving to Dallas. Over the years, she continued to run 5K's, 10K's, half-marathons and full marathons, and even qualified for the Boston Marathon two times, the most recent being one year after her youngest daughter was born. In 2007, she started to train for her first triathlon, the Charleston Sprint Triathlon. She continued with a half Ironman in May 2008 in Orlando. Shortly after the Orlando race, she signed up for and committed to the training for the June 21, 2009 full Ironman race. Maize explains her reasoning for signing up to compete in the 2009 Ironman, “About 10 years ago, I was at a local dog park in Dallas and saw someone with an Ironman jacket on and thought, `I want to do that one day.' I figured there was no better time than the present.”

Maize says that she doesn't have a specific idol in running, biking, or swimming. Rather she appreciates people's dedication to the sports they love. She admires more the everyday athlete that can make time for training while working and committing to family. Generally, she has found that racing isn't as popular for women due to the time constraints associated with the training and the responsibilities of work, home and family. Maize continues, “It's very hard to balance a training schedule with work and family but I was determined to figure out how to make it work. Training for a multi-disciplined sport is very hard in terms of making the time for each training segment. I admit I'm lucky in that I work part-time but still have my commitments to family and home. I generally get up at 5 a.m. for training and am very fortunate I have a supportive husband who helps with the girls while I train on the weekends.”

As her girls are getting a little older and see the medals she brings home, and hear her talk about her final place in a race she is very conscientious to teach her children that “its not a race but its fun”. It important to Maize to raise her children to understand that you don't have to win, rather it's committing to something you want to do and finishing it.

Her advice to those wanting to get into an exercise program but work full-time and have family commitments is not to set huge goals. Start out slowly. Most importantly, exercise first thing in the morning. She learned the hard way that oftentimes it's too easy to skip a work-out after work or on the weekend if you wait till later in the day to exercise. She recommends trying to set your alarm 20 minutes earlier in the morning so you can go for a walk, run, or complete a short exercise video. She says, “If you want to start working out, you'll be amazed how completing just 20 minutes of exercise in the morning will make you feel during the rest of the day. Yes, the initial two weeks you will be tired because of the new schedule but if you can get through the first two weeks you would have begun to set the foundation for an exercise program that you will be able to build on.” Maize does say that she believes whole-heartedly that oftentimes people beat themselves up too much when they try an exercise program and don't commit to the level they had hoped. However, on the flip side, she also believes some people don't push themselves enough to make the commitment. She concludes, “Just remember, set a small goal and stick to it.” That's just what she did.

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Photo by Action Sports International*