By BILL BULEY

Staff writer

One more time.

One more Ironman for Rod Wharton. Just one more. And he says that will be it.

Next Sunday's Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene should be his last. At 5-11, "hopefully 202 pounds," he's ready to go the distance one final time.

"I said after I did the first one, I'd like to do 10 of these," the 54-year-old said, laughing. "I sure wish now I'd said nine. I'd of been a whole lot better off right now if I'd of said I'd like to do nine."

Bet on number 10.

He has entered nine Ironmans, he has completed nine Ironmans: Ironman Coeur d'Alene five times, Canada three times, and Kona, once. He smiles and chuckles often as he recounts stories of training for and racing Ironmans past.

There was that 1998 race in Canada, when it was 105 degrees, he finished the 112-mile bike ride, plopped down in a chair for a massage before the 26.2-mile run, and fell asleep and wouldn't wake up.

"I was out cold," he recalled. "There's not a lot of difference between what a dead person looks like in a chair and a guy sleeping."

Wharton snapped awake when a volunteer started shouting for a medic, and despite believing he might be having a stroke - he had slurred speech and he couldn't move his hands - he headed out for the 26.2-mile run and seven hours later, finished.

Later, a friend asked him, "What part of you, when you thought you were having a stroke, thought it was a good idea to go out and run a marathon?"

Wharton, a 1974 Coeur d'Alene High School graduate, shakes his head and just laughs again.

"That's the Ironman mentality, I will finish," he said.

There was that 2008 race, when he came across the finish with a friend, Glenn Mabile, in 16 hours, 49 minutes, his slowest ever, and one he completed on almost no training.

Three miles into the run, Mabile turned to Wharton and said, "Rod, this sucks."

To which Wharton replied, "Glenn, the cool thing is, it gets worse."

"You know what was great about that finish? Glen's wife came up and gave him a hug when he finished, then she came over and gave me a big hug and said, 'Thanks for protecting my husband.' That one made me just about cry. OK, cool, it was good to help him finish."

Don't get the idea, though, that the Coeur d'Alene man doesn't prepare. He does.

He has completed 200-mile training rides on the bike. He has swam across Lake Coeur d'Alene, from Arrow Point to Sanders Beach. He has spent five hours on the trainer in the living room. He has logged thousands of running miles.

The wholesale wine distributor grins as he talks about training in those early years with friends Bill Travis, Al Harrison and Don Ashenbrenner.

"We trained so much, we all got in trouble the same week. Our wives don't really know each other, but the same week they gave us the same, 'That's enough. Knock it off,'" he said,

After Sunday, he will.

Just one more time.

How has your training gone this year?

This will probably be the most difficult one.

I've always said anyone can do this race barring physical limitations. This year I have physical limitations. My hip has given me a problem, but you know what, I'll get through it. I've never signed up for one of these, started, and not finished.

So you're nine for nine?

Nine for nine. I have friends who can't say that.

How do you finish every time?

You do the math first. OK, what's it going to take to get through it. You've got an hour five on the swim, you've got some transition in there, six to probably seven hours on the bike, then again a nice transition, I take all the time in the world on the transition. As long as I have seven hours for the marathon, I know I can walk every step and finish in time.

Any race strategy on the course?

Each time inside of a race, I've been lucky enough to find someone I can go

see WHARTON, C2

WHARTON

from C1

with, talk with communicate. That misery loves company thing.

Training for it, same gig. You've got bunches of people we see out there all the time and just pick up with somebody different. Hey, we're out here for the same reason.

Why do you keep doing Ironman?

It's just personal gratification. It doesn't mean a hill of beans to anyone else. It's just you against the clock. And it's not really about the day as it was the journey getting there. That's the important thing.

How does your wife put up with all your Ironman training?

This year, she's my coach. I empowered her. I said, 'Here's the calendar, here's what I need to do each day. You can hold me accountable.' It's those days when I come home from work she goes, 'What do you have to do?' Well, the sheet says I've got two hours on the bike.' She says, 'Well, you might as well get in there because you're not getting any dinner until you do.'

She doesn't do Ironman or any of that stuff, but she's my team photographer. She knows how long it takes me to get to certain points along the course. She'd be good at teaching someone else, a family, how to watch for someone. She's been one of my best supporters.

Have you ever had any serious injuries training or racing?

There's two types of bike riders. Those that have crashed, those that will crash. Fortunately, I'm in the will-crash category.

How do you celebrate at the finish line?

I'm always happy to finally be done. One time, Bill grabbed me at the end in Canada and said, 'All right, we've got to walk around.' I said, 'Shoot Bill, I just walked 26.2 miles. How much more do we have to walk?'

It's mainly just sitting down. If I can go have a burger and fries. I'm happy.

How many more Ironmans will you do?

This is it.

You won't be back?

Nope. Ten is good.

You won't get the itch years down the road?

I can do smaller races and still be happy. I can go out and just bike ride, or ride the course and be happy. I've done enough long distance rides and things.

After all these years, what does Ironman mean to you?

I don't know what it's meant to me but I know what it's been for other people, as far as raising the bar for other individuals. Not people who are doing Ironman, but it's motivated other people to get off the couch and do more.

I've had friends say when I first started doing it, 'Well if you can do it, I know I can do it.' They only did one or two. I just kind of kept on going.

Do you recommend others try Ironman?

Like Bill told me, anyone can do the race if they train. I just proved they can do the race even if they don't train. It helps to have a mindset what it takes to get it done, though. That's a lot of it. It's a mental game out there.

So you don't take Ironman too seriously?

I don't take a whole lot of things seriously. That's the beautiful thing about it. I don't get so caught up in it that I live and breathe it. I'll be OK.

SNAPSHOT

Rod Wharton

Date of birth: 6-30-56

Education: Couple years at NIC

Family: Wife, Deb. Six grandchildren

Number of hours on average you work in a week: 50-plus

Number of hours on average you sleep in a night: 5

Hobbies: Sailing, biking, swimming

Best advice you ever received: From Bill Travis, "Good luck, don't panic.'

One person who most influenced your life: My dad, Mike. Good, strong, military discipline.

Quality you admire most in a person: Integrity

Any one thing you consider your greatest accomplishment: I would have thought for a while Ironman was one of those things. But there's more important things in life. Greatest accomplishment? Serving on a mission trip.