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Following in his father's footsteps

BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 8 months AGO
by BILL BULEY
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | June 23, 2011 9:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - Come Sunday morning, Robert and Kenny Tate will be standing together at City Beach waiting for the 7 a.m. start of the Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene.

The father and son will wish each other well, shake hands and share a final hug. Then, once the canon roars to signal the race is under way, they likely won't see each other for another 15 hours or so.

Unless ...

"We'll be together on the beach and that will be the last time," said 47-year-old Robert Tate. "He's a really fast swimmer. There's no way I can keep up with him."

Kenny Tate, at 18, is among the youngest competitors in the field. He's got youth on his side, but at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, he's also got a bit of a fitness edge over his 5-10, 235-pound dad.

But honestly, he says, he's not worried about finishing ahead of his father, who completed Ironman last year.

"I think it's going to be a great experience for me," he said.

The two struck a bargain before the 2010 Ironman. Kenny said more than once, "OK dad, if you finish, I'll do it with you next year."

Robert, a civil engineer, did it, coming in around 11:30 p.m., a half-hour before the midnight cutoff.

"I barely finished," Robert said, laughing.

"I knew he would finish," Kenny added as the two sat in Calypso's coffee shop on Lakeside Avenue. "It was just in what time he would finish."

Just in time, turned out.

Kenny knew what he had to do.

"OK, I guess I have to live up to my word," he said.

So the two have spent much of the past year training together - when Robert can keep up.

"He's a lot faster than me so he leaves me in the dust," he said.

The Coeur d'Alene men are coached by Chris Baker, and both believe they're ready as can be for the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run.

Robert said he's trained with a little more intensity this year. He noted the swim alone last year took more than 2 hours, so he hopes to do better in the water this time around.

"I barely survived the swim," he said. "But the year before, I couldn't swim across the pool. I knew I'd be OK on the bike, and I pretty much power-walked the marathon."

Having his son involved this year has turned grueling training weeks into moments to remember, beyond just another 50-mile bike ride or another five-mile run.

The two are close and share a love of camping.

Add Ironman to their list of father-son activities.

"It means a lot to me," Robert said. "It's something I think in 20 years he'll look back on and hopefully do the same with his kids."

Kenny, a 2011 Lake City High School graduate who plans to attend college to pursue a forestry degree, nodded in agreement.

"It's a great experience being able to hang around with my dad more," he said. "I don't have very many years here left."

Both have learned something new about the other while preparing for Ironman.

"He's consistent and pretty resilient," Kenny said of his dad.

"He has incredible talent," Robert said of his son. "Getting him to channel that talent, once he puts it all together, it's amazing."

Come Sunday, both will have plenty of family members cheering them. Robert's goal is to beat the darkness.

"I want to finish before I have to have the glow stick," he said, smiling.

Kenny declined to predict when he'll finish, but said he won't be surprised if his dad isn't far behind.

"That's great for him," he said.

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