I wonder what people used to do in Coeur d'Alene on the fourth Sunday in June?

Since 2003, Coeur d'Alene and various surrounding areas have been home to Ironman Coeur d'Alene. An infusion of athletes, supporters, tourists and cowbells turns downtown into a festive area, especially from mid-afternoon on as athletes sprint - or hobble, or walk - down Sherman Avenue to the strains of rock 'n roll music and the sound of the P.A. guy booming, "YOU are an Ironman!"

And, after today, the scene will repeat itself here for at least five more years, through the 2017 Ironman Coeur d'Alene.

Sure, there are some who voice their concerns over being inconvenienced by Ironman - perhaps they lived on or near the bike course, and were either boxed in or had to take a longer route to get to where they needed to go.

Or they didn't like sharing the road with all those cyclists in their final weeks of training. Or it was a pain in the butt getting to downtown on race day.

Or whatever.

Given enough time, many of us have an Ironman horror story.

When the bike course used to run through Hayden, as it did through last year, the road to work for me on race day got a little more creative - over to U.S. 95, or even to Ramsey, then hop on I-90 to the Fourth Street exit, and wind my way downtown, slip in the back way to the office parking lot.

One year, 95 was like a parking lot near the onramp to the freeway, which was frustrating.

So I understand people's pain.

But for those that do come downtown, it's hard not to watch the competitors finish and not be inspired - especially when you envision yourself charging toward the finish line and hearing the P.A. guy calling your name and saying "YOU are an Ironman!"

Yeah, I could do that - maybe next year.

Well, maybe not.

My favorite part of Ironman is to wander down to the finish line in the final hour, as the last people on the course try to finish before the midnight cutoff for being declared an Ironman, and root them on.

During that time, you see competitors of all shapes, ages and sizes — not always the lean, mean athletes that crossed the finish line hours earlier, straining to finish in time, cheered on by lots of people — most of which have no idea who they are cheering for, or where they are from. Doesn’t matter — they just admire the effort.

So you can empathize with the final finishers, because they’re kinda like us.

• Apparently former NFL coach Dave Shula is entered in this year’s Ironman.

The son of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, Dave Shula played for the Baltimore Colts, and once coached the Cincinnati Bengals at age 32, and later was president of Shula’s Steak House, which makes me hungry just typing that sentence. These days, he has completed two Ironmans, including Ironman Coeur d’Alene in 2009.

• This year’s Ironman Coeur d’Alene is the first since the explosion of Twitter on social media.

So I figured I’d see what the tweeps are tweeting about leading up to today’s 10th version of Ironman Cd’A.

There weren’t a ton, but a few people chimed in.

“I have major ants in my pants, cant wait to race sunday!!” tweeted Jacklyn Applegate, from Carmichael, Calif.

On Friday, Brian Taylor tweeted “One word about the water temp on my swim this morning in CdA... “shocking!” takes my breath away for a minute.”

Ironman will do that to you.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.