Pittsburgh, October 11, 2010 -- Joseph Maroon, MD, clinical professor of neurosurgery and Heindl Scholar in Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, completed a personal best time of 15 hours, 40 minutes and 31 seconds in the 2010 Ironman World Championship Triathlon held October 9 in Kona, Hawaii.

The Hawaiian Ironman event is widely considered one of the most grueling endurance competitions in the world and consists of a 2.4-mile swim in the ocean, followed by a 112-mile bike ride through the Hawaiian lava fields, and then a 26.2-mile full-marathon.

(For an interesting read on the race, see Ironman Kona: 'It's like the highway to hell' at universalsports.com)

Dr. Maroon commented that this year's Ironman -- his seventh -- “stretched my limits to the maximum...physically, mentally and spiritually.” During the bike portion of the event, the temperature rose to 96° F with crosswinds gusting up to 30 mph, resulting in several wrecks.

Dr. Maroon's time placed him 17th in his age division (70-74) and 1,725th overall.

He qualified for the event by winning his age division at the Muncie (Indiana) Endurathon in July.

(left to right), Dr. Maroon at run finish, during bike portion and
at finish of Ironman. (Click image for larger view.)