Cascades Climbing and Boston

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Messages 1 - 7 of total 7 in this topic
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 21, 2013 - 12:18pm PT

I'm not going near the "Explosions ..." thread with a ten foot pole and I'll probably be sorry to have posted this. But it is climbing related.

Most of you have probably seen the photo of Bill Iffrig on the ground near the finish line as it's become one of the iconic photos of the Boston bombing. His son Mark, is my main Washington climbing partner. The father, Bill, is a 78 yr old marathoner and did a lot of climbing in the Cascades with some FAs (at least first winter ascents) into his 70s. He's as tough as nails from Mark's descriptions, and Mark has stories about some remote Cascade peak (Goode?) where the youngsters (in their 40s) have all faded by the wayside, but Bill leads them off the mountain. And that's from Mark who climbs circles around me on those gnarly Cascade peaks. I think there was a year when Bill won every running distance (5K,10K,1/2 and marathon) in his age class in the regional road races, but that needs confirmation. Mark and I did Lexington Tower together, and I was with him when I hurt my shoulder.

Darwin
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 21, 2013 - 07:28pm PT

I meant to include this link to an interview with him by our local NPR radio station (there I blew my cover). The interview is sweet and a little funny. I don't like using "funny" juxtaposed with this topic, but check it out and come up with a better word. You got to love the guy.

http://www.kuow.org/post/stories-boston-marathon-finish-line


And this is the photo. It's not one of the horrific ones.

http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kuow/files/201304/billIffrig.jpg
Jerry Dodrill

climber
Sebastopol
Apr 21, 2013 - 08:31pm PT
Its an amazing image. Slightly different frame than the SI cover. I wouldn't be surprised if this wins a pulitzer
jabbas

Trad climber
New River, AZ
Apr 21, 2013 - 08:39pm PT
He has climbing legs - in that pic you can see the striations in his left leg. One rough and tough father of your friend ...
MH2

climber
Apr 21, 2013 - 11:44pm PT
Thanks for telling us about this and showing that photo.
McHale's Navy

Trad climber
Panorama City, California & living in Seattle
Apr 21, 2013 - 11:51pm PT
The way he collapses in the videos is pretty amazing. You can see he does not have any energy left in the way he goes down. That boom must have been something. It's a slender thread that keeps people going! I say that as somebody that has run a few. I heard he tripped or stumbled but it looks like he just collapses like a rag doll because the blast just rocks that highly focused world he is in.
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 21, 2015 - 07:34am PT

Bill went back and finished again this year. His age class is now 80+ and he got 2nd place by 5 minutes above the 3rd place finisher, but he was 1 minute behind first! Those people are TOUGH!

Bill Iffrig, 80, 4:23:13, a 2013 survivor who was knocked down by the blast while running down Boylston. The iconic photo of Iffrig on the ground near the finish line appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

From: http://www.runnersworld.com/celebrity-runners/how-notable-runners-fared-at-the-2015-boston-marathon



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