Kurt Hart of Omaha, (formerly of O'Neill) had always been inspired and intrigued by the athletes in the Ironman competition. Harte, a physical therapist in Blair, watched the Ironman Triathlon on television and wondered what went through the competitor's heads as they competed in the event.

"I really just wanted to now what they were thinking," Harte said. "I'm not an endurance athlete, but I've watched the race for years. I was always impressed by the general population who get in with the lottery. I wanted to feel what they felt and see what was on the other side."

He found our what was on the other side on Oct. 19 in Kona, Hawaii. In April, Harte was surprised with the news that he was chosen by lottery to compete in the 2002 International Ironman Competition. After training for seven months, Harte and his wife traveled to Hawaii for the challenge of a lifetime. Faced with a 2.4 mile ocean swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile marathon run to compete in 17 hours, Harte fully realized the arrogance of what he'd chosen to do.

"This is the toughest one-day event in the world and I'd never done an Ironman event before," he said. "There are very few people who complete their first Ironman in Hawaii. Only 30,000 people have finished this race in its history and here I was with all these goals for myself.

"Most of these people are fanatics and here I had trained in all the wrong ways. I put in 17 hours a week of training for seven months, but probably didn't come close to what I really needed to do by their standards."

A lot of pressure had been put on Harte before the race - by himself.

"Anytime you have set a goal of this magnitude, you've put a lot of pressure on yourself," he said. "I dislike the anxiety the three or four days before the race. I worked so hard and realized I had put all my marbles into this one race. I was just hoping I could survive the diversity thrown at me - the heat, the wind, the illness, etc."

As a lottery participant, Harte faced even more pressure.

"There were 1,590 people who started the race and 200 of those were lottery participants like me," he said. "the rest were athletes who regularly compete in Ironman races throughout the year to qualify for the Hawaiian event. Trust me, there was some resentment from those who have fought and earned their way to the event. But it's the average Joe people in the lottery like me that add to the human interest aspect of the race. It shows the attainability of a dream and gives a touch of reality."

The race began at 7am, preceded by 12 hours of rain. It was still raining when Harte hit the water for the swim. For Harte, who just learned how to swim two years ago, this portion of the race was the scariest.

"You're in the ocean and hitting 8 to 10 foot swells," he said. "My legs cramped up and I seriously thought about quitting."

He persevered, however, and finished in about an hour and half. The first 20 miles of the bike ride were fairly pleasant for Hart, but then he hit the lava fields. Air temperatures soared to 90 degrees with 98 to 100 percent humidity.

"The temperature of the asphalt was well over 100 degrees," he said. "Then on the way back, trade winds had cleared away the rain so we hit 30 mile an hour headwinds. It's being said that these were arguable the toughest overall race conditions in the 25 year history of the event. It took seven hours just to finish the bike portion."

At 4 pm, Harte took off on the run in unbearable, cooking heat.

"I had a smile on my face for the first 13 miles, " he said. "I was just so happy to be off the bike. Then after mile 13, I hit the proverbial wall. The first half of the run took me two hours and 10 minutes. I crashed so hard on the back half that I had to stop often and take breaks. It cost me a lot of time by taking three hours and 50 minutes for the last 13 miles.

He crossed the finish line at 10 pm, ahead of 250 other competitors and luckier than 140 people who didn't complete the course. He was proud of his finish because it was only the third triathlon event he had ever completed in and he was named an Ironman at the toughest race in the world. Now that he's seen the other side, what's on it?

"Since the race, I really believe that anyone is capable of doing something like this," he said. "There's a whole other set of rules on the other side as to what's attainable. As to what Ironman competitors are thinking during the race, it's all so trivial that you rally don't remember afterwards."

Although he's unsure as to whether or not he'll compete in an event of this magnitude again, Harte is glad that he participated in Hawaii.