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HOMOSASSA - Fueled on hot dogs and perseverance, Bill Schaefer swam and biked for nine hours before running a marathon.
"The whole experience was mind boggling, no matter how many times you've done it before," Shaefer said. "I was just glad to get to the finish line."
Schaefer, 60, completed his fifth Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Hawaii - a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run - in 15 hours, 10 minutes for 30th place in the 60-64 division. His best age-group performance was 1,461st overall.
Schaefer has tried qualifying 47 times since his first attempt in 1988, and he has competed in 11 Ironman events worldwide, with the most prestigious held in Hawaii. Four times he's qualified for the World Championships, with a fifth Hawaii through a 200-person lottery system, and he's completed each race.
According to Ironmanlive.com, 50,000 athletes attempt to qualify at races worldwide. Of the 1,728 competitors this year, 148 did not finish, which was a greater dropout rate than previous years.
Strong cross winds and high heat made the long endeavor more treacherous.
Schaefer endured a sharp pain in his right foot and still has a sunburned imprint of his participant number (273) on his arm, along with a few blisters.
"There's no question about it," Schaefer said. "This was by far the most difficult Ironman I've competed in."
Instead of "liquid lunches" of power drinks, Schafer chose hot dogs for fuel.
Armed with three, he rigged a plastic bag full of food that dangled from his bicycle handlebar while barreling 40 mph in the hilly, volcanic terrain, getting jokes from other participants about his "picnic lunch."
Along the way, many quit, including about 25 percent of the professional Ironman athletes. But Schaefer continued to train despite the urge.
Schaefer said he met William "Mice" Misenheimer, a former helicopter pilot who earned a lottery bid two years ago and could not finish and didn't this season.
"It was heartbreaking," Schaefer said. "He went into deep depression after the first one and wanted to try again so badly."
Schaefer met Robert Hoyt, who competed with his disabled son, Dick.
"He put his son in a raft that he towed for the swim," Schaefer said. "He biked with him and ran pushing his wheelchair."
Schaefer is not sure if he will compete in another Ironman but said he's glad to have accomplished such a major feat.
"It is overwhelming to compete," Schaefer said. "But I made a promise that no matter what happened, I was going to get to the finish line.
"You just don't know what you can do unless you go out and lay it on the line."