Michael Blue '82 shared his IronMan "Champ" story



Mike Blue '82
Ironman Champ



 Class of '82 Fiji crowned Ironman World Cham for his Age Group

On Saturday October 9, 2010 Seattle attorney Michael Blue (Class of '82) covered 140.6 miles by sea, bike and foot to become an Ironman Champion.  This was the tenth time Mike competed in the Ironman Championship which is held every October in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.  He swam, biked, and ran his way to besting all competitors in his age group (men 50-54) at the Ford Ironman Triathlon World Championships.  Designed for the ultimate athletes, The Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26.2 miles 42.195 km) run. Blue finished under ten hours.  His precise time elapsed was 9:48:48 – four minutes ahead of his closest age group pursuer.

Mike's luncheon presentation (December 2010) covered the history of the Ironman which paralleled much of Mike's participation in the competition. After reading an article in Sports Illustrated magazine which chronicled the 1979 event, Blue accepted the challenge and his first Ironman was in February of 1981 at age 20. That year was the first IronMan on the Big Island and only 326 competitors started. The event now strictly limits the competitor field to 1800 athletem that each must qualify for the privilege to race there.

For the record this was Blue’s 10th time he has qualified and competed in this championship event. His record includes multiple top five age-group finishes in Kona but this is his first World Championship finish. 

Since it began as a challenge between a group of Navy Seals in 1978, the Ironman has grown to become one of the most recognized endurance events in the world. Blue qualified for the event in April after winning his age group at the Ironman 70.3 in Oceanside, California with a time better than 11 minutes faster than the age group record.

After reading an article in Sports Illustrated magazine which chronicled the 1979 event, Blue accepted the challenge and his first Ironman was in February of 1981 at age 20. That year was the first on the Big Island and only 326 competitors started. The event now strictly limits the competitor field to 1800 athletes that each must qualify for the privilege to race there.

The race will be televised on December 18, 2010 on NBC (1-3 PST) and on Universal Sports at various times. For more information visit http://www.ironman.com/  and http://www.ironmanlive.com/  .  Michael Blue is a partner in the Seattle law firm of Campiche Blue & Le, PLLC. He is trial attorney and his practice is devoted exclusively to representing people injured in motor vehicle or bicycle accidents, product liability claims, and medical malpractice cases. Blue is licensed to practice in the state and federal courts of Washington, California, Colorado, and the District of Columbia.