MOULTRIE — On November 1, Moultrie YMCA member Michael Strickland joined with athletes from all 50 states and 32 countries in Panama City, Fla., for the 10th Ford Ironman Florida.

An Ironman, considered the world’s most grueling sporting event, is a 140.6 mile triathlon comprised of a 2.4-mile ocean swim, followed by a 112-mile bike ride and capped by a 26.2- mile run.

While athletes are given 17 hours to complete the race, Strickland finished the event in 11 hours and 13 minutes, placing him in the top quarter of the international field of athletes.

He completed the ocean swim in 1:11.

That part of the event involves a mass swim start with all 2,300 athletes beginning at once in the Gulf of Mexico.

The mass swim start makes the swim, “part swim, part full-contact wrestling match,” Strickland quipped.

The danger of the ocean swim is real, and this was the first year since 2005 that an athlete did not die during the swim portion of Ironman Florida.

Strickland finished the 112-mile bike ride in exactly six hours, and proceeded to run a 3:47 marathon to complete the event. His run time placed his marathon near the top 10 percent of the field, including the professional athletes.

Tom Evan of Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, won the men’s side, setting a course record with a time of 8:07.59.

Bella Comerford of Scotland won her fifth title with a 9:07.48.

Strickland said that the preparation for an Ironman begins a year in advance, and that the heaviest training involves 25-30 hours a week of swimming, biking, running and lifting weights.

In his peak six-day training weeks, he would typically swim seven miles, ride more than 370 miles and run 60 miles, along with lifting weights.

While the vast majority of the training time is spent on the bike, Strickland said his race strategy was to conserve as much energy as possible during the swim and bike to spend it on the run.

“It doesn’t matter how fast you swim and bike, because if you cannot run the marathon strong, you are in for a very long day,” he said.

Strickland credits the Moultrie YMCA for its facility to provide a base for his training, as he swims and lifts weights at the YMCA on a regular basis.