LJWorld.com

Lawrence resident Scott Patrick isn’t ready to say he’ll cross the finish line around the same time as the professional athletes at this year’s Ironman Kansas 70.3 triathlon, set for June 14 at Clinton State Park.

“I’m just trying to do the best I can and get out of the way of the elite athletes,” said Patrick, 42, a radiologist at Lawrence Memorial Hospital who will compete in his second straight Ironman Kansas.

This much is certain, though: Patrick will be fighting to cross the finish line with local bragging rights at stake.

“Of course, there’s friendly rivalries in town,” Patrick said.

Roughly 30 Lawrence athletes will race at the second annual triathlon in Lawrence.

Patrick finished with the third-best individual time for a Lawrence resident last year at 5:33.08. His primary training partner, Lawrence resident Jon King, finished with the eighth-best local time at 5:43.11. Dane Johnson registered the best Lawrence time last year at 5:24.24.

King is also aware of what’s on the line on June 14.

“(Patrick) is a great training partner,” said King, 41, a lawyer who works for a trust company in town. “We’re both about the same age, both about equal strength on the bike. I haven’t beaten him in a triathlon yet, but I will beat him on June 14. It’s all about pride, bragging rights and who did better at what. That’s how it works in our world.”

It’s evident Patrick and King have great respect for one another’s strengths on the course. Patrick comes from a swimming background. He competed on the swim team at Grinnell College and played water polo in graduate school at the University of Iowa.

“He’d kick my butt swimming,” King said. “He gave me some very technical pointers that improved my swimming considerably. I told him I’d make him a 100 percent better runner if he made me a 100 percent better swimmer.”

Likewise, Patrick said King’s made him a better runner. The duo trained together on a weekly basis last year, but Patrick hasn’t had enough time around his work schedule this year to make it work that often.

Patrick started racing in triathlons nearly 30 years ago (“That was when my muscles didn’t hurt after each event,” he quipped). He quit the sport 15 years ago to raise a family, but recently has taken the sport back up to get into shape.

It’s safe to say Patrick’s in shape again. He recently completed the full Ironman Arizona race in November 2008. The Tempe, Ariz., race was essentially double the distance of Ironman Kansas.

In fact, Ironman Kansas will be the first race of 2009 for Patrick. He needed some time off after Arizona. Who could blame him? It took 12 hours, 55 minutes to finish the race. Nothing like a workout that consumes more than half of an entire day.

“That was challenging for me since I was 41 years old, but it was just an accomplishment I always said I’d do as a kid and never got around to,” Patrick said. “I figured I’d better do it before I lose my tan.”

During the running portion of the monster triathlon, Patrick was able to break out a cell phone during the race. Guess who was at the top of his contact list?

“I called Jon King just to tell him where I was in the middle of the run,” Patrick said. “He was happy for me. His advice was just keep on running.”

Patrick is done with the full Ironmans for now, but King plans to race in his first full Ironman in November. Same place, same race as Patrick in 2008.

“The only goal I will have is to beat his time,” King said, laughing.

For now, the focus is on June 14 in Lawrence. After all, local bragging rights are on the line.

“As my wife would tell you, this is my midlife crisis,” King said. “One of the things about Scott and me, particularly, is we’re lucky because if our families didn’t sacrifice — taking care of the kids, taking them to school — it simply wouldn’t be possible. Without a good family support network, it just wouldn’t happen.”