SPOKANE, Wash. — When you think about the sounds of an Ironman Triathlon, many people think of cheering, screaming or even cowbells. However, for one Spokane woman, she can’t hear any of them.
That is not stopping Kathy Greer from competing in several half Ironman races as well as her first full Ironman race on Sunday in California. Greer has been in California for the last month training for the 140-mile race. She told KREM 2, “I’ve been training on the course every day. So, I know the course, I know the bike, I know the run, I’ve swam the river.”
Greer began running triathlons over two years ago. Since then, she has crossed the finish line for the Half Ironman’s in Indian Wells, California and in Alberta, Canada.
In 2023, she is taking on a new challenge. Greer said, “I don’t like being half of anything. So I’ve said I have to do the full.” This time around she will be hearing the course in a whole new way. Greer says she will be wearing a cochlear implant called Kanso 2 that allows her to hear everything a person with normal hearing could hear.
Greer told KREM 2 she has been hard of hearing since grade school. She first started wearing hearing aids at age 17 and has used them for more than 40 years.
When asked if they are limiting while participating in Ironman’s, she said, "I could never hear someone riding next to me. I read lips so much that you know you're trying to watch the bicycle and hear at the same point in time. But with a cochlear implant now I can hear I can hear the cars around me, I can hear the people, I can have a conversation with someone riding next to me now."
Even now being able to hear everything loud and clear, there is still one thing Greer chooses to tune out. That is self-doubt, Greer said, "When I'm out there, and I'm doing those long runs, those 20 mile runs those 100 mile bike rides in the heat. I try to tell myself when I get tired, ‘Hey, there's a lot of people, Kathy, they can't do this. You be grateful that you can, you can do this."
Kathy started running her Ironman at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday and says her goal is to be finished in less than 16 hours. According to the Ironman tracker, Kathy finished with 15 minutes to spare!
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