Excerpts from the forestparkreview.com:

At exactly 14 hours, 21 minutes and five seconds, Lindsey Hankus crossed the finish line in Panama City, Florida, after an exhausting Ironman that included a 2.4-mile swim in the Gulf of Mexico, 112-mile bike ride down a deserted highway and 26.2-mile run through a state park. Hankus achieved her personal best race time at that Ironman in November, which many consider the most difficult race in the world. 

Her banner Ironman followed a first-place finish at the Chicago Triathlon in August. Hankus, a Forest Park firefighter, was the first woman firefighter to cross the line on Columbus Drive. She has run six races this year, mostly half marathons to train for the recent Ironman. But even in those shorter races she set record times. She credits her 2017 races, the best of her career and first time competing since having a child, to a regimen of chilling out, drinking craft beer and not caring about what time she crosses the finish line. 

Hankus, 36, began 2017 aiming just to have fun and finish the Ironman. She hadn’t raced since giving birth to her son Frank, six years before. Prior to that, she competed in Ironmans in Florida and Hawaii. 

To train, Hankus joined a local triathlon club. The group met daily, but consistently working out with the group was impossible because of her work schedule. She works a 24-hour shift at the firehouse and then has 48 hours off, week in and week out. At the firehouse, she walks on the treadmill after dinner to keep in shape and clear her head. 

thanks Dan

Tags: female firefighter finishes first in Chicago Triathlon, female firefighter runs Ironman, Forest Park Firefighter Lindsey Hankus, Lindsey Hankus