Idaho Falls man nearing personal Iron Man race

Over 24 years ago, Iona man Rod Hutchins was diagnosed with Guillian Barre syndrome and was paralyzed from the neck down.

He has had 21 surgeries, 2 knees scoped, 2 hip replacements and a knee replacement.

He placed third in his age group in the Great Snake River Triatholon in August of 2017.

In less than two weeks, he will be heading to Hawaii to run the Iron Man course in his own race at his own pace.

He’s been working with a team of doctors and trainers to help him prepare for his big race.

With what he has overcome, some of his equipment, like his bike has been given some modifications to help with the course.

“We went ahead and did a Garmin device on my bike that shows me when cars are coming up and how fast and how close they are,” says Hutchins, “And it is activated that my lights will go on and they will start blinking so far enough in advance not going to come right upon me and hit me with surprise.”

Rod has spent a lot of time swimming, but what has been interesting about following this journey is the running, it’s a little more of a process when it comes to picking out the proper footwear.

“We’ve pretty much been exclusively using the brand Hoka,” says Gray Augustus, a manager for Bill’s Bike and Run and a part of Rod’s Iron Dream Team, “It’s focus is on oversized cushion and ergonomincs built into the shoe, and so they have several concepts in the shoe, that make them versatile but a really protective shoe, the extra cushioning would help combat the high heat if things start to soften up. It also allows us to give us extra cushion and protection for his joints as possible.”

Sportsline will be in Kona following Rod’s journey and his race providing updates along the way.