By Kim J. Harmon

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii – There are a lot of people who would really relish a weekend in Hawaii.

But for Cecily Tynan, a 1987 graduate of Newtown High School and the daughter of Bob and Joan Tynan of Saw Mill Ridge Road, the word relish would only apply if one could actually relish the prospect of participating in the most grueling sporting event in the world.

The Ironman Triathlon.

Tynan, 34, the head meteorologist at WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a 2002 All-American Triathlete, the 2002 Amateur Women’s Duathlon Long Course National Champion and No. 1-ranked duathlete in the United States; and took first place in her age group at the 2002 Half Ironman in Utah.

On top of all that, she has four times run the marathon in under three hours.

Those are some amazing accomplishments and more than enough of a foundation for Tynan to compete in the 25th annual Triathlon World Championship. Somehow she managed to train while studying weather patterns over Pennsylvania.

On October 18, Tynan finished in 10:51.22 – which was good for 646th overall.

 “I am pleased with my results, all and all,” said Tynan “My swim was fine. I stayed left and didn’t get beat up in the crowd. I got on a lot of feet, but I got out of the swim feeling warmed up and not tired at all.”

She performed the swim in 1:15.08 and her transition from swim to bike took three minutes.

“I was supposed to keep at 185 watts on the bike and I did that until mile 80,” Tynan continued. “Then I tried to pick it up, but I ended up slowing down instead. Uh-oh. The heat and wind was getting to me and I decided to stay conservative and not kill myself.”

She did the 112 miles in 6:01.20 and made the transition to running in two-and-a-half minutes.

“My legs were fresh for the run … maybe too fresh since I dogged the bike,” said Tynan. “I kept a 7:10 pace for the beginning of the run (flying past dozens of people), but then the sun and heat began to take its toll on me so I dropped to about an eight-minute mile. I ended up passing something like 300 people … including a lot of pro women who were walking since they probably had blown up going too hard in the bike.”

Her parents were there to see her perform and as she hustled down Alii Drive towards the finish, someone cried out, “Cecily Tynan – you are an Ironman!”

This was Tynan’s second Ironman. She competed in Ironman Wisconsin last year and finished in 11 hours and 25 minutes. The Ironman World Championships was a different beast, however, and a lot of that had to do with the heat.

“Jeff Devlin (my coach) thought I had 10:15 in me, so 10:51 isn’t even close,” said Tynan. “But my goal wasn’t a time or place. I really just wanted to run a smart race and finish strong and I did. In hindsight, I could have pushed the bike a lot more, but that would have made me blow up in the run.”

On her official biography filed with the Ironman World Championship office in Tarpon Springs, Florida, Tynan – the sweetheart of Philadelphia – wrote that she entered the Ironman to inspire others to follow a healthy lifestyle as well as to push herself to her limits … and beyond.

“I feel as if I can do anything now,” she said. “But I have to thank all my supporters and sponsors. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

NOTE: Peter Reid of Canada finished first, coming in at 8:22.35 – about six minutes ahead of Rutger Beke of Belgium and 10 minutes ahead of Cameron Brown of New Zealand.