It was a finish line victory that no one could have predicted for a man who nearly lost his life during last year’s Ironman World Championships.
Draped in a day’s worth of sweat and a myriad of emotions, Matt Russell threw his arms in the air and broke into tears shortly after crossing the finish line at Saturday’s 40th anniversary of the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run held in Kailua-Kona.
Although he wasn’t the first to break the tape, Russell’s awe-inspiring 6th place finish — among a stacked men’s professional field on one of the toughest courses in the Ironman circuit — was a victory in more ways than one could possibly imagine.
“Just crossing the finish line was going to be a huge victory no matter what the place,” said the 35-year-old professional triathlete from Sarasota, Florida. “And to finish 6th place, that was definitely the icing on the cake. I was really happy with my performance, and as soon as I crossed the finish line, the emotions really came out. I never felt so alive and for so many reasons.”
At last year’s Ironman World Championships, Russell was at Mile 75 of the bike segment and heading back toward town at a speed of 35 miles per hour, when a motor vehicle — attempting to cross the highway from Waikoloa Road — pulled in front of him during the race. It caused him to slam headfirst into the vehicle’s side window.
While he wore a helmet, the horrific accident left him with severe trauma to his head, face and neck, all while bleeding and unconscious. There was an uncertainty if he would be able to survive, but miraculously, he did.
Along with suffering the effects from a bad concussion, Russell said his most severe injuries occurred to his neck and face.
“My neck was open six inches long by two inches wide,” he said. “I severed my SCM (sternocleidomastoid muscle), basically my neck muscle, and my external jugular vein. I was just millimeters from severing my internal jugular. If that was lacerated then I wouldn’t be here right now. I also had to have stitches next to my right eye because it was basically exposed to the bone, so I was pretty close to losing my right eye as well. I’m guessing that I had over a 100 stitches because I needed internal stitches as well.”
The long road to recovery
The days, weeks and months after the accident felt like a nightmare.
Russell shared that he was initially unsure if he would ever race at a top level again. But his determination to not give up along with having a positive outlook on life, his faith, and a sound support system made up of family and friends, helped to provide the much needed guidance toward the light at the end of a dark tunnel.
Then came the motivational hashtag: #comeback2018.
By the beginning of the year, it was tagged to every photo that Russell shared with thousands who followed his progress on Instagram, and became his driving force behind every swim-bike-run-sweat session on his road to recovery. He was not giving up.
“It’s definitely one of those experiences that I would never want to go through again,” Russell said. “I try to make the most of what I have, with what I can do every single day. Life is truly a gift.
“I still have issues and sometimes I forget things. Sometimes I mix words up and instead of saying I have 50 miles on these shoes, I might say I have 50 shoes on these miles.
“There’s been so many times where I’ve taken a step forward, then two steps back. It’s been quite the journey. I think through this whole thing, the biggest things are to be positive, have a good support system, and not be scared to share with what’s happening or how you are feeling. You are going to have a better outcome by doing that. And that’s what has helped me.”
Return to racing and obtaining an IMWC spot
Even five months post-accident, Russell said he was still pulling pieces of glass out from his neck.
And while his open wounds had transformed into permanent scars, daily rehab and pain was a constant reminder of the accident’s magnitude on his life. Russell said that till today, his antagonist muscles are forced to work overtime and continues to cause extreme pain during training and racing.
“It’s one of those things that I just learned to push through the pain,” Russell said. “My first race was Ironman Texas 70.3 and that was in April. I raced a lot this year as I tried to race my way back into shape. The Ironman World Championships was my fifth Ironman race and I just raced Ironman Chattanooga two weeks ago — I like to do back-to-back races. I definitely don’t take the normal approach, but it seems to work for me.”
Since Russell’s 7th place finish at Ironman 70.3 Texas in April, he has been a dominant force in his return to the triathlon world and produced some amazing results.
But after finishing in third place at his third full Ironman distance of the year — Ironman Mont-Tremblant in late August — Russell found himself just 15 points shy in the Kona Points Ranking System from obtaining a coveted 2018 Ironman World Championship spot.
“I was the first professional on the point list to not make it in to the Ironman World Championships,” he said. “I thought well, if it’s not in the cards then it’s not in the cards. I wasn’t about to beat myself up because my initial goal wasn’t to qualify and come back here.
“Then a few days later I got a phone call from the Ironman CEO, Andrew Messick, and he offered me a wild card slot. But before I accepted, I wanted to talk with my family to make sure if we should do it because I knew it would be emotional, and it has been emotional while we’ve been here. So I accepted the spot and I’m grateful, and I definitely made the right decision to coming here.”
Racing the IMWC
Days before the Ironman World Championships, Russell needed to settle some unfinished business.
“I rode the whole course six days before the race and I rode through the scene of the accident,” Russell said. “When I was passing through the scene, my face was filled with half sweat and half tears. So I was definitely emotional and that was fine because I needed to get that out. The second time I rode through, I was fine, and during the race, I was fine too. I felt like I took the right steps in order for me to overcome passing through that intersection again.”
Rather than feeling angry or sorry for himself, Russell said that from the beginning, he chose to rise above the adversity to be the best father, husband, son, friend and athlete that he could be.
“There are multiple ways you can look at this accident,” he said. “You could be really upset and angry, but I didn’t feel those things as I’ve tried to maintain a positive attitude even if I had some really tough days. I try to focus my energy into positive energy and I like to think of it as the island has given me the gift of life.”
After a strong 2.4-mile swim (54:02) and 112-mile bike (4:12:58) on Saturday, Russell began the run in 15th place and was ecstatic to be running in 8th position by mile six of the marathon.
“Really, the whole race I had a positive attitude on everything,” he said. “I felt pretty solid on the bike. I really didn’t have any low points. And on the run, I felt like I really could put together a good run. I knew I was chipping away and that I had a really good chance in finishing in the top ten.
“That being said, it’s an Ironman so you just never know. I moved into 6th place position at Mile 20 of the run and it’s kind of one of those things that you just really don’t know. You could start walking, you could cramp up or bonk — and I didn’t want that to be me. I didn’t want to go from 6th place to 11th place.”
Russell valiantly hung onto to 6th place, narrowly missing fifth by a mere four seconds, to finish in an impressive time of 8 hours, 4 minutes and 45 seconds. His previous best was a 12th place finish in 2016.
What resonated amongst the professional field, age group and thousands who witnessed his epic race performance, was that he certainly earned the title as one of triathlon’s comeback Kings of 2018. The other, was Tim Don of Great Britain.
“It was pretty traumatic with both him and Tim Don,” said New Zealand’s Braden Currie who finished in 5th just before Russell. “As a pro we put so much into this race. Then when you show up and can’t even do what you came here to do. Instead you are heading home from the hospital.
“It was incredible. What an amazing race for him. What a comeback!”
The top American, Timothy O’Donnell, who placed fourth overall said; “Very impressive. For him to go through all that. He’s never been in the top 10 here, so to have a race like that here is incredible. I tip my hat to him.”
Tim Don of Great Britain — a three-time Olympian, four-time ITU World Champion and multiple Ironman winner — was also involved in a vehicular accident two days prior to last year’s Ironman World Championships. Don returned to race Kona and crossed the finish line 36th overall in a time of 8:45:17.
“I gave him a hug right before the start and that was really emotional too,” Russell said. “Just standing on the start line was victory to us. For him to finish was really special too. For me, no matter what my place it was going to be special in my heart. They say life is 90-percent how you perceive it and only 10-percent actuality. No matter what your finish, no matter what you do, it’s really how you perceive life. I’m really trying to cherish every moment because you never know when your last day will be. The Lord has a lot more planned for me.”
Kona will always hold a special place in his heart
Russell’s 15-month-old son is named Makaio.
“My son’s name means, Gift of God and also Matthew,” he said. “The reason why we game him a Hawaiian name is because he’s our souvenir from 2016 Kona.
“I was so close to losing my life, but that has really taught me on how precious life really is. The island has truly given me the gift of life and the gift of my son. It’s a very special place.”