ETSU Senior Completes First IRONMAN

Not many remember what they were doing or where they wanted to go at 18. Luke Wiest was, for the most part, a normal student going to classes and doing homework. But between staying out late with friends and cramming for tests, Wiest spent hours training for an IRONMAN.  

Wiest, a senior at East Tennessee State University, moved to Johnson City, Tennessee six years ago from Germany when his father retired from the Army. Growing up, he had an interest in sports – soccer, football and even training in Olympic weightlifting. After committing to these sports for many years, he decided it was time for a change.  

“Endurance training felt like a different kind of challenge,” Wiest said. “It wasn’t just about strength or skill but about testing my limits mentally and physically.” 

Endurance training pushes the human body beyond its perceived capabilities. These athletes thrive under prolonged exertion and bodily stress while maintaining optimal health and recovery. They become almost super-human, sometimes ingesting double the amount of carbohydrates needed for the average human.  

“Watching Ironman races online and seeing athletes push through something that seemed impossible really lit a fire in me,” Wiest said. “I wanted to see if I could become one of those people who take on something so extreme.” 

Beyond the physical strain, endurance athletes face their psychological limits head-on. Pain becomes a concept, a mental barrier to break.  

The IRONMAN hails from Hawaii, the place its creators Judy and John Collins call home. The IRONMAN exists to settle the age-old argument of which endurance athlete is “the best.” It is the ultimate test: a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run.  

Yes, you read that right, 140.6 miles in total. This is the challenge Wiest decided to conquer. At 18, he registered for the 2025 IRONMAN Chattanooga. 

“The very first thing I thought was, ‘Oh, I could never do something like that,’” Wiest said. “The more I sat with it, the more I realized I didn’t want ‘I could never’ to be the end of the story. I wanted to see if I could turn it into ‘I can.’”  

So his training began.  

“It came down to routine. I treated training like schoolwork—non-negotiable, just something that had to get done,” Wiest said. “On the days I didn’t feel like it, I’d go back to the person I was when I thought I couldn’t do it. That kept me consistent, because I didn’t want to be stuck at ‘I could never.’” 

On race day, Wiest boarded the last shuttle to the start line at 6:30 a.m. He hugged his friends and family goodbye, promising to see them at the finish line.  

Wiest completed his race in 14 hours, 53 minutes, 5 seconds. He finished the swim portion in an hour and 10 minutes, shaving off 20 minutes from his goal time.  

Biking on the interstate in 90-degree heat, he completed the 112-mile bike in 7 hours, 47 minutes. Rounding off the race with a 5 hour, 41-minute marathon, he crossed the finish line around 11 p.m. on Sept. 27. 

He was an IRONMAN at 21. Two years of training had finally carried him across the finish line. 

“The emotion that I felt more than anything was just a deep sense of thankfulness,” Wiest said. “Thankful my body could handle something like this, thankful I was healthy enough to even attempt something this crazy, and thankful I had the opportunity to experience something so few people ever get to while being surrounded by my closest family and friends. Crossing the finish line didn’t just feel like the end of a race; it felt like I had earned proof of what consistency and gratitude can lead you to.”