99 and counting in Cozumel: Elizabeth Model nears 100 Ironmans
With over 350 Ironman races between them, Elizabeth Model and John Wragg are triathlon's long-distance super-couple.
Elizabeth Model, whose partner, John Wragg has completed 256 full-distance races, aims to complete her 99th this weekend at Ironman Cozumel.
Related: John Wragg completes his 200th Ironman
When she met Wragg at Ironman Arizona in 2006, Surrey’s Model had just finished her second Ironman race. After that, though, she quickly began an amazing adventure that saw her become the first woman to complete every Ironman in the world, a feat she accomplished in 2016. Now she is just one Ironman away from the magical century mark, which she intends to do at Ironman South Africa next year.
The race in Cozumel has special significance for Canada’s endurance couple – it was there that Wragg finished his 200th Ironman – with Model by his side, of course.
When she’s not jetting around the world to compete in Ironman races, Model is more than a little busy with her “real” job – she’s the CEO of the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association. Since she met Wragg she’s averaged seven Ironman races a year and even managed to fit a marathon in the Antarctic to her racing resume, too.
Related: Elizabeth Model – Canada’s Iron Lady
Wragg will be joining Model in Cozumel this weekend, but he won’t be racing. At Ironman Maryland in September another cyclist hit Wragg on the bike course. He fell and broke his femur in two places. He was on crutches until a few days ago, but the ever-determined Wragg is already working his way back to competition – he walked a mile the day after he got off his crutches and intends to be cross-country skiing by December.
