Running a marathon is an impressive feat. So is biking 112 miles or swimming 2.4 miles. But completing all three within a 12-hour timeframe is downright incredible.

On Oct. 12, 31-year-old Oak Harbor resident Sara McGrath did just that.

McGrath swam in high school and college and started running when she joined the U.S. Marines. During flight school, a friend convinced her to tackle the triathlon, and the rest is history.

Then she took a six-year hiatus from the tri-sport scene.

But six months ago, on a whim, she signed up to compete in the Armed Forces Triathlon, an Olympic-distance course. Her performance in the race landed her on the four-person, Marine Corps Ironman team.

“There are different ways to earn a spot in the Ironman,” she said. “You can qualify, go through the lottery, or be on an Armed Forces team.”

McGrath trained around her work schedule, which made for many early morning and late night workouts during the week and extended training sessions on the weekend.

One week before the race McGrath flew to Hawaii to acclimate her body to Kona’s heat and humidity.

“There was a lot of awesome athletes walking around,” she said. “They were all really impressive.”

At the start of the race, 1,810 contenders sporting goggles and speed suits treaded water to warm up. At 7 a.m., the starting gun boomed and the pack of swimmers lunged forward into Kailua-Kona Bay. They remained in a tight pack throughout the 2.4-mile stretch.

“My biggest fear was that I’d get kicked in the knee and get taken out,” McGrath said. Although that didn’t happen, competitors swam over the top of one another, bumping and kicking all the way through the aquatic leg of the course.

“It was nerve-racking,” she said.

“The first half of the bike ride was easiest,” she said. “At that point I was just happy to be done with the swim.”

As she pedaled on, salt lines appeared on her clothes as the salty ocean water dried in the heat. To keep up her energy, McGrath snacked on power bars.

The most difficult stretch was a couple of miles into the run.

“I realized, ‘there is still a long way to go,’” she said.

Again, at the 15-mile mark McGrath hit a hard spot. She had talked to former Ironman competitors before the race and they gave her a heads-up on endurance race psychology.

“They said there will be good spots and bad. To take inventory and ask myself, ‘do I need to change my pace, or take a sip of water?’”

So when McGrath hit a rough patch, she kept telling herself, “Keep your head in the game. It’s going to pass.”

Spectators lined the final stretch of the race as it wound back into town.

“People were cheering and I could hear the announcer’s voice,” she said, recounting the final leg of the 26.2 mile run.

“I felt a wave of relief, and I was still feeling somewhat decent,” she said of crossing the finish line 11 hours, 31 minutes and 56 seconds from the start of the race.

Afterwards, McGrath let her body cool, rehydrated and eventually ate a little before winding down and going to sleep.

Despite the amount of splashing, pedaling and cement pounding her body went through, she said post-race soreness was less than she expected.

For now, McGrath has no future race plans, but expects to continue swimming and running for fun.