He’s not an international playboy millionaire, doesn’t wear an orange and red suit of armor with countless gadgets and won’t be asked to join the Avengers any time soon.
But make no mistake, Tyler Kostin can be called an Iron Man.
On July 19, the 2022 Steinert graduate and former distance runner officially was bestowed the title when he completed all three events in his first Athletic Brewing IRONMAN competition in Lake Placid, N.Y.
In the most grueling 14 hours of his life, Kostin swam 2.4 miles in 1 hour, 25 minutes and 6 seconds, biked 112 miles in 7:54:58 and ran 26.2 miles in 4:00:48 to finish 108th in the men’s 18-24 division, 879th among all men and 1,065th overall.
Including 24 minutes and 54 seconds of transition time, Kostin’s overall time was 13:45:45.
But in an affair this daunting, it’s not where you finish. It’s just that you finish.
And it was a big jump from the New Jersey State Triathlon at Mercer County Park, where Kostin competed at age 14.
“It still doesn’t feel real to me,” the Penn State graduate said. “When you look at the numbers and realize that only a tiny fraction of people in the world have finished a full-distance IRONMAN, it’s pretty wild to be a part of that, especially at 22 years old. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it.”
After going from flesh and blood to iron, Kostin received congratulations from his Steinert track coaches, Mike Giacobbe and Kyle Flanagan, who were both impressed with their former runner’s achievement.
“He was dedicated, a hard worker and just an overall great person to be around,” Giacobbe said. “With that said, no, I didn’t see an IRONMAN race in his future. Tyler seemed like he was done with competitive running after his last high school race.
“At the same time though, it doesn’t surprise me with his level of determination. I’m extremely proud of him for chasing and achieving that goal.”
Flanagan exhibited that same pride and felt that even in high school, Kostin showed tendencies of iron.
“The IRONMAN competitions really embody who he is as far as a hard-working, tough kid,” Flanagan said. “Running always came natural to him and after high school he still wanted to find ways to scratch that competitive itch.
“He started cross-training for basketball in the off-season at Steinert. His senior year he started to do high jump and (coach) Rich Everett put together those CrossFit-like workouts which are harder, intense workouts. You could see he was excited about them.”
Kostin credited his time at Steinert for giving him the confidence to attempt such a formidable task.
“I wouldn’t be half the person I am today without Steinert and Hamilton (Township) in general,” he said. “The biggest thing was finding that love for running again that I had in high school. Their texts definitely meant a lot to me. Maybe Steinert track didn’t prepare me for swimming or biking, but it definitely helped give me the mentality to keep pushing forward.”
In reflecting on his accomplishment, Kostin feels it is a tribute to consistency and sheer perseverance while training. There were imperfect workouts and days when he would rather stay home and binge-watch streaming shows.
But he pushed on.
“There were so many times I wanted to be done,” he admitted. “When I first started swimming I was frustrated with myself because I just couldn’t figure it out. Then, one day, something finally clicked, and I started to understand how to swim efficiently.
“There were also a few bike rides during training that made me want to give up. I remember being 50 miles into a long ride and thinking, ‘I’m not even halfway there.’ There were definitely days when I questioned whether six months was enough time or whether I had gotten myself into something way over my head. But I never stopped. I just kept moving one workout at a time.
“Every workout builds on the one before it. Showing up every day was more important than having the best workout every time. I think that mindset applies to a lot more than just IRONMAN training.”
Kostin knows of what he speaks, as he is more than just an athlete.
The former St. Gregory the Great student and Nottingham Little League All-Star will receive a master’s degree in accountancy from Penn State in December. He is already lined up for a full-time job with PwC in Boston, where he will work in international tax. In the spring, he will take the CPA exam, “so that will be the next big challenge on the professional side.”
After the IRONMAN, anything probably seems possible for Kostin.
Achieving the honor has been a lifelong dream for the former 800-meter runner, who qualified for the NJSIAA Group III state meet as a senior. He had hoped to do it in 2022, but “life got in the way.” This past January, he came out of a relationship with a lot of pent-up emotion and energy.
“I figured, why not chase that dream my 14-year-old self had?” he said. “I decided to do something I had always wanted to do.”
Kostin signed up in January and began training in February, which gave him just six months of preparation. That was half the time many IRONMAN entrants had, meaning even more intense training.
He began in State College and finished in Boston during an internship.
“Each week was a little different, but generally I was doing one or two easy swims, one long swim, one or two easy bike rides, one long bike ride, one or two easy runs and one long run,” Kostin said, noting that the swims ranged from one to three miles, the bike rides were 25 to more than 60 miles and the runs were five to more than 15 miles.
“After most of my long bike rides, I would run immediately afterward to get used to running on tired legs,” he continued. “That’s called a ‘brick’ workout, and it was meant to simulate what my legs would feel like during the actual race. On average, I was probably training around 10 to 12 hours a week. It became a pretty big part of my life for those six months.”
In figuring out his game plan, Kostin focused mainly on swimming, realizing that if he didn’t emerge from the water within the cutoff time, his day would be over barely after it started. With little experience, “swimming was like learning a new language,” and he taught himself through YouTube videos.
“I could barely swim four laps without stopping, so the idea of swimming 2.4 miles seemed completely ridiculous,” he said. “Looking back, I probably should have focused more on the bike.”
Why?
“It was definitely the toughest event for me,” Kostin admitted. “I severely underestimated how grueling 112 miles with more than 7,500 feet of elevation gain would be. It wasn’t just the physical part, either. The mental side of being on the bike for that long was brutal. By the time I got toward the end of the bike, I had never been more happy to run a marathon in my life.”
In breaking down his mindset during each of the events, Kostin had this to say:
In swimming, “all I could think about was how I was exactly where I had wanted to be since I was 14 years old. I was so excited just to finally be at that start line. The swim was almost more emotional than anything because I knew I was finally living out a dream I had for so long.”
The bike was a little tougher.
“I went into a pretty dark place mentally, around miles 90 to 100,” he recalled. “I was exhausted, and all I could think about was my family and how they had never given up on me. I kept thinking, ‘The least I can do is get to that finish line for them.’ Then I hit mile 100 and something just switched. The doubt disappeared. I knew I could do 12 more miles.”
After that, what was another 26.2 miles on foot?
“Once I got to the run, I felt like I was in my element,” he said. “Running was always my strongest event, and seeing my family along the course made me push even harder. And then there was the finish line. I feel like I blacked out a little because there was just so much emotion. Hundreds of people were cheering, and then I heard those words: ‘Tyler Kostin You are an IRONMAN.’
“It’s hard to describe that feeling. It’s something I’ll probably be chasing for the rest of my life. That’s probably why I already signed up to do it again next year.”
Yikes! Again?
Well, why not? Kostin learned so much about himself and the mentality it takes to climb such a mountain. Rather than looking at it as 140.6 miles of torture, he just broke it down by performing one event at a time instead of focusing on the big picture.
“I honestly think 90 percent of the race was a battle within my own head,” he said. “Your mind is your strongest asset in something like this. You have to have an unwavering belief in yourself, and maybe even be a little delusional to believe that something this difficult is actually possible.”
It was made possible by a vast support system. Without mentioning last names, Kostin praised his parents, uncles Chuck and John, aunts Kelli and Amy, cousins Kenny, Luke and Cassidy, grandparents, siblings and college roommates. A special shout-out went to Kenny, “who would kayak next to me to make sure I was OK when I would swim in the bay at Seaside.”
Kostin received more than 1,000 congratulatory text messages when it was over. They came from people who helped him physically, mentally and emotionally so he could endure.
“It really is true when they say it takes a village to finish one of these things,” he said.
And to think he wants to do it all over again, only better.
“I hope I can be there to watch it,” Giacobbe said.
“For next year, the goal is different,” Kostin said. “I want to qualify for the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Now that I’ve done one, I know what to expect, and I think having that experience will allow me to have a much better race plan going into next year.”
Amazing. Maybe this guy should be a Marvel superhero after all.
