One would assume Ironmen and women competitors would be a determined lot, and Edmeston's Kevin Funke proved that theory correct during Sunday's 19th annual Glimmerglass Triathlon.

After canoeing the five mile leg that starts the race, Funke ran into trouble on the 26-mile bicycle ride around Otsego Lake, when he suffered a flat rear tire. He tried taking the innertube out and riding on the tire, but that didn't work, so he decided to ride the final 12 miles on the rim.

"My company (Edmeston's New York Central Mutual) sponsored me, and I didn't want to let them down," Funke said. "I watched so many people go by, and I just finally decided to go for it. I was concerned about how the rim would hold up, but it worked really well."

Fred St. John, one of two dozen or so volunteers doing radio communication for the race, spotted Funke in trouble just before Hickory Grove Inn on the east side of the lake.

"I asked him what he was going to do, and he said he was going to ride on the rim," St. John said. "He told me he was going to finish the race."

And that he did, and when he pulled into Glimmerglass State Park to begin his five mile run, he was greeted with a standing ovation, as St. John had radioed ahead and told other volunteers what was going on.

"When I pulled into the park, there was a state trooper there, and he stood at full attention and saluted me," Funke said. "Then, when I got into the park, everyone was standing and cheering. I had been sort of embarrassed to be riding on a rim, but the reception I got was just amazing."

"I followed him the whole way, and on the downhill heading into East Springfield he was doing about 30 miles-an-hour," St. John said. "It was really amazing."

Funke finished 10th out of all the Iron male triathletes, and 112th overall.

"I was dead last when I started on the rim, and I was able to pass three or four people," Funke said.

Glenn Swan and his four-man team - the J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown Lager - won the overall Glimmerglass title for the fifth consecutive year. The men's 40-49 team finished the three-sport event in 2 hours, 13 minutes and 43 seconds.

Close to 400 athletes competed in the triathlon, which included a five-mile canoe leg followed by a 26-mile bike race and a five-mile out-and-back run under perfectly clear skies at Glimmerglass State Park.

"The weather worked out much better than we expected," race director Ed Fernley said.

"(It was a) beautiful day, with perfect temperatures and not too much traffic," said Swan, who helped J.W. to victory by completing the cycling portion in 58:16.

Mount Upton resident Bob Zaveral and Dale Persons got the team off to a quick start with a 44:55 in the canoe race. The duo beat Otego resident Jeffrey Shultis and Robert Silvernail of All-4-One by four seconds.

"The lake was probably the most calm I've ever seen it," said Shultis, who has competed in the triathlon since its inaugural year.

Swan extended J.W.'s lead over All-4-One, which finished second overall in 2:17:27, to more than four minutes in the cycling leg. He finished with the fastest bicycle time, well ahead of All-4-One member Nick Suozzo, who completed the trek in 62:25.

"Whoever is strong on the bike determines the outcome of the race," said Shultis, who has competed in all three legs of the event. "I think the biking portion is the toughest."

All-4-One's Mike Rutledge had little chance at overcoming the deficit during the run. Rutledge managed to cut 32 seconds off J.W.'s lead, but Rich Terpening closed the victory with a 29:34.

John Trowse, competing in the mixed 40-49 age-group, had the fastest run of 26:22.

Ithacan Andy Melnychenko, Bruce Lee, John Partridge and Josh Griswold placed third overall (2:19:22) and first in the male 30-39 division.

Mary Pat D'Angelo, 51, of North Syracuse won the overall iron female race. D'Angelo, competing in the 50-plus age-group, was the oldest woman to participate in the iron race.

Mark Daley (40-49) won the men's iron race in 2:45:28. That race attracted the triathlon's oldest athlete, 75-year-old Jack Meeks. He finished 71st place in the canoe race at 1:03:45 and cycled to a 92nd-place finish in 1:36:12.

Winning the race in the corporate division was Darwin Roosa, Jeffrey Peil and Thomas Folts of the team Paddle, Pedal, Gallup and Guzzle, in 2:47:55.

The triathlon, coinciding with the area's End of Summer Festival, boasted 280 volunteers.

"It wouldn't work without them," Meeks said.