FORMER MAJOR-LEAGUER READIES FOR TRIATHLON TEST.

Byline: Bert Rosenthal Associated Press 

As a major-leaguer, Pete LaCock played in three league championship series and the 1980 World Series. Since his retirement from baseball in 1981, he has run in marathons and competed in triathlons.

Nothing, however, compares to the challenge and the excitement of the Ironman Triathlon.

``This has got my attention,'' LaCock said by telephone from his Kansas City home. ``This is an honor.

``When you're playing baseball, your adrenaline really gets going. But when I got word that I was going to be eligible to compete in the Ironman Triathlon, my stomach began turning over.''

Just getting to compete in the Ironman, a gruelling test of strength and endurance, is a major achievement for an athlete. More than 20,000 apply each year, but only 1,400 are accepted. Competitors qualify from eight age-group competitions throughout the country, and the other 120 get in through a lottery.

LaCock, 44, was among the lottery winners for this year's triathlon, held Oct. 26 at Kona, Hawaii.

``You have to be good or you have to be lucky,'' LaCock said. ``I was lucky.''

In order to finish the Ironman, he will have to be good.

The customary format of the triathlon is a 1.1-mile swim, a 25-mile bike race and a 6-mile run. But in the Ironman, there's a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike race and a marathon run of 26.2 miles.

And the standards are tough. If a male swimmer doesn't complete the distance in 2 hours, 20 minutes, he is waved off the course. If he doesn't finish the combined swim and bike race in 10:30, his competition is over. And if he doesn't do all three disciplines in 17 hours, his time is not recorded.

LaCock thinks he can complete the Ironman in 16 hours. He figures the swim will take a little more than 1-1/2 hours, the bike race about 8 hours and the marathon approximately 6 hours.

But even if he doesn't meet those goals, competing in the Ironman is a remarkable achievement for a man barely a year removed from an angioplasty.

LaCock was preparing to compete in last year's Ironman when doctors found a blockage in an artery.

Three months before the triathlon, he felt the pain while doing a ``Brick Workout'' - a 30-mile bike ride and a 9-mile run - in 102-degree heat.

``The doctor said I should have dropped dead,'' LaCock said. ``The artery was 100 percent blocked. Luckily, there was no damage to the heart. It was a case of early detection.''

After being hospitalized for five days, he made a rapid recovery. So quick, in fact, that two months later, he competed in a marathon in Cape Cod, Mass.

``I power-walked it in 6 hours, 15 minutes,'' LaCock said. ``I was happy to finish. I'm slow, but I'm persistent.''

Since then, LaCock has competed in three half-Ironman triathlons and seven other triathlons. This month's event in Hawaii will be his first full Ironman.

``It's very important that I finish - and finish under 17 hours,'' he said. ``I feel fabulous. The scary part is over.

``I'm hoping to finish last - yes, last

That would be a great success for me. It would be the greatest accomplishment of my life. Nothing compares to it. It's so individual, so personal.''

LaCock will not be competing just for himself. He'll be trying to raise funds for the Leukemia Society of America and for 12-year-old Danielle Owens, a girl from Kansas who has leukemia.

LaCock is the son of Peter Marshall, best known for hosting the game show ``Hollywood Squares.'' Marshall will emcee the Ironman, while LaCock's mother and brother, who live in Kauai Hanalei, Hawaii, will attend the competition.

LaCock spent nine seasons in the majors an an outfielder-first baseman with the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals from 1972-80. In 715 games, he hit .257 with 27 homers and 224 RBIs. He appeared in six playoff games for the Royals in 1977, 1978 and 1980, batting .333, and played one game at first base for Kansas City in the 1980 World Series.

``In baseball, I had a lot of great honors, including playing in the Series, but the only mementoes I have hanging on my wall are from my marathons,'' LaCock said.

``I'm proud of what I did in baseball. But that's a team game. The marathon is an individual accomplishment.''

And a fulfilling experience.

``The first time I ran in New York, I saw people competing with one leg, I saw blind people, I saw people in wheelchairs,'' he said. ``To do that takes great tenacity. When I see those people, who are so greatly challenged, it inspires me.

``That's one reason why I want to meet this challenge (completing the Ironman). It's the biggest challenge I've ever had ... except for raising children.''

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Photo

Photo: Former major-leaguer Pete LaCock, 44, will compete in this year's Ironman triathlon.

Associated Press