Words by Anna Lee Vaughn | Images by Justin Hunter and Courtesy of Logan Cooner
Dr. Logan Cooner has embarked on many adventures in his life – becoming a dentist, joining the family practice, getting married, and having children. But Logan is not the kind of guy to stand still. Life is full of adventure, and he is bound to find it.
Logan is a Jasper native who graduated with honors from Samford University in Birmingham, receiving his bachelor’s degree in biology. Then, he attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to earn his Doctor of Dental Medicine Degree before returning to Jasper and joining his father’s practice, Cooner Dental.
In September 2023, Logan set about his latest adventure – becoming Ironman. This journey started in the summer of 2022 when a friend messaged him and introduced him to the idea of competing in an Ironman Triathlon. “That week, I had run 70 miles and was feeling ambitious, so I committed right then and there,” says Logan. “Once I commit to something, I won’t back out or do it halfheartedly. I knew I was going to train hard for it.”
The Ironman Triathlon is typically a 140.6-mile race that begins with a 2.4-mile open-water swim, leads into a 112-mile bike ride, and ends with a 26.2-mile run. The race’s cutoff time is 17 hours, but Logan did not want just to finish – he wanted to race. He set a finishing goal of 10 hours and started working toward it.
Before the triathlon, Logan was only a runner. Thus, he began disciplined training in the three skills the triathlon requires. Training 20+ hours per week, he was up each day between 3-4 a.m. to go running, bike at Oak Mountain State Park, or swim at the local Natatorium. Loading up his equipment van, he would prepare to run, bike, or swim for miles before starting his workday at 7 a.m.
On September 24, 2023, Logan stepped up to the starting line at the Ironman Triathlon in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was wearing a tri-suit, what he calls a ‘second skin,’ practical for swimming, biking, and running. At the sound of the cannon, Logan quite literally jumped in with both feet, completing the 2.4-mile swim. The bike ride had an additional 4 miles tacked onto it, and throughout the 116-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run, he made sure to focus solely on the task at hand.
“In dental school, a professor asked me, ‘What do you think the most important step is in a given procedure?’ He answered, ‘The step you are on right now.’ Long course triathlon is about patience. If you get excited and go too hard, you risk burning out too quickly,” says Logan. “So, of course, I visualized the finish line at the end, but the race is so long that I chose to focus on the mile I was currently on instead.”
Logan paced himself, pushed himself, fueled himself with salts and carbohydrates, and listened to his body. After 10 hours and 41 minutes, He crossed the finish line and heard the words he had been waiting for over the loudspeaker: “Logan Cooner, you are an Ironman!”
“People always say that you will never forget finishing your first Ironman, and I think that is true. I remember running as hard as I could at the end, breathing heavily as I took the last turn of the race and ran down the finish line chute. The sun was high behind the finish line clock. I passed my family cheering for me – my wife, Mary, our boys, Rush and Crew, and my parents. It was a great day, and I remember feeling so proud but just happy to lay down in the grass and not move,” Logan recalls.
Five weeks later, Logan carried this same energy and passion to his second Ironman Triathlon in Florida. The open ocean swim had him weaving through blooms of jellyfish, and an accidental kick in the face caused him to lose his swim cap, knocking his goggles loose. Ultimately, Logan finished the triathlon in 10 hours and 3 minutes, placing himself roughly in the top five percent of Ironman finishers.
Next season, Logan hopes to compete again in Tennessee and Florida and add another Ironman to his roster in Texas. He would like to thank the Magic City Triathlon Club, the Birmingham Open Water Swim Group, the Jasper Natatorium, and his wife, Mary, for being an amazing mother and supporter. As Logan says, “She is the hero of this story.”
Logan continues to train, stressing the importance of outdoor physical activity to his children and finding fulfillment in the adventurous outdoor lifestyle that comes with training for triathlons. As he continues to train for future events, Logan reflects on his biggest takeaway from his latest adventure: “Ironman has taught me so many things, but the most important is that anything is possible.” WL
