In the span of a minute, Conrad Sanders experienced the full range of emotions an Ironman race can provide.

Crossing the finish line? The 32-year-old clutched and pumped the banner he broke through, the face of pure determination and ultimate accomplishment.

A few seconds later? Sanders was sprawled on the pavement, holding a pained, exhausted grimace as he furiously tried to catch his breath.

“Make sure he gets up and walks,” a nearby medical officer said.

But once he was back on his feet, barely a half-minute later?

Sanders said he wouldn’t mind coming back for more next year.

“Definitely,” he said, with a grin on his face.

Sanders was one of 746 participants to cross the finish line Sunday in the Ironman 70.3 Ruidoso, the first half-triathlon to be hosted in New Mexico by The Ironman Group, a popular international endurance sports company.

Finishing in 4 hours, 4 minutes and 52 seconds, Sanders was the fastest to complete a 1.2-mile swim around Grindstone Lake, a 56-mile out-and-back bike ride through Ruidoso and finally, a 13.1-mile run around the athlete village at White Mountain Sports Complex. The event site boasted the highest average elevation (6,920 feet) of any Ironman race in the United States, one that only 53 percent of the 1,390 who entered finished.

However daunting the grueling mountain course seemed, there was something — the proximity of the race, the challenge it provided or all of the above — that got the competitors to the starting line early Sunday morning.

Take Sanders. It wasn’t a surprise he made it out for Sunday’s race — after all, the Arizona native is a regular on the Ironman circuit, competing in 20-plus half-triathlons since he took up the sport in 2013.

Sanders also plans to run his eighth “full” triathlon (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run) this fall.

“Ironman has a lot of money from me,” he chuckled. “They’re making a killing off me, that’s for sure.”

But it was a feel for New Mexico that made Ruidoso a no-brainer for Sanders. Working as a dietician in Zuni, he said he “100%” knew he was going to enter the event when it was announced.

“New Mexico, I thought it was a flyover state,” Sanders said. “ … But working up in Zuni, (he’s had) a real change in the perception of what New Mexico is. It’s a really, really beautiful state … You don’t have a lot of races at this elevation.”

Alina Hanschke, the top women’s finisher at 4:30.06, was drawn to the Ruidoso event more for convenience than anything else. Balancing raising two young children as an active triathlete, the Puebla, Mexico native believed Ruidoso would be a perfect place to take a week-long family vacation while getting the opportunity to race.

Looking at her children from just behind the finish line, the 42-year-old wondered aloud if they knew every family doesn’t do this on vacation.

“I don’t know,” Hanschke chuckled. “But it’s nice. They like hiking, they like riding bikes … and they love it. But it’s hard (balancing the two).”

For others across the field, Ruidoso served as a way to prove they could complete a triathlon — whether they knew it before entering or not.

Case in point: Nicholas Letbetter, 18, competed as a high school graduation gift after hearing his friend brag about their dad completing the Ironman.

“I was like, ‘you know what?’” the Houston native remembered. “‘Lemme try this.’”

After finishing 22nd in his age division (6:16.46) at his first Ironman, Letbetter now aims to be more competitive in the coming years. “That’s hopefully what my senior graduation gift from college will be,” he chuckled.

For some, simply finding a new avenue to compete provided enough of an appeal. Jonathan Gardea, 29, of El Paso switched from competitive powerlifting, while Elisa Woody, 31, embraced triathlons after back injuries ended her collegiate running career for New Mexico in the mid-2010s.

The Albuquerque native and Volcano Vista High School graduate said the tight-knit community around triathlons has kept her in it.

“Everybody kind of comes together at the end — like it doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, they will cheer for you,” Woody said.

As more and more racers crossed the finish line Sunday, race director Shane Asbury said he saw exactly that. With one year of a three-year contract down and what he called an “infectious” energy from racers and spectators alike, he believes the Ironman has come to stay in Ruidoso.

“It’s going to put this town on the map,” Asbury said. “I really think so. Living in Arizona, I always thought Ruidoso could mimic like, a Flagstaff … and really be one of these towns where people come for the outdoors.

“ … I just want to put it on the map. That’s my goal and it’s always been my goal.”

Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.