When Ashley Mason crossed the finish line of the Ironman Florida triathlon Saturday night, she pointed at a nearby pile of finishers’ medals and said, “I want one.”

The Weinberg senior soon received a medal for her completion of the race, which was held in Panama City, Fla. The course included a 112-mile bike ride, 2.4-mile swim and 26.2-mile run.

Friends and family greeted Mason as she crossed the finish line after a grueling 14 hours, 51 minutes and 50 seconds.

“My fans were unbelievable,” Mason said, who completed the race with friend and training buddy Courtney Riley, 27, of Mason’s hometown, Glencoe, Ill. “They drove in caravans beside us and would start screaming as we biked by.”

Mason began officially training for the Ironman – her first – in April. With Riley, she followed a training regimen and devoted hours every day to her training.

Mason, who was the sixth-youngest woman out of 2,869 entrants to finish the 2005 race, said she decided to enter because she saw the race as the ultimate challenge.

“It was another another thing to check off on our ‘to-do-in-your-life’ list,” Mason said. “It was out there, we had to do it and we did it.”

Riley said she appreciated having Mason with her throughout the race.

“It was a challenge, and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life,” Riley said. “The fact that I had Ashley with me and that we had each other was a strength. We’ve done a lot of racing together, and every race has only proven (it is) an asset to be with each other.”

Despite being stung by jellyfish and kicked by other racers, the two started strong and finished the swim in less than an hour and a half. But 40 miles into the bike race, Mason’s bicycle faltered.

“I had no gear shifters left,” Mason said. “I had to decide which gear to keep it at. I had a choice between a really hard gear and a really easy gear for the rest of the race. I put it on the hard gear, but it was hard to cope with.”

Obstacles didn’t vanish once the two hit the road for the marathon. When Riley began having digestive problems, Mason struggled to carry her training partner’s backpack, full of food and water, in addition to her own.

“I ran the race with two (water packs), so it was very painful,” she said. “I was very lopsided and I was carrying a lot of weight.”

When the two crossed the finish line hand-in-hand, their perseverance awed friends and family.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” said Mason’s brother, Eric, 17. “We just knew she had been training for a while and that this was a really big thing for her. I’m proud of her.”

Evan Drake, Mason’s friend and a Medill senior, flew to Florida to watch her race.

“She had a huge smile on her face the whole time,” said Drake, a former Daily staffer. “She was a champion.”

Mason said the hours of training and pain of the race were well worth the result, but said she was also relieved to be done with the race.

“I’m so happy it’s over,” Mason said. “I have a couple cool little shirts, a medal, my sanity, a smile and both legs.”

Reach Allison Bond at [email protected].