Courage, Pride and Determination

Jason Gunter and Jason Fowler both toed up to the swim start line yesterday with one common goal:  Cross the finish line.  To me, however, they had both already won.  “Getting in the Game” is not just a catchy slogan for this blog site.  It’s how we approach our mission at the Getting2Tri Foundation.  We use the analogy of “play” to represent what it means to be in the game.  As children, we play in the sandbox, on the baseball field, on in the back yard.  As adults, many times sports represents our ability to continue to “play”.  When someone has or develops a disability, society often dictates that the person can no longer play.  We like to think otherwise.  And so much of our focus is to get our athletes into the game.

When I first met Jason Fowler a couple years ago, he told me the story of competing in the Ironman World Championship in 2004 but not making the bike cutoff time.  He was pulled from the course with just over 6 miles to go.  He worked diligently for several years afterwards to attempt to re-qualify as a wheelchair athlete for the prize at Kona.  Finally in 2008, he got his shot to again compete in Hawaii.  Fowler had a phenomenal day, completing all three portions of the Ironman and finished 2nd overall in the wheelchair division.  Several months later after getting back and letting the moment sink in, he called me to say he wanted to try and win it all.  Yesterday, Fowler began the Ironman to attempt to become the overall male champion in a very competitive field of wheelchair athletes.

Yesterday was his day.  Fowler crossed the line at the top male finisher.  I was at the finish line to congratulate him on his success.  I watched as his family and friends cheered at his accomplishment.  Well done!

Similarly Jason Gunter entered his first Ironman yesterday with hopes of becoming the first upper and lower extremity to cross one of the most recognized finish lines in endurance sports.  His day began very well with an incredible time in the swim.  The bike course proved extremely challenging with excessive winds and the hottest temperatures recorded in the 31 year history of the event.  Gunter came into the transition off the bike with cramping in his lower extremities, but was determined to finish the race.  As he exited for the run course, I told him, “Jason, don’t worry.  The legs will wake up after about 1 or 2 miles”.  To that he looked over at me with a 100-mile stare saying, “Do you promise?”.

If you’ve ever been out on the run course at the Ironman World Championship, you know it gets pitch black along the Queen K Highway somewhere after 12 miles on the run course.  I knew Gunter would be cutting it very close to coming in before the final cutoff time at Midnight.  I walked through the darkness, passing water point/aid stations along the way looking for him to get an idea on his progress.  Stephen Schulte, Jason’s prosthetist from Atlanta, also walked along the course looking to get some updates.  I sat down at mile 23 and watched ahead of me in the darkness for Jason to appear.  It was 10:30 pm and I knew time was slipping away.  After sitting at 23 for about 20 minutes, I got up and headed for the next mile marker, mile 22.  As I approached in the darkness, I could hear and see a crowd of people screaming at one of the competitors; encouraging him to keep moving forward.  It was Gunter and the crowd was a group of local Hawaiians, mostly teen-agers from the previous aid station, telling Gunter to keep pushing.  Jason was bent over in pain, his back nearly giving out to spasms.  He was off-balance, but determined.  He kept pushing forward.  Its a scene I will never forget.  He looked at me, still having that 100-mile stare, but full of determination.  Finally, just prior to the aid station at mile marker 23, Gunter collapsed and could go no further.  He was a little over 3 miles short of the finish line.

So it was a very long day for Team G2T.  I share extreme pride in the efforts and accomplishments of both Jasons.  While they were both focused on the finish line, I was remembering all that it took to get to the start line.  They are both winners in my book.  If they focus on the finish line, one Jason will savor the accomplishment a little easier than the other.  I know both will return to fight another day.  Both will stay in the game.  Many others will follow in their footsteps because of the courage, pride and determination displayed on the playing field of life.

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