There’s a quote I came across in high school, long before any of this.

“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.” — William Arthur Ward.

It’s stuck with me for years, and I thought about it a lot on race day, watching Sergio chase down a goal he’d dreamed about for a long time.

The Trip That Almost Wasn’t

Ironman 70.3 Ohio took place in mid-July 2024. We made the trip on our own with our two boys. Between the kids’ gear and all of Sergio’s triathlon equipment, our bags were a sight to behold.

We headed to the airport only to discover that every flight was grounded due to the CrowdStrike outage. No one knew when flights would resume. We had a layover in North Carolina standing between us and the start line. We were nervous about making it in time, and even more nervous the bike wouldn’t — the one thing Sergio couldn’t race without.

Thankfully, the ground stop didn’t last long, and we were one of the first flights out of Fort Lauderdale. We hit a few more delays along the way, but eventually we made it to Cleveland, and the bike made it too!

We checked into the Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, picked for the kids who couldn’t wait to hit the water park. After watching so many people battle travel nightmares that weekend, we were just grateful to be there at all. The next day, we got checked into the race, reassembled Sergio’s bike, and wandered through Ironman Village — and if you’ve ever been, you know you can’t walk through it without picking up new swag.

Two Different Race Mornings

We dropped the bike off the day before, and that night we tried to get the boys to bed early so we could prep. Sergio organized all of his race day gear and snacks, while I prepped for the sport of spectating with little ones. I packed a cooler with snacks, toys, blankets, and a change of clothes. I even put the boys to bed in the clothes they’d wear the next morning, determined to make race day as efficient as possible.

When that alarm rang, it was go-time. Sergio was in race mode and I was in mom mode. We loaded the boys and all our gear into the truck. I dropped Sergio off, found parking, and let the boys sleep in the car as long as I could before loading them into the stroller.

While I was a little anxious for the adventure ahead of me, I was equally excited to be present for Sergio’s race. I was so proud of how far he had come in such a short time.

The Swim

I made my way to the dock where the athletes were preparing to leap off a ferry boat into Lake Erie. I absolutely love race day morning. There’s a hyped-up, electric energy I can’t get enough of. Hundreds of athletes gathered in one place, about to show off everything they’ve worked for.

Once the horn went off, our oldest woke up. I told him what was happening and he lit up. He had memorized exactly what Sergio’s trisuit looked like and the color of his cap. Patient and focused, he stood there watching athlete after athlete leap off the ferry boat, searching for his dad in the crowd.

When it was finally Sergio’s turn, he cheered his little heart out. We ran down the dock to watch him swim off for as far as we could see, then hopped back in the stroller and ran a few blocks to catch the swim exit.

Here’s the thing about that little boy and his dad. If you asked our oldest back then whether he wanted to be an Ironman when he grew up, he’d tell you no. His dad was the Ironman. He was going to be Spiderman.

The Long Middle

We cheered Sergio out of the water, he was making great time! He quickly raced to transition and we watched him head off on the bike. Once he was out on the course, we knew we had a few hours before we’d see him again. So we found a coffee shop for some mom juice and a park to let the boys burn energy. We’d barely arrived before one of the boys needed a bathroom, and of course, there wasn’t one in sight. Classic. Eventually we found a shady spot to wait it out, and I broke out the monster trucks I’d packed. The boys played in the dirt, perfectly content.

Before we knew it, Sergio was off the bike. We ran a couple blocks up to catch the start of his run. The boys threw their arms wide open for hugs, then chased after him down the street, cheering their dad on with everything they had.

One More Time

The half marathon snaked through the downtown streets, which meant we got to see Sergio multiple times along the route. He was having a great race, using every last drop of gas in the tank. We started to head toward the finish line, but I changed my mind and decided to surprise him on the run one more time.

I’ve been running races for most of my life. I know that feeling when the finish line still feels impossibly far and your body has nothing left. I knew Sergio was running on empty, and seeing the boys would remind him of his WHY. Maybe that one last glimpse of them was exactly the push he needed to cross that finish line strong.

The Finish

Then I ran back to the finish line and squeezed in to find a spot. Our youngest had fallen asleep, but our oldest got to watch his dad cross the line in under seven hours. Sergio scooped him up onto his shoulders for the finisher photo — the Ironman and his future Spiderman, feeling like they were on top of the world.

We headed back to the hotel and celebrated the only way that made sense: at the water park.

I keep coming back to that quote. If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it. Sergio imagined this. He set the goal, prepared for it, trained through every hard mile, and gave it everything on race day. I got to run alongside it, stroller and all, and watch our boys see what it looks like to chase something and catch it.

This is the long run.