As mentioned in August, #100 had been put on hold by Mother Nature. But Tetris pieces fell into place for it to occur in Anthem, AZ.
After a quick bike fit and standard inking (although I had run out of Skratch), we called it an early night.
After getting transition set up, we checked in with Jeremy. As this was a snake swim, he allowed us to start five minutes early to minimize issues with congestion. That worked out really well, and my biggest issue in the pool was the chlorine level…
After a longer than normal T1 (as I had to put on layers since it was < 50), we headed out on the bike. It was a three loop “square” with a pigtail that had lots of hills. They weren’t steep like some of the hills from 2024, but they were long, gradual ones. As I found out later, one of those gradual hills was a full mile…
As we got further into the loops, I became more comfortable and it got “easier”. A sign of that confidence was a full tuck to Paul’s back for a portion of the downhill.
After coming off the bike, T2 took a little longer as I shed some layers in addition to changing (it had warmed up to about 60).
The run was an out-and-back that began in the park and then went along the first mile of the bike course. So this mean hills, lots and lots of hills. I will admit to pushing it too hard when we were a few hundred meters from the turnaround, which led to issues on the way back. But being almost completely downhill on the way back, I made it work.
I am extremely grateful to Paul for guiding, Jeremy for all the support, and so many others for helping to make it a successful weekend! I’ll have a more formal “100 thank you” as the next blug…
If you’re in the Phoenix or Tuscon area, please check out 4Peaks Racing’s events! Can’t say enough good things about my expereince here! 🙂
In the fall of 2022, Spartan offered the just-released Unbreakable Pass to Para athletes. This new pass was an opportunity for athletes to race any Spartan-branded event for just the cost of insurance, bag drop, and parking. The initial term was three years, but it could be renewed for up to a total of nine years.
I had seen the Spartan races over the years, but had never done any prior. But I was interested enough that I accepted the opportunity. And three years later, I’m glad that I did! 🙂
One of the main renewal options is the annual Unbrekable events. For this cycle (2023 – 25), this is the short version of what happened: In 2023 (Granbury), things went sideways with my guide less than thirty days out, and I couldn’t find another one. In 2024 (Florida), school commitments made me have to cancel plans last minute. And in 2025 (Finland), I couldn’t afford the trip or find a sponsor.
During the lead up to Finland, it looked to me like the Finland event covered the full cycle renewal since it was an international event. But as I found out after realizing it wouldn’t work, I clearly misread things. In the end, it was probably for the best that Finland didn’t work out — I’d be in a much worse position if it had…
Once I found out from Jake (Unbreakable Concierge) that I had to do a total of twelve full day shifts to renew the Pass, multiple games of Tetris began…
Fortunately, I had a lot of flexibility this summer, and some this fall. So the math became six at Tough Mudder Chicago (Rockford), four at Spartan Midwest (Attica), and two at Spartan Dallas (Granbury). But as you’ll see below, that plan didn’t fully work out…
As friends and family found out about my “interesting” plans, a few suggested that I either just pay the $1,500 or let the Unbreakable Pass lapse and pay full price in 2026 on. As a starving college student, the first wasn’t logistically possible. Out of respect for Joe, Dan, and so many others within Spartan who have helped me since 2022, the second wasn’t even a thought. In my mind, if I let it lapse, I would have to leave OCR. I wouldn’t be able to face any of them and say ‘you gave me this incredible opportunity and I let it slip away…’
So this is what the journey was:
1: TM Chicago (Rockford)
I am fortunate to have family in the Rockford area. Going in, the plan was to volunteer Tuesday – Friday, race Infinity Saturday, and then volunteer again Sunday and Monday. But when I lost two guides in less than an hour on race week (both due to foot) and couldn’t find another guide, I ended up volunteering Saturday as well.
When I showed up on Tuesday, I could tell that a few people were uncertain about what I could and couldn’t do. But that changed quickly, and we got a lot done that first day.
While the build went smoothly, unfortunately the Paratransit did not. I could understand them having an issue finding base camp Tuesday, or even Wednesday morning. But by the fourth time, they should have known… Thankfully Joseuah (sp?) helped to get that straightened out.
The overall specifics of the build are a blur. I remember being handed a sledgehammer (hey, I didn’t cut my foot when someone handed me an axe last June in VT, so that was safe ;)) to drive rebar, putting up the stage, and putting up umpteen amounts of fence and tents. As a side note, while Spartan merch tents are put up by an external company, the Tough Mudder one was not. That was an interesting experience putting up a tent that large.
On Saturday and Sunday, I was at the finish line handing out medals. So, so, so many medals (I heard the total count was 12K people total). I also talked one of my cousins into volunteering with me on Sunday. In addition to all of the fun of seeing people finish and handing them their medals was getting to hear 15 – 16 hours of Clinton’s continual banter around EST.
One of the other interesting notes from Saturday and Sunday was rediscovering Reign. When I had had it on course, I believed it was horrible. But from the can, it was great — and how I survived (both those days and the rest of the volunteer shifts).
On Monday, two interesting things happened — one good and one bad. The good was that one of the other volunteers offered me a ride home, which saved me about four hours in transit. The bad was that I ended up getting sick after Chicago (with the famous line of ‘I hope I didn’t get you sick’… I’ve already had a few good laughs over that :D)
After Chicago, I had a tight, but solid run of Washington State to West Virginia for TWC. But things got to a point with the illness that I was delirious the Tuesday after Labor Day and had to pull out of TWC. It took me about three weeks to get better, which also meant scratching Attica.
As a result, yet another game of Tetris began…
2: Spartan Nashville
As I played Tetris, Nashville was one of the closest (#3 being the closest). Having never been to Nashville before, and with the race being in a different county than the airport, this created some logistical issues with Paratransit services.
Also, not knowing the area well enough, I didn’t end up at the best hotels. As an example, I said the words “you’ve got a figurative gun pointed at my head” to the first one, and the second one let their smoke alarm beep for hours. After these experiences, I was willing to just work out for 15 hours (legimate training for a 48 hour race in Feb.) rather than deal with another nightmare. Thankfully, I found a better place for the final night when my body gave out after 3.5 hours on the treadmill…
In regards to the actual volunteering, it was a lot of fun. When I arrived Saturday morning, I met someone who said ‘my name is Steve, but I go by Stove because there are so many Steves’. Without saying anything, I had an idea that that was Steve McDonald — as doing something like that (making life easier for others) is a easy McDonald trait to spot. 🙂 I spent the rest of the day handing out a lot of medals (and shirt tokens) with a large group of people.
While Sunday started out similar to Saturday, a second McDonald found me in the dark. Sadly, I did not recognize it was Don in the dark. 🙁 Although, he shouldn’t feel too bad, as I also didn’t recognize Joe in the light, so… 😀 Sunday was an interesting day on the volunteer side — for most of the first four or five hours, I was on my own at the finish line. And then the “invasion” occurred — about eight or ten JROTC kids showed up, which helped. 🙂
In Chicago, about eighty percent of the festival still needed to be taken down (I know we did tables, chairs, and a few other things) after Sunday. But by the end of Sunday in Nashville, almost everything was down because of all the JROTC kids. I was honestly concerned that there would be nothing to do on Monday and I’d have to play Tetris yet again (San Antonio).
Thankfully, there was still a fair amount of final tear down and packing to do. That Monday was a blur, and all I truly remember was shotgunning Reigns to stay awaks. 😀
3: Spartan Orlando
With Para World Championships (PWC) being in Orlando, this was the best way to get the final two full-day shifts in.
As in Chicago, ParaTransit had issues finding base camp in Orlando. By the time I finally got there on Monday, the people I had been with in Chicago and Nashville were already out doing the tear down. So I ended up helping out at base camp for Orlando.
It was very touching (and also funny) to see [Person A] say ‘Can I have James?’ and then look forlorne when [Person B] said ‘NO. He’s mine.’ 😀
As I was waiting for my Uber to the hotel, I thought someone from the build team was walking by. I found out a few minutes later that it had actually been Joe. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to walk back to base camp, apologize for not recognizing him (I had seen him for about 60 seconds in VT before he left for Abu Dhabi) and thank him for everything.
After a long day, I had hoped for a restful night. That was not to be, as noise once again interrupted sleep. This time from people partying until 4 AM. But who needs sleep when there’s Reign? 😀 😀
The absolute best part of the volunteer weekend was being invited to be part of the Veteran’s Day video that was done right after lunch on Tuesday. It’s something that I’ll always remember. I also expect “outtake hijinks” to occur on 4/1/26… 😛 😀
While it was not an easy process to renew the Unbreakable Pass, it was well worth doing. I got to meet a lot of great people and make new friends.
Also, if I hadn’t done it, my 2026 OCR season wouldn’t have happened. Not just from the part about having to leave OCR as I mentioned earlier, but out of sheer cost. Right now, I have about twenty Spartan branded events (Spartan, Tough Mudder & DEKA FIT) on the planning calendar. Without the Unbreakable Pass, with the resources I’ll have for 2026, I would not be able to afford the costs to do these races and continue to challenge myself. So I’m glad I’ll have the Pass for cycle #2 (2026 – 28)!
Words cannot properly express my gratitude to everyone within Spartan who’s helped me to this point. So I will just simply say Thank You.
Here’s to three more years of mutual stalk… um, I mean OCR racing! 😀 😀
Since the Spartan Para World Championships were announced during the early summer (I believe June), I had been researching everything it entailed. I asked lots of questions, stal… um, I mean proactively looked for updates, and asked more questions.
Rob, Kali, and I met in Orlando on Friday night. After sleep, round one began.
Since Saturday’s race was a 5K, my plan was to just go with the aid stations. And it worked out OK for the most part… I will admit to being shaky at about 2.5 hours on the vertical cargo net. But it was a good learning lesson — not just that I could accomplish the obstacles, but that I couldn’t go without hydration.
Post-race, my plan was to get a couple of bottles to throw into one of my guides’ packs. But that was quashed during the race walk-through. But before getting to that point, I was led (astray? :P) by a 6 foot pink bear…
While I wasn’t able to crawl (precautionary for PWC), it was still great to be involved with the Teddy Bear Crawl Foundation event. Mark has done a lot to help so many so far, and the foundation will do even more in 2026 through its partnership with Dealers of Hope US. For more information on the Climb for Hope and how you can help, visit their respective Facebook and Instagram pages!
After the crawl and the course walk-through, we had a really nice dinner. Normally during race weekends, it’s chaos. So it was really nice to have an hour to sit, relax, and talk with people. Afterwards, we made a trip to get nutrition and Rob gave me hydration tablets.
The short version of the PWC race is this — after the second hydration stop, my insides turned to “concrete” and I spent about 30 minutes working through that. Very painful to say the least, and it greatly impacted my race. Prior to it, I was keeping pace with a few of the other Paras (although John was probably done at that point…); after, I struggled to cross the finish. I did manage to get over the fire, but I was concerned that I’d have interesting stories about missing leg hair… While there were struggles, I did cross the finish line and earned my first Delta (2nd #PO5).
I am extremely grateful to Dan, Joey, John, and so many others for making the 2025 event a reality. I am looking forward to having a better race in 2026, wherever it is! I’m also grateful to Rob and Kali for guiding and all their other support throughout the weekend.
[Update: the 2026 race will be in Lahti, Finland.]
THANK YOU to the Cordani Family and Achilles! I am extremely grateful to the family for their generous grant!
Their support will help ensure that I can compete at the 2026 Spartan Para World Championships! I am still waiting to hear where the 2026 race will be.
[Update: The 2026 Spartan Para World Championships will be in Lahti, Finland.]
This weekend was supposed to be a celebration of 100 Triathlons. Ten years of racing throughout the country — sanctioned, unsanctioned, indoor, outdoor. However, Mother Nature had other plans…
After getting the rear tire replaced, Paul and I racked the bike and then did the OWS practice. Feeling good after it, we headed back to the hotels to sleep.
When we woke in the morning, the streets of Milwaukee were flooded. Flooded so badly that the race was cancelled. 🙁
Even though I didn’t have a chance to race, I did still win the Para Series (ATD1 VI Male) prize. I’m looking forward to using the new helmet for Race #100 and beyond!
My second attempt at #100 will be in Anthem, AZ this December. Hopefully it all comes together!
Ten years later, I’m back where my first sanctioned race was at. And a race I’ve done as much as possible (injuries and bike issues have kept me from racing a couple times).
As Scott and I rolled the tandem towards Centennial Beach, I noticed that one of the tires was flat. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, as it’s normal for times to deflate over time. However, it wasn’t something that could be fixed by a simple re-inflation.
After arriving at the beach, we discovered that the rear tire had a huge gash in it. I don’t know when that occurred, but there wasn’t enough time to go back for a spare. So the bike mechanics came up with the idea of putting a second tube around the normal one as a large “patch”. While I was nervous about it, I was willing to give it a go…
After finishing transition set up, we headed to swim start. As usual, the swim was a “mixer”. At least this year, no one physically climbed onto my back…
After a normal T1, we headed out onto the bike. Knowing what the rear wheel was like, we took it more cautiously / slower at times. I’ll admit that the Texas race was in the back of my mind the ENTIRE bike. But I trusted Scott to keep me safe, so it worked out. 🙂
After a normal T2, we headed out on the run. While it was the normal struggle, it seemed to go a bit better.
Thanks to Scott for guiding me and to all of those who helped to make it a successful race!
I’ve heard that interesting things happen in California all the time (many of which make it onto TMZ…). After the weekend in Long Beach, I can attest to that…
Those “interesting things” began before the camp did. I’m grateful to Andrew for the assist when things didn’t go as planned at the airport.
After meeting with Frederick, we got the bike build done and fit completed. After everything was set, we did a triple brick. One of the important things that came out of that was making sure the gloves were set. During the second brick, where everything was, I remember being the first of the VIs on the run.
After lunch (where a talent agent just appeared), we went into the lagoon for Open Water Swim (OWS) practice. Because of the issues I’d had at Leon’s, I was concerned about swimming with the wet suit. As the time was a bit faster without it, and the water felt good, I did decide to race without it. I didn’t notice the same constriction when I had it on though. I don’t know if that was because of the salt water, if I had missed a wrinkle at Leon’s, or something else. But I will keep an eye on it going forward.
After OWS, we ended the day with breathwork. There weren’t ice baths like at the Pleasant Prairie camp. But it was still a good session.
On the second day, we were at the race site for OWS and bike/run practice. While I wish the swim opprotunity had been longer, it did help us to work through an unexpected first, and work out strategies for it.
I have raced in bodies of water on both coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve also swam by myself in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico. In all of that time, I had never gotten caught on a kelp tree (or pushed into one by the waves around Hawaii). So that practice swim was something entirely new as the tether caught on a huge kelp tree that was about 30 – 40 meters from the shore.
While we did have a chance to practice bike / run along the shore line, to say it was “chaotic” is dramatically underselling it. IMO, the race needs to have volunteers out there to keep order so people can practice without concern.
After a fairly stressful practice, it was good to end the day with Yoga. 🙂
After setting up transition and making our way to the beach, we were able to get in a brief warm up swim prior to race start.
Having figured out the kelp tree solution, it was a solid swim. I ended up coming out of the water about 90 seconds ahead of where I thought I’d be. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time due to the rough ground / bunched up path making it nearly impossible for me to do more than shuffle. This was extremely frustrating to me, as I was the first of the ATD1 VI males out of the water, but the last out of T1. 🙁
Once we finally made it out of T1, the bike went well for the most part. While the crash from 2022 still caused some issues, we were able to hit 24-25 mph at points. I did burn too much to get over one of the overpasses though, which came back on the run…
After a normal T2, we headed out with the running bottle. This helped, even though I would keep “red linining” (which is something I’ll be working with my coach on). Even with those struggles, we still had a solid run in “intervals”. It seemed to be a small step forward from some of the prior runs this season.
Thank you to Dare2Tri for all of their help and support throughout the weekend. Thank you to Frederick for all his help, support, and guiding throughout the weekend. And thanks to Andrew for his assist on the trasportation pieces.
I also wanted to thank American Airlines baggage handlers for taking care of the tandem (aka Durable Medical Equipment) during transit. After another carrier’s baggage team crushed the rear triangle, I had not flown with it for almost six years. And I was extremely nervous about how it would turn out. But between their care and the supports within the Scicon case, it all worked out. 🙂 Hopefully I can get back to traveling with the tandem on a normal basis starting in 2026 again!
If you want to save while joining me, use code JGILLIARD10 at http://tinyurl.com/jgsuper !
After relative success at Steelhead 70.3 (relay) in 2021, I started looking towards doing a solo 70.3. Given the cost, and given that a single race is equivalent to four to five local races, I needed additional financial support in order to make it work. Earlier in the year, Forseeable Future Foundation (FFF) provided me with a grant to make a 70.3 happen.
Initially, it was going to be IMCHOO 70.3 in May. However, the timing just did not work out for a lot of reasons. So, we (Andrew and I) targeted Muncie and I started putting in the training.
This was also supposed to be my 100th Triathlon. However, because of everything that happened in June, that will actually come at ParaTriathlon Nationals in Milwaukee.
Going into Muncie, I felt good about the race. I had done the painful bricks in the garage (painful in part because it was 90+ in there, even with a fan), and I had swum the length of the course in the pool (1.2 miles). However, it did not turn out as I had hoped…
With any Open Water Swim (OWS), I understand and accept that people are going to be drafting off of me. I don’t have an issue with this. What I DO have an issue with is when people start grabbing my ankles / feet or swimming over me like I’m not there. So you can understand my frustration when the first two males of the first wave swam over me.
I think part of this is that the Para wave was only two athletes (instead of the much larger Para waves at most of my other races this season), part of it was not enough education (they mentioned Para athletes, but not something like ‘don’t swim over them or between the tether; they can’t see you’), and the final part being purple caps on blue water (while I didn’t think about this at the time, another athlete got me to think about that the following weekend in Long Beach).
In any event, it was an extremely chaotic and unpleasant swim. It was also one where I had to make sure I didn’t lose my cool while people were being utter bitches and asshats around the .9 mile mark.
We made it out of the swim and onto the bike. The prior day, I thought we had dialed in the fit. We did several adjustments and a decent ride, during which it all felt fine. But something was clearly not fully fit on race day. While I don’t have the exact timing, I know that we had to stop twice before mile 12 to do significant adjustments. Also, after mile 12, there were constant stops, as I was in pain from something being pinched.
After making it back to transition, I took a long time to try and recenter myself. This is why you’ll see a 10 – 12 minute T2 time. A “normal” T2 is between 2 and 3 minutes.
When we got out on the run, I had to walk for quite awhile. While my body had “unclenched” a bit in T2, it still was not “solid” to run. Even during that initial walk, we did get ice to go down our backs.
When I was able to start running, the heat, humidity, and hills made it a ragged run at times.
After we missed the run cut off by less than five minutes, we made the decision to keep going until the thunderstorms came. During the 2 – 2.5 miles while storms were threatening, a “sweeper” crew of law enforcement officers (LEOs) and race staff kept an eye on us. And when we had to take cover before the skies opened up, they were there to help us. I still haven’t gotten an answer from Andrew as to why he put me into a police vehicle instead of the Gator… 😀
While there were a lot of challenges, there were also a lot of ositives. Hydration and nutrition worked out; I found a new tool for the humidity; I was able to build on resilience and make it through an extremely challenging 8.5 hours on the course.
I am so, so, so grateful to Forseeable Future Foundation (FFF) for helping make this race possible. Without their support, NONE of this could have been possible. I am also grateful for their support of Visually Impaired (VI) athletes as a whole at other events throughout the year! THANK YOU, FFF!!!
I am also extremely grateful to the Muncie 70.3 Accessibility staff, who worked with us to make the race successful. We could not have accomplished what we did without all of their help and assistance!
I am also extremely grateful to Andrew for all of his help and support throughout the weekend (especially when I was struggling / in pain) and for guiding.
Finally, thank you to Pastor Kauffman and the entire staff of Harris Chapel Church. He opened the church up to athletes for the weekend. Without that help, this weekend would have been harder financially. I was happy this all worked out, and was glad I could help others .
If you are racing Muncie 70.3 in the future, please consider staying three. You’ll help others while reducing your cost. 🙂
(2024 FFC Photo, courtesy of Notre Dame Photo Staff)
While I hadn’t intended to write this specific blog, I will since I’ve talked about it publicly (as part of the podcast).
Leon’s was supposed to be the first of many races and events in June. At a minimum, I had Pleasant Prairie, the Dare2Tri relay, and the Spartan Farm Experience on my calendar. But June did not turn out as I had planned…
Even though it did not work out for me to participate in the camp this year, I was still there for the game that caps the Notre Dame Football Fantasy Camp. WHile it was great to meet Rudy, I wish I had been able to be at camp and have had more time to talk with him. But things work out as they’re mean to, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had. 🙂
After that point, my June fell apart. I’m not going to go into the reasons why publicly. But the bottom line is that none of the other athletic things happened. And I felt “stuck” for most of the month.
What got me “unstuck” was what had also pulled me out of the darkness 22 years earlier — an opportunity to go see a Dave Matthews Band concert. And just knowing that I’d have that opportunity made that week easier.
As I’ve said over the years, music can do magical things. So when you feel “stuck”, find the music that makes you happy and use it to climb out. 🙂
“When you fall off the horse, get back on.” – Unknown (but well know saying)
If you’ve read my last blog from Leon’s, you know that the horse threw me… hard. And to put it in perspective, of the less than 5 DNFs I’ve had to this point, Leon’s 2022 is the only one where I let something I could have controlled take me out. Please read the prior blog if you want to learn more.
After having time to swim with my guide (Danny) as part of the clinic, we did the bike fit / practice. It’s probably the only time that a goose has taken out a tire (we had a flat because of having swerve to miss geese. I’ll spare you all the 20+ page rant about how I feel about geese…) He was able to get all of that fixed before the race though.
During practice, I did not notice any issues with the wetsuit. Things seemed to work like it had in prior races. I think it had been about a year since I had swam in it last. And with the extremely bruised ribs at that point, I can’t make an exact comparison. However, during the swim on Sunday, I kept losing breath and having to stop. It was as if the wetsuit was constricting my breath, and tight just at the rib cage…
After finally making it out of the water, and through a normal T1, we headed out for the bike. After a decent, normal bike, we headed out for the run once T2 was complete.
While there wasn’t as much humidity (especially on the “steel bridge”) and the running bottle helped, it wasn’t as smooth of a run as I’d hoped. There were stretches of solid running. But then I’d hit the “red line” and have to walk to catch my breath.
While this wasn’t how I envisioned my return to Leon’s, we did make it through safely. I did also earn my third Podium of the Series at Leon’s.
One real disappointment of the day was that I did not see the photographer who had followed me through 2022. I still vividly remember her finding me as Lee and I was walking back after the DNF and saying that she had taken photos of us each year (and wanting one even though we had DNFed.)
Thanks to Dare2Tri for all of their support, and to Danny for guiding and all his support!
