It is official ... Coach Cal is an 18X Ironman triathlete and completed his 20 year goal of finishing the World Championship Ironman race in Kona Hawaii, a legacy qualifier! “I can never remember wanting to quit anything in my life the way I wanted to quit this race in the first 10 minutes of my ride,” was his shared sentiment after the race. The head winds, high humidity, extreme heat, and running hills all contributed to the challenges he, along with all the athletes racing, faced. But the most difficult aspect of competing was finishing while severely sick for almost the entirety of the race. During the swim, the rough nature of the ocean water caused Coach Cal to ingest a significant amount of sea water. His choices were to leave the course just 10 minutes into the ride or to push himself through another 100+ miles of the ride and then a full marathon while feeling sick to his core. He chose the latter. Why? He had made a promise to himself that he would, obviously, be a Kona Ironman finisher; but also had promised his youngest son, Marcello, that he would “griddy” across the finish line. He had to make it to that Finish Line, hear the announcer say, “Sam Calavitta, you are an Ironman,” to be able to honor both promises. He did it! This was truly a special event, to have one of the coveted World Championship Kona spots, and it has been a great experience that took 20 years of endurance training to obtain. Thank you all for your love and support, and for sharing this experience with him through following his race, calling and texting; congratulating him, and sending so much encouragement! He says, “I can do better. I know I can.” That is his “no quit” attitude. So, now, will his next trip back to Kona be with a time qualification? We’ll see ...