This past Sunday, I set out to do something I wasn’t entirely sure I could do: finish a duathlon.
Not win a duathlon. Not place well in a duathlon. Just finish one. That was the whole goal. And spoiler alert—I did the dam thing (not a typo).
The Shawnee Mission Triathlon (swim-bike-run) and Duathlon (run-bike-run) seems to be kind of a Kansas City rite of passage for endurance athletes. It takes place at Shawnee Mission Park and circles the lake with—you guessed it—a dam that looms large both physically and psychologically. Their tongue-in-cheek slogan, “Do the Dam Thing,” felt extra personal this year as I stared down 3.1 miles of running, 13.5 miles of biking, and another 3.1 miles of running on that relentlessly hilly course.
This was the running map with elevation for duathletes (3.1 miles before and another 3.1 miles after the cycling segment):
And this was the bike map for duathletes (3 laps for a total of 13.5 miles):
This was my first-ever duathlon, and let me tell you: that course doesn’t care that you’re new. It was hard. It was hot. It was hill after hill after hill. But after weeks of training, second-guessing, obsessively checking the weather, and wondering why anyone would voluntarily do something like this, I showed up at the starting line at 6:30 am anyway.
And I didn’t do it alone. My friend Emma crushed the triathlon, scoring a personal best on her swim segment (!!!), and cheered me on when our paths crossed. I honestly think I drew some strength from knowing she was out there grinding just as hard.
As for me? I started strong. I finished…slightly less strong. I placed last in my age group, last overall male, and fourth-to-last overall in the coed duathlon division. And I couldn’t care less.
Because the win for me wasn’t in the placement—it was in proving to myself that I could finish something this tough. That I could train, prepare, show up, and get through it. That I could do something that scared me, exhausted me, and pushed me, and still cross the finish line (without dying, which felt like a real possibility during that 2-hour and 12-minute nonstop challenge).
It’s easy to focus on performance, but sometimes the performance is just showing up. Just doing the dam thing. Just keeping a promise to yourself that you’ll try, even if you’re not sure how it’ll go.
And here’s the kicker: I actually want to do it again. Now that I’ve tasted what it’s like to survive a duathlon, I’m setting my sights on the next one. I want to go a little faster. Maybe not place last in my age group. Maybe pass one person next time. (Hey, we all start somewhere.)
So if you’ve been thinking about taking on a challenge that feels a little out of reach—whether it’s a race, a goal, a life pivot—this is your sign. Set your mind to it. Train. Doubt yourself. Show up anyway. Do the dam thing.
You’ll be amazed what finishing feels like.
Want to see more run-related adventures and behind-the-scenes highs and lows? Check out our other run posts here and stay tuned—there’s always another race around the corner. And our next one takes us to high altitudes where new challenges await. ⛰️🏃♂️
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