The ending I never expected

I started to write this article prior to finishing my triathlon season, not knowing exactly how it would end. I thought I had a good idea, but WOW it did not end how I expected. For those that do not know me, I am a runner and triathlete (swim, bike and run). I qualified for Team USA (amateur) in the Long Course Duathlon on December 4, 2023 in Daytona, Florida when I placed 3rd in my age group. The race was to be held in Switzerland in September 2024. Early on in 2024, I competed in many races including a marathon (2nd in my age group), a sprint triathlon, an Olympic Triathlon relay (bike and run - 2nd age group), a half IronMan relay with my dear friend and blind triathlete Tai (bike and run) and a couple of short course duathlons. But by Summer 2024, I was done racing until Switzerland and training was solely focused on that. I was logging 14-15 hours a week in training and putting in up to 5-hour/90 mile bike rides.

Then on July 30th, my world changed. Two tree limbs, weighing 3000 and 5000 lbs fell directly on my house. It destroyed my son and I’s bedrooms. Then flooding ensued due to rain that seeped also into the basement. Destroying parts of my finished basement as well. Neither my son or I were in our rooms at the time. Everyone was safe. But, one of my first questions was, “what about Switzerland.”

My coach worked with me to ease my training schedule a bit for the first few weeks so I could manage all the time and additional stress of dealing with contractors, insurance and continuing to support my kids through this traumatic event. I did eventually decide to stay the course with my race and travel to Europe. I was way too invested at this time to walk away. My kids and I moved Airbnb’s multiple times, all while trying to get them started in school just weeks after the tree incident. It was quite overwhelming managing it all at times. There was one point I was on the phone with a friend and my coach in tears very close to quitting. They were both supportive of whatever I decided and I had a justifiable reason to throw in the towel. But they also knew who I was as a person and knew I would regret the decision to quit.

So when I walked onto the plane for Europe on August 31st, I thought, wow I did it. This in itself was an accomplishment. My friend Amanda and I made a pit stop in Rome for 4 days before heading to Switzerland for my race. The Italian food, history and eating lunch overlooking the Pantheon 100ft away, was mind-blowing. On September 4th, we hopped on another plane to Switzerland.

We spent one day touring Zurich, but then my remaining time would be spent with my team and race preparations in Zofingen. I took a test ride on my bike with a few team members covering the first half of the 3-loop course on Friday. These were NOT Kentucky hills. I began to question my life choices in that moment. This was going to be brutal. I then took a car ride with some teammates to preview the second half of the loop on Saturday. More brutal hills. This was going to be painful. Then we descended down some very technical, narrow, hairpin turns. I had this awful pit in my stomach. My cycling skills were still quite beginner level and this was some advanced level cycling. I decided that I would spend that evening and race morning processing what I had seen and then make a game day decision. The first part of the race was a 10k (6.2 mile) hilly run. I started the race, doing what I do best, running. The second part of the race would be the bike section. When I finished my 10k run, I got to my bike and decided it was a nope. All I could think about was getting back home to my kids safely and alive. Nothing was worth risking that. As a mom to an 18-year-old on the Autism Spectrum, living a long life was my primary goal. I chose triathlon to extend my life as much as I could through exercise, not risk shortening it. I quit the race. I was obviously very sad about the outcome, but I had zero regrets.

My focus then became IronMan Augusta 70.3 in three weeks. It would be my first half ironman where I swam without a snorkel. I have a breathing disorder called EILO (exercise induced laryngeal obstruction) that impacts me most when I swim. It has taken almost 2 years for me to swim comfortably without a snorkel at a competitive level. This race has been a lifelong goal of mine. I spent those three weeks leading up to Augusta maintaining my fitness on the bike and run but also spending many hours in the pool preparing for the swim. The plan was to leave the Thursday afternoon before my race that was to be on Sunday, September 29th. Early that week there were talks of Hurricane Helene hitting Florida, so I kept a close eye on the storm. Come Thursday, I looked at forecasts and adjusted our driving route to avoid the hurricanes path when it went through central Georgia. My daughter Abigail joined me on this adventure to help cheer and to DRIVE! It was a very rainy drive once we got a few hours in and decided to call it a night at a hotel in Knoxville when it got dark and the rain a bit too heavy.

The next day we would head to Asheville, then south to Augusta. I woke up to messages from friends the next morning telling me Asheville isn’t doing too great. I messaged the Augusta 70.3 team, I checked the routes on google, everything was still on and roads were open. But we waited until the very last moment to leave, at 11am. I stayed hopeful that things would work out. A few hours in I decided we would stop for gas, but it was then that I realized that when power is out, you CANNOT get gas. Eventually we found ONE exit that had an open gas station. Hundreds of cars were on that exit and I thought, oh everyone must be getting gas. Nope, the interstate was closed, we could not move forward. The roads were starting to flood a bit, but still passable on the exit. When I finally made it to a pump, I filled up my car and at that exact moment I get a message that the race was cancelled. So the goal became turning around and getting home. So we drove to the top of a hill just past the gas station to get away from the traffic and to figure out how to get home. I called a friend’s parents who lived just a few hours away, seeing if there was a way there and for guidance of roads and cities in that area. And within 20 minutes the gas station was flooded, no access to get back on interstate, no more phone service, no google maps, no contact with friends and family. We spent the next 5 hours trying to go North and West according to my car’s compass, asking locals on the streets for directions, running into closed streets due to trees and power lines down, roads flooded, and bridges washed away. It was apocalyptic. I had never seen so much storm devastation in my life. At one point, I asked a sheriff directing traffic, how do I get home? He said, best bet would be to go through Chattanooga and he told us how to get there. Once we got on the highway to Chattanooga, we found a hotel to stay at and called it a night. Still no phone service with a 16-year old in tow. That was loads of fun (insert sarcastic tone here).

On Saturday morning we woke up and started to make our way through the Smokey Mountains and to Chattanooga. Chattanooga was hosting their own race on Sunday, a full IronMan (twice the distance of my race in Augusta – 112 mile bike ride + marathon) and my coach and a few friends were doing that race as well. Their race was still on, but they had cancelled the swim due to Helene. I decided that I would make the most of this trip and stay in Chattanooga to watch them race. We also got phone service once we got into Chattanooga and alerted everyone that we were safe. During one of those conversations with a friend, he asked “why don’t you see if they will let you race in Chattanooga.” There was no swim, which I would not have been ready for at that distance. But there was still the bike and run, and the distances were comparable to the Switzerland race I never got to finish. So I was trained and ready for that distance. And to have this adventure take me right into Chattanooga, it was fate. The notion that when one door closes, another one opens certainly applied here. I was successfully able to switch my registration to Chattanooga. If I finished this race, I would become an IronMan for the first time (even without the swim).

So I quickly switched from just trying to get home mode, to racing. Talked to my coach, my triathlon friends and got my bike and other race day essentials packed and ready to go. On Sunday morning, I started the bike race very conservatively as it was going to be a very long day. And it also was windy and raining. But I kept telling myself, I am not letting anything get in my way of becoming an IronMan today. My bike ride felt surprisingly good and as I completed the 112 miles in just over 6 hrs, I was ready to do what I do best, run. A marathon run was all that was left between me and becoming an IronMan. As I started, I saw my coach (already finished) and a few friends cheering for me. This is where I was meant to be I thought – that was so special to me. I plugged away mile after mile and thought about all the people and experiences that helped me get there. Feeling so super grateful. When the run got hard, I would imagine all my friends running with me and what they would be telling me in that moment. And my daughter waiting at the finish line is what gave me that last extra push. I sprinted to the finish, hearing my daughter cheering and then as I crossed the finish line hearing, “Courtney Sklare, you are an IronMan.” That was quite an emotional moment.

To end my season as an IronMan was well beyond anything I could have ever dreamed or thought possible. I still have not been able to complete my non-snorkel half-ironman and we are still living in an Airbnb. But I remain hopeful that 2025 will be my year back in my home and for another epic triathlon season, including a non-snorkel half ironman swim. Stay tuned!