Jul 26, 2007
Searfoss competes with a purpose
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Megan Searfoss has lived in Ridgefield for less than a year, yet she’s already helped put her new hometown on the map.
Searfoss competed in the Lake Placid Ironman Triathlon last Sunday in the upstate New York Olympic village, finishing 431st overall out of more than 2,200 triathletes and ninth in the women’s 40-44 age group. Pretty impressive.
In fact, the 42-year-old Searfoss covered the grueling 2.4-mile lake swim, 112-mile bike ride in the wind, and 26.2-mile marathon run in 11 hours, 44 minutes to place 66th out of 600 women, and first among Connecticut females.
Then again, none of the above should come as any surprise for someone who was ranked as high as 16th in the nation in her age group in 2004 and 2005.
That was back when Searfoss lived in Naperville, Ill., a Chicago suburb, before moving to Ridgefield with her husband, Chon, and their three daughters last year.
Turns out Naperville’s loss was Ridgefield’s gain as Searfoss became active in the community, in particular with the schools and coaching through her three daughters, ages seven to 14, and all of them young athletes.
But the always-on-the-go stay-at-home mom has found the time in her busy schedule to continue her passion for doing triathlons.
“I probably started when I was 36, right after my youngest turned one,” she said. “I started with the Danskin sprint triathlon, which was a half-mile swim, a 13-mile bike, and a 5K run. I had some success and I got hooked.
“I had to teach myself how to swim,” she added. “I didn’t have a swimming background. But I’ve probably done 40 triathlons since then, anywhere from sprints to Ironmans.”
Sunday’s Lake Placid triathlon was actually Searfoss’ second Ironman.
“I did one two years ago, the Ironman Wisconsin, in 2005,” she said. “It wasn’t too far from Naperville. I did my first one as a fund raiser and raised $50,000 for Crohn’s Disease because my husband has that.”
Searfoss had a different motivation to drive her on Sunday. One of her closest friends back in Chicago lost her husband and a daughter last year in a car accident.
“Sandy and her family are Canadians and they were in Canada around Christmas time when they were hit head on at one o’clock in the afternoon on a major highway in Michigan by a 40-year-old man who was high on 12 different substances and was driving in the wrong direction,” Searfoss said. “It was Dec. 27 and I flew out immediately to help Sandy.
“Her husband was killed and Olivia, who was 13, was on life support, but she didn’t make it. Sandy donated every one of her organs and helped keep alive 20 different people. Her other daughter, Alex, was in critical condition and she survived. Three years ago she had kidney failure and Sandy donated one of her kidneys to her.”
It was Alex, 14, who really inspired Searfoss as she trained for Sunday’s Ironman event.
“She was my whole motivation,” Searfoss said. “She was a big part of my drive. On my [bicycle] helmet I had the initials ‘RTLAC’ which stood for ‘Refuse To Lose Alex Campanaro.’ You can’t complain about blood blisters on your feet. It’s not that big a deal compared to what Alex has had to go through. Whenever you think you want to stop, the thought of Alex and what she had to go through kept me going. Our pain is tremendous during the race, but her pain is even greater.”
Searfoss had plenty of support on Sunday, too. Her parents flew in from California to cheer her on and three of her friends from Ridgefield also made the trip.
“I have very supportive friends, which is a testament to Ridgefield. I’ve lived there not even a year yet and they came out to support me.”
And, of course, her husband and three daughters were there.
“I started getting ready around 5 a.m. and my kids started at 6 a.m.,” she said. “They hung around the venue with our dog and tried to see me at everywhere it was possible. It was a long day for them, too. When we got home they also complained their feet hurt.”
Searfoss had plenty to complain about when the triathlon kicked off with a mass open start into the water shortly after 6 o’clock.
“When the gun went off, 2,200 people started treading water,” she said. “There were arms and legs flying everywhere, people pushing and climbing over one another. I got a fat lip from someone who pushed me.
“Usually at triathlons it thins out once you get out a little bit in the water, but this lake was narrow the whole way.”
Nearly 12 hours later, around 6:30 at night, Searfoss crossed the finish line with a big smile on her face and hand in hand with her three daughters.
“It was great,” she said. “They were allowed to come in for the last hundred yards and came through with me. They were such a big part of it the whole way. They were so committed.”
Committed doesn’t even begin to describe Searfoss’ dedication to training. You may have even spotted her running the streets of Ridgefield in the early morning hours.
“Ridgefield is very hilly compared to what I was used to in Naperville,” she pointed out. “I had a couple of injuries while biking and running. I had to learn how to climb hills properly, which helped me at Lake Placid.
“But back in Naperville, I was used to running 40 miles in a cornfield and turning left at the soybeans and then making a right at the next cornfield. Here it’s all hills.”
While those Ridgefield hills did help prepare her for Sunday’s course, Searfoss fell just short of her goal, which was to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, this October.
“I just missed by three places,” she said. “I didn’t race last year because we were moving from Illinois. So I took the whole summer off and I didn’t race at all in 2006. I even lost my national ranking.”
Disappointed as she was, though, she took not qualifying for the world championships in stride.
It’s a bummer, but it was almost a blessing,” she said. “When I’m training it’s a tremendous commitment by my family. It’s a huge time commitment, up to 20 hours a week when you get to three or four weeks before the race. And I try to do all my training before 7 a.m., so I’m usually up by four in the morning. I don’t want to hurt the kids’ schedule with school and soccer and basketball. I work everything around them.
“My husband also gives up a lot. It’s not just a ‘me’ affair. It’s the whole family.”
Besides, the break will gives Searfoss more time to undertake her next project, which is helping to train a group of seven Ridgefield moms who plan to do their first sprint triathlon, the Danskin Women’s Triathlon, Sept. 13 in Sandy Hook, N.J.
“It’s a breast cancer fund-raiser,” said Searfoss. “Two of the moms came up to Lake Placid. I also plan to do a couple of more races this year.”
She also plans to be at Lake Placid again next year, only this time she’s counting on qualifying for Hawaii.
“I’m already signed up, so I’ll be back,” she said. “Alex wanted to come to Lake Placid for this race, but a hip injury prevented her from coming out. So my whole goal is to make Kona next year and then celebrate life with Alex.”
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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