Nick Bannon. By day, a mild mannered Instructional Curriculum Coordinator, but by morning and/or night and weekend, Ironman triathlete. While some around the TSD campus are familiar with Nick's rag-tag football days as a wide receiver at Gallaudet, but not so many are aware that now, at age 40, Nick is still competing in one of the most physically challenging sports there is, the triathlon.
Over the last few years, Nick has been competing in local triathlons and placing 1st in his division (age 40-44) in the last his last two triathlons, The Austin Triathlon (olympic distance), and most recently, at the Redman Iron-Distance (2.4 m swim, 112 m bike, 26.2 m run) Triathlon in Oklahoma City on Saturday, September 22. Nick completed the race in 10:50:25, finishing 4th overall and in 1st place in the Master's (age 40 and up) Division.
Nick's eligibility to play college sports was up, so he began competing in triathlons through most of his twenties and eventually left the competitive sport in his late twenties to continue a modest exercise regiment. Teaching physical education became his modus operandi and his main means of steady exercise. However, as he turned 38, he admits he had a self-proclaimed mid-life crisis, which led him to competing in triathlons again. "I felt like I needed to get back to that competitive level, probably a mid-life crisis, so to speak" His ultimate goal in doing so, in fact a life-long dream of his, was to complete an iron-distance man triathlon.
He trained feverishly over the last two years in preparation for the iron-distance event. "It's a lot of hard work, obviously. But the iron-distance, The Ironman, is something I've wanted to do all my life."
After placing 1st in the his past two triathlons, Nick felt before going in that he would attain his iron-distance goals. However, he had no idea he would do as well as he did. Speaking to him 2 weeks before competing in the Redman in Oklahoma, Nick said, "Yeah, it's tough. I think I can do it, though. I'm not looking to place, I just want to finish and I think I can. " His commitment to athletic excellence and achieving one's true potential prompted the Redman staff to vote him the Inspirational Award as well -- the Rachel Flesher Inspirational Award.
The Rachel Flesher Award was named after a young 17-year old volunteer of a run aid station, who began volunteering at 9 am on race day. As runner's were still on the run course at 1 am the next morning, Rachel's father insisted that she go home and get some sleep. This would mean leaving the run aid station unattended. Rachel, knowing that runner's were still on the course, insisted that she, at least, fill several paper plates up with food so that the remaining runner's would have the energy to complete the run. She also wrote words of inspiration, like " You can do it" or "Almost there", for the remaining runners who needed a boost of inspiration. Nick was shocked and indubitably flattered to be given the award. The inscription on the award reads, "Thank you for being an inspiration to us all and reminding us that IRON is not a race, but a state of mind."
"I'm just so honored that they would give me this. I would love our students to see that they too may realize their potential in whatever it is they would like to accomplish in life -- presently and in the future."
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