Honors sophomore Sarah Sawaya recently raced in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, where she was the youngest American competitor! Here’s an excerpt of David W. Chen’s “More College Athletes Are Trekking to Ironman” in The New York Times:

“The Ironman totals 140.6 miles—2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of bicycling and 26.2 miles of running—and must be completed in 17 hours.

‘On the run, I was falling asleep,’ [said] Sawaya, a sophomore studying biomedical engineering.

But she soldiered on, thanking the volunteers donning canary-colored T-shirts who lined the course and befriending other triathletes. As night fell, one man who ran alongside her for 10 miles told her he had a daughter her age.

So when she finished, in 15:34:19, beaded by a light rain, she raised her arms and beamed. It was 10:19 p.m.

‘So many stories,’ she said. ‘All the pain, all the pain — it was worth it.’”

WOW, Sarah! We are impressed and proud of you.

Read the full story at The New York Times. You may need a subscription to access the story.

(Photo by Mia A’i for The New York Times)