Instagram: oso2kona2021

How old are you? 49 years old

Where are you from? El Salvador (originally from Colombia)

Please tell us about your history with sports:

As a child I always practiced swimming and soccer, then in college I continued with soccer and squash, but I never did any endurance sports. I am from Colombia and in 2006 I moved to El Salvador for work, here I started running distances like 5k, 10k and then I trained for 21k, managing to finish the Miami Half Marathon in 2008. That year in El Salvador was announced a triathlon of distance 70.3, and decided to do it. I managed to finish it, I arrived the finish line last. That day I fell in love with that demanding sport and a childhood memory came to my mind.

At my parents’ house, they bought the Reader’s Digest magazine every month, and I remember reading an article in the year 84 or 85 about the most difficult day race in the world, which was done in Hawaii and that it was swimming an absurd distance of almost 4 kilometers, then pedaling 180 km with hurricane force winds and ended running on a lava street. Can you imagine my imagination of such race at age 13 … and it was also called Ironman. You really had to be a superhero to accomplish such a feat.

So, at that moment I promised myself, that someday I will do that race…..many years later……

Did you meet your promise?

Well, that memory returned to my mind and I decided that by the time I turned 40, I would be an Ironman.

My 40th birthday was in October 2010 and I managed to finish my first Ironman in November of that year in Panama City, Florida. The long distance triathlon fly had bitten me and after that Ironman, I went on to complete another 12 in the North American continent. Then, I managed to qualify for the Ironman World Cup in Kona for October 2021, through the Legacy program. YES!!! My childhood dream is getting closer.

How has it impacted my family?

Along the way I have made great friends in the sport. I have inspired many people, including my wife, who has already finished two Ironman. The example at home has been followed by my daughters, who are very good athletes. My oldest daughter plays on the basketball team at her school and my youngest daughter has already done her first triathlon competition.

What do you enjoy most about competing in Ironman?

What I enjoy most being an Ironman athlete, is the lifestyle that it entails and that I can share it with my wife. She is just as disciplined or more, and she is just as competitive. This sport has strengthened us as a couple and has allowed us to set a great example for our daughters.

Have you experienced any obstacles or challenges?

I have had two accidents in my sports life. The first was a day before competing in the Ironman 70.3 in Panama. I fell off the bike and cracked my elbow. The doctor still does believe that I was able to tolerate the pain and finish the race.

The other accident I had was 14 weeks before the Texas Ironman in 2015. I off my bicycle and broke my other elbow in two parts. As a result, I only had 7 weeks to prepare for that competition and managed to finish it with a pretty decent time.

What keeps you motivated?

This sport is like no other. Every day it challenges me, not only physically, but mentally and that is what I like the most. The adrenaline when competing, the self-motivation every day to be better in each of the sports. That’s what keeps me motivated all the time.

Do you have any short or long term goals?

My medium term goal is to make a very good preparation for Kona, compete in the World Championship and enjoy it. Then I want to manage to qualify for a 70.3 distance World Cup and suddenly do an Ultraman … who knows … hahahaha