Cover Story Young triathlete chooses between faith and sport. CHRIST, OR 18 (434) | www.AdventistReview.org | May 16, 2013
By Kimberly Luste Maran, with reporting by Bill Knott The room in Lake Placid, New York, was crowded with athletes, friends, and family. Weary yet anxious Ironman racers waited as certified times were given and qualifiers’ names were announced. Alicia Trott, an Adventist young adult from Topsham, Maine, had never participated in a full Ironman but managed to turn in a personal best at 11 hours 47 minutes at the July 22, 2012, event. Though tired, Alicia was exhilarated, excited. And prepared with a credit card—in case she actually qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-<strong>Kona</strong>, Hawaii. Alicia didn’t have long to wait. Officials announced her name. Gripping her credit card tightly she rushed up to the desk—it was sign up immediately or lose your spot—with no hesitation. The moment was surreal to Alicia as she ran through the crowd amid congratulatory pats and smiles. No one in her training group had ever qualified for <strong>Kona</strong>! As she signed the necessary paperwork, and paid her $800 fee, Alicia took the last qualifying slot in the 25-29 women’s group (Alicia had placed third in her age group and 383 out of 2,896 overall). During the postrace celebration Alicia texted many of her friends in her training group back home, telling them she had qualified. One of them offered to pay for her and her husband Jamie’s entire trip to Hawaii—plane tickets, lodging, and food for a week. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Trott. “How could we pass this up? It was such a rush to sign up. “When I left the building, I was met by my mom. She was very excited to hear that I had qualified and wondered what the event date was. I told her, and she immediately informed me that it was on Sabbath.” The breath whooshed out of Alicia as this news, to which she had been oblivious, sank in. The biggest Ironman challenge, the <strong>Kona</strong> Ironman, was on Sabbath. She had been vigilant in not training on Sabbath. Everyone in her training group knew she wouldn’t run, bike, or swim on Sabbath. Students she taught health and fitness to at Pine Tree Academy in Freeport knew about her training—and her decision to take the seventh day off. So did her church family, and the people, mostly non-Adventists, who read her blog. Alicia says, “I had gone through an entire year making it a KONA? point not to race on Sabbath. My heart fell, and at that point, since I had been so careful in protecting the Sabbath, I was actually shocked that I wasn’t immediately thinking, OK, I’m not going to do this.” Alicia thought especially of her husband, who respects the Sabbath as much she does. “He had to make so many sacrifices to get me to Lake Placid that he felt when I qualified that the Lord was blessing us,” explains Trott. “Jamie felt as if God was giving him a bit of a reward—he was going to be able to go to Hawaii.” Jamie was thinking about the grueling training—and all the effort—they had both put in. While her husband wasn’t sure which choice would be best, Alicia knew what her decision would have to be—she couldn’t, wouldn’t run the race on Sabbath. Training Alicia’s passion for training and competing didn’t start until she was a sophomore at Southern Adventist University (SAU) in Collegedale, Tennessee. “That’s where I did my first triathlon in 2002,” she says. “That’s where I started diving into exercise sciences.” Each spring SAU holds a sprint triathlon (half-mile swim, 18-mile bike ride, five- to six-mile run). Her aunt organizes those triathlons, and convinced Alicia to participate. “She made me do it!” remembers Trott. “At the time I was upset she was pushing me to do this race. I couldn’t swim across the pool when I first started training. But I had several months to train, and I did it. I used an antique bike she owned and placed first in my age group, and I loved it.” Alicia thanked her aunt and then The breath whooshed out of Alicia as the news sank in. The biggest Ironman challenge, the <strong>Kona</strong> Ironman, was on Sabbath. www.AdventistReview.org | May 16, 2013 | (435) 19
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