Ashley Dalton Forsyth

In 2001 a college friend offered me a chance to live and work in the Adirondacks for the summer. It was a chance of a lifetime and I spent the next 3 summers falling in love with Lake Placid and these mountains. I also saw my first Ironman that year. I was an overweight, former hockey HS player who couldn't run down the block and spent lots of time partying. I was in awe of these athletes and never imagined I'd join their ranks.

During the 5 years since my last IM (Kona 2019), I went through some triathlon burnout, made it through the pandemic, took a much more demanding job, and had Luke, our greatest achievement. Having done 9 fulls, I knew I wanted to make it a round 10. Ironman Lake Placid was celebrating 25 years and I'd been here for the early days.

Saturday morning I checked in and got bib #2001.

Completer mentality is so different than competer, but I still felt pressure. I hadn't put in half of the hours I used to leading up to this, am certainly not fit at the moment, but knew I'd done enough to hear Mike Reilly call me across the finish. I had a great swim, a fantastic 1st loop of the bike and then the totality of the day caught me. Isabella's words echoed the rest of the time, "In this moment, can I move forward, take the next step." The run was a slog/walk, but I finished. Somehow eeking out 13th in AG.

While I rediscovered that fire to find competitive fitness again, today I'm filled with gratitude for all that was Ironman Lake Placid 2024.