Suzanne McWilliams came to us several years ago as part of our beginner program to train for her first triathlon at Swim RVA. She did not have much of a bike or swim background and struggled to run from one side of the parking lot to the other. She has been extremely consistent in her training since day one and rarely misses a workout. Each year since her start in the sport she has pushed herself to achieve a more difficult goal. She completed the Giant Acorn international Triathlon as her first Olympic distance race in 2014 and soon after signed up to compete in the 2015 Ironman 70.3 Timberman Triathlon. She worked hard for many months to complete Timberman. As she was traveling to the race she received word that her daughter had unexpectedly passed away so she obviously did not race. Suzanne has been such an inspiration to so many people during her life but even more so this past year. Despite this tragedy, she never gave up on her goal of completing a half iron distance race and used the tragedy of her past year to motivate herself to complete this for her daughter. This past weekend, Suzanne completed her first half iron distance triathlon at REV3 Pocono Mountains which is arguably one of the hardest half iron races in the country. She also won the 65-69 age group! Suzanne is a perfect example to all of us to never give up on a goal even when tragedy hits you. Her perseverance and fun attitude makes her a joy to be around and we could not be more proud to be a part of her journey. As coaches we work hard to motivate and inspire our athletes to achieve something MORE. We find that many times the reverse happens and we walk away being much more inspired ourselves. Suzanne, thank you for inspiring us and always striving to BE MORE.