Wesley Wilson was the last kid picked in gym class.
He was out of breath when unloading his rig, powered through the drivetrain of his 2008 Western Star.
He was a pre-diabetic with a family history of heart disease.
Now, the Mercer-leased owner-operator is also an Ironman.
Wilson made a lifestyle change beginning seven years ago. He began training and eating healthy in order to compete in Ironman Lake Placid in Lake Placid, N.Y., his hometown. The Ironman is a triathlon held in various locations across the globe and entails a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.
“I live, eat and breathe Ironman,” Wilson says, and he has a tattoo of the Lake Placid event’s logo to prove it.
Before his lifestyle change, Wilson avoided the triathlon. He thought Ironman was about jocks, the people who didn’t pick him for teams in gym class. His family convinced him to attend the race as a spectator after a physical revealed he was pre-diabetic and had a high chance of developing heart disease. “The outlook wasn’t good,” he says. Wilson’s father passed away at 42, and his mother passed away at 62, both from complications of heart disease.
