What Winning is Really About Posted by delh on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 (CST) Article taken from the Star Tribune regarding Jeff Wachena. http://www.startribune.com/stories/465/5087623.html

Doug Grow,  Star Tribune November 16, 2004 GROW1116 The most remarkable athletes don't have huge contracts and massive egos. The athletes who achieve the greatest triumphs are people such as Jeffrey Wanchena, who has overcome cheeseburgers and self-worth demons and has shown the rest of us that anything's possible. I met Wanchena before the 1997 Twin Cities Marathon. Nineteen months before that event, Wanchena had weighed 420 pounds and had a 60-inch waist. He had decided that he wanted to see his first grandchild grow up. On Oct. 5, the 250-pound philosopher/athlete finished his first marathon. Wanchena hasn't slowed down, though that's probably a little misleading. Wanchena's not very fast. But the race is not always to the swift. On Nov. 6, the wondrous Wanchena completed an Ironman Triathlon in Panama City, Fla.: At 7 a.m., he ran into the ocean to start a 2.4-mile swim. An hour and 48 minutes later, he was headed for his bicycle and a 112-mile ride. After averaging 16.3 miles an hour (6 hours, 52 minutes), he was running 26.2 miles. When he finished the run in 6 hours, 45 minutes it was 10:45 p.m. He'd been hard at it for 15 hours, 45 minutes, only about seven hours behind. Wanchena does not meet the stereotype of the scrawny triathlete. His weight is up a bit from that 1997 marathon to "a packed" 290. Along the route, he said, it was clear people related to him. "I would run by one of those skinny runners and people would yell out, 'Way to go!' " Wanchena said. "Then you'd hear them yell at the skinny guy, 'You'd better get your butt in gear.' " At the finish line, there was another sign of appreciation -- and concern -- for this unusual athlete. The Panama City triathlon actually has two finish lines. First comes the official time line. Roughly 30 feet beyond that is the ceremonial finish. Just past the timing line, Wanchena dropped to his knees. "I said a little thank you to the Lord and to all the people who have believed in me and helped me," he said. When he got up, there were two men at his side. "Don't worry, we gotcha, buddy," one of the men said. "I feel great," Wanchena said. "Sure you do," one of the men said. "I do," Wanchena insisted. "We saw you go down," said one of the men. Wanchena, 53, still has physical goals. He wants to lose 30 pounds and desperately wants to someday have a 36-inch waist. But his physical accomplishments only represent the surface of a man who has found spiritual peace -- even joy. He's overcome childhood sexual abuse, which led to his self-destructive eating habits. Years before he began to work on his body, he'd recovered his sense of self-worth. "Our histories don't have to define us," he said is the big discovery he made, with the help of good friends and a lot of prayer. He was a founder and currently is president of Pacem in Terris, a retreat outside Isanti for people seeking solitude. "No preaching," said Wanchena of the experience offered at the retreat center. But for those who seek it, there are long conversations about life, spirituality, faith -- and exercise and diet. For his part, Wanchena eats carefully, exercises diligently and buys a lot of running shoes. (A man of his size does go through running shoes quickly.) "It's simple, but not easy," he said of his lifestyle. But the rewards are many. Recall, it was the birth of a grandson that inspired Wanchena to try that first Twin Cities Marathon. "My grandfathers were gone before I ever had a chance to know them," Wanchena said. "I never had that older mentor. I wanted to be around for my grandkids." His oldest grandson is 8 now. They go biking together. There are three other grandkids, too, and another on the way, and Wanchena wakes up daily with a prayer of gratitude on his lips. Doug Grow is at dgrow@startribune.com.

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