Today is Memorial Day, and honestly I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on why carrying that American flag during IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga mattered so much to me.
For most people watching, it probably just looked like a guy carrying a flag through a race.
But to me, it was never just a flag.
I carried that flag in honor of Staff Sergeant Seth Michael Plant through the IRONMAN Foundation Gold Star Initiative. Somewhere during those 70.3 miles, especially during the hardest moments, carrying it became a reminder that this race was about something bigger than my own discomfort.
When my legs hurt, the flag stayed up.
When I wanted to walk longer, the flag stayed up.
When emotions started hitting near the finish line, the flag stayed up.
I kept thinking about sacrifice.
Not the kind that happens during a race.
Real sacrifice.
The kind carried by Gold Star families every single day after losing someone they love in service to this country.
That perspective changes things fast.
It’s hard to complain about temporary pain when you’re carrying a symbol tied to someone who gave everything.
Crossing that finish line with the flag hit me harder emotionally than I expected. I don’t think I fully understood what that moment would feel like until it happened.
I cried.
I hugged my family.
I looked completely wrecked physically and emotionally.
And honestly, I’m grateful for that.
Because it reminded me that endurance sports can be about more than medals and finish times. Sometimes they become a way to honor people, tell stories, and carry meaning across the line with you.
Today is Memorial Day.
And today I’m reminded that freedom has a cost.
Carrying that flag for 70.3 miles was my small way of making sure someone’s name, sacrifice, and memory continued moving forward too.
