Anything is possible.
That’s the Ironman triathlon motto.
“It’s not exactly rational, is it, to put yourself through this type of test,” said Andrew Emig, 39, of Farmingdale.
Emig participated in his first Ironman 70.3 (sometimes called a half Ironman; swim, bike and run distances double for a full Ironman of 140.6 miles) last summer, just five months removed from brain surgery.
When he was first diagnosed with a tumor, Emig wasn’t sure if he would be able to see in five months, much less compete in an Ironman as part of a relay team. But he did, completing one of the notoriously hardest triathlon bike courses in the country.
Anything is possible.
Emig will be back this year, joining more than 2,300 athletes from 45 states and 22 countries, as well as 900 volunteers, for the Ironman 70.3 Maine in Augusta on Sunday.
Athletes — most as individuals, some as members of relay teams — will swim 1.2 miles downstream in the Kennebec River, bike 56 miles around the Kennebec Valley, and finish by running 13.1 miles through the state capital.
The event is more than just an athletic competition.
Since it moved from Old Orchard Beach to Augusta in 2022, it has brought in more than $19.1 million in revenue to local businesses and hotels, according to Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce President Katie Doherty.
Roughly 94% of participants come from outside the region, and with each athlete bringing an average of three supporters, that means more than 7,200 people will be in the area this weekend. For some local businesses, race weekend is among their busiest of the year.
“To see the community transform and all the people come out, cheering with cowbells and penny jugs [is just amazing]”, Emig said. “The energy brought to Augusta is so exhilarating, just so positive.”
Jason Halvorsen (left), Drew St. Jean (center) and Andrew Emig pose for a photo at the 2025 Maine Ironman 70.3. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Emig)
Race director Ryan Jarrell said the Maine Ironman feels “like no other event in North America, in large part because of the community.”
Other participants agreed.
“It’s the most encouraging, welcoming community out there, no matter your age, fitness level, or time, people are just happy to see you compete,” said Miranda Dillinger, 30, of Boothbay.
Dillinger and her husband will compete in honor of her mother, Lorna Rae Moss, who was killed in a cycling accident in 2021 in her hometown of Sioux Center, Iowa. Dillinger and her mother did triathlons together for many years and now she sees it as a way to continue to honor her mother’s legacy.
“We’re providing an opportunity for someone to do something significant,” Jarrell said. “At least once a season, I see something very special about humanity. Just a small moment. It’ll answer any day why you do this.”
Zach Norman, for instance, is competing in part to prove doctors wrong.
During his senior year of high school, while playing basketball, the 21-year-old University of Maine student from Holden started having palpitations. He was diagnosed with left bundle branch block (LBBB), a serious but non-fatal heart condition. His doctor told him he could resume many of his normal activities but “shouldn’t plan on running a marathon or anything like that.”
Norman took his doctor’s advice. He didn’t run a marathon. He’s run three, so far. This will be his first long distance triathlon.
“If someone says I’m not capable of doing something, it’s going to make me want to do it,” he said.
Since he started his endurance training, Norman said, his symptoms have decreased.
Emig, who moved to Maine from Pittsburgh four years ago, first experienced the Ironman event in 2024 as a volunteer through his company, SGC Power, which opens for officials to use on race day because of its proximity to the Augusta waterfront.
He was inspired by what he saw and decided his office needed to be represented in the race, and not just with their building. So, he convinced two coworkers, Drew St. Jean and Jason Halvorsen, to sign up as a relay team. St. Jean, a former Division I swimmer at the University of Maine, would tackle the first leg. Emig, a somewhat experienced cyclist, would go second. Halvorsen would finish it off.
Emig said he’s always been an active person. He enjoys many of the quintessential Maine activities: hiking, fishing, surfing, skiing and hunting. It was on a hunting trip when he began to notice he was having vision problems. He went to an eye doctor, who referred him to a specialist, who immediately sent him to the emergency room for an MRI. They found a tumor pushing on Emig’s ocular nerve, causing the vision problems.
A few weeks later, he had surgery to remove the tumor. One of the first things he was able to do during his recovery was spin on a stationary bike, for 15 minutes at a time. Gradually, he worked his way up to 30 minutes, then 45, then an hour. By late April, less than two months after his surgery and a rehospitalization, he was back on the roads.
“It was really humbling to go through that and come out on the other side and get my vision back,” he said. He was worried he might need to learn braille, that he would no longer be able to work and, of course, that he wouldn’t be able to complete the race.
“[We knew] failure was a possibility, a distinct possibility,” he said. “But you don’t know until you try, you have to persevere and just see how it shakes out in the end.”
It shook out pretty well. Not only did they complete the race, they convinced themselves to do it again.
Emig, St. Jean and another colleague, Jonathan Belanger, will again compete as a relay team. despite more setbacks. This year, Emig tore his hamstring in a softball game.
But everyone seems to have an obstacle to overcome, he said. There are always people racing with cancer ribbons or similar markers.
Everyone has a why. You can’t survive the 70.3 miles without one.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Charley DiAdamo can be reached at cdiadamo@metln.org