Last April, Palo Alto High School senior Tommy Butler completed the 2023 Ironman Texas Triathlon with a time of 14 hours, 30 minutes, and 56 seconds. Verde spoke with Butler, who was the youngest male athlete competing in the event, about his experience training for and completing the race.

What made you decide to take on the challenge?
“I’m always the kind of guy who wants to have big goals, big aspirations. After my football season ended, I saw a video of someone doing it [an Ironman], and it looked like something I’d want to do. In the video I saw someone do a Half-Ironman, but I decided I want to do a full one.”

What motivated you to keep going during your training and the race?
“It’s mostly mental… you just got to be disciplined… I watched a lot of [David] Goggins [and] a lot of Nick Bare. I trained every day, except for Sundays. That’s the Lord’s day, and I worshipped. [I was] just training every day, swimming, biking, running, until I got injured, and I could no longer train for the run, so I was only able to get up to eight miles. That’s the longest I ever ran before my actual marathon. I had Compartment Syndrome in my calves due to a fast, heavy increase in running. The doctors told me I shouldn’t do the Ironman, and I didn’t listen to them… when the marathon day came, I actually hadn’t run for over two months.”

How did it feel to cross the finish line?
“It felt amazing. I was actually the youngest competitor on the course, out of every single athlete. It was a really surreal moment. I was actually not sure if I was even going to be able to finish. I thought it could be a huge waste of time, effort, and money. When I started my swim, I was comfortable that I was going to be able to finish … but that marathon, since I hadn’t been training, was really just a blessing from God, that I was able to even keep up a running pace. because I didn’t really walk much of the marathon at all.”