Youngest competitor in Ironman Chattanooga is local 18-year-old racing with his dad

Staff photo by Angela Lewis Foster
Paul and Devin Vaudreuil stand Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016 on the Riverwalk near the Chickamauga Dam. The pair will be competing in Sunday's Ironman Chattanooga.
Staff photo by Angela Lewis Foster Paul and Devin Vaudreuil stand Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016 on the Riverwalk near the Chickamauga Dam. The pair will be competing in Sunday's Ironman Chattanooga.

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Collegedale Academy senior Devin Vaudreuil said there are three moments in his life that will define him.

Getting rebaptized was the first. The second will be his wedding, whenever that happens.

And the third will come when he pays tribute to his father by attempting the third annual Little Debbie Ironman Chattanooga with him this weekend.

"That's one of the defining moments of my life that I will have," Vaudreuil, 18, said. "I'm happy to be out there with my dad, and I'm proud that I can be like him."

The father-son duo of Devin and Paul Vaudreuil represent just two of more than 2,800 competitors scheduled to plunge into the Tennessee River just after sunrise Sunday.

But they embody the spirit of an event that pushes the physical and emotional limits of the human body over the course of a 2.4-mile swim, 116-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.

"I'll be proud of him regardless, and I know he'll finish if it's at all possible," said Paul, a 54-year-old Ironman veteran and an English professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "Even if he doesn't finish, I'll be proud.

"The load he's taken on training for this whole thing, it's a lot."

Endurance sports are a staple in the Vaudreuil household. Paul is active in the Chattanooga Triathlon Club.

He said he "got swept up in the "running craze of the 1970s" and has been active ever since. His wife, Tresa, has completed marathons, and the couple's children, Devin and 15-year-old Tyler, have followed suit.

Devin is a natural runner, while Tyler is a whiz on the bike.

"Me and my brother, we didn't grow up watching the World Series or the Super Bowl," Devin said. "We grew up watching the world championships of Ironman. My dad has done triathlons and Ironman since we can remember."

Still, Devin's announcement last year that he wanted to attempt the Ironman was not met lightly.

He would be tasked with training for the most grueling event of his athletic career, on top of obligations to school, band, a part-time job and church.

Devin is the youngest competitor in the field. Ironman requires competitors to be at least 18.

To ensure his commitment to the task, Paul and Tresa required him to pay half of the $650 entry fee.

Over the last several months, dad and son have embarked on 100-plus-mile bike rides from the Vaudreuils' Ooltewah home. Tyler joined for the local 64-mile 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge bike ride in May.

Learning to handle laborious bike rides has been the hardest part of training, said Devin, who runs for his school's cross-country team.

"I didn't have much of a previous base to that," Devin said. "I was basically starting fresh and trying to build up a base and work up to riding 80-plus and 100-plus miles. That was a lot of time that I had to devote from other things like homework and work."

Over Labor Day, Paul and Devin rode Sunday's bike course. Dad got the best of son on that ride. But Devin is a better runner, Paul said.

"This is going to be a battle between my experience and his youthful vigor," Paul said. "He's got the running chops to do really well. I'll be the faster swimmer, but probably not by a whole lot."

However, both agree Sunday is not a competition.

"My plan is to let him start the swim before me by about five or 10 minutes," Paul said. "I won't enjoy my race if I'm in front of him the whole time. I'll worry about him. I've done these before. I don't need to finish another one. I want him to finish."

Devin said that it's hard to put a price tag on what it has meant to have his dad by his side as he prepares for the Ironman. In fact, Devin said, his dad is the motivation.

"I'm doing it to show my dad that I'm proud to be his son," Devin said. "It's not about finishing. Well, obviously, part of it is about finishing. But it's not about going out there and coming to school the next day to say, 'Hey, look at me, I did the Ironman.'

"No, to me, it's between me and my dad. This is really an unspoken dialogue between me and him, and it's, 'Hey, Dad. I'm proud to be your son, and this is how I want to show you that I couldn't be more proud to have you as my dad.'"

Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.

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