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Ironman is full of familiar faces: a local accountant, a neighbor, the stay-at-home mom from church, a local YMCA instructor.
There are professionals whose lives are dedicated to the sport, but Ironman primarily consists of age-groupers, the term used for the non-professional athletes who make up the majority of the race. They balance careers with families and hours of training, a sacrifice not just for the athletes but for their families and friends.
Some just want to prove to themselves they can finish the race, others dream of a high finish at this weekend's world championships, hoping to be among the best triathletes in the world.
Tiffany Blair
Tiffany Blair lives in Idaho with her parents and four children. She's starting to lose track of all the places she's lived. In the past nine years, she's moved seven times since her husband, Jason Blair, joined the military. It's an aspect of life many military families are used to, but it's not something to which a world-class athlete training for one of the biggest races of her life is accustomed.
"She's somehow working the training in with managing the children all day with very little help," said her father-in-law, Jim Blair, who has lived in Chattanooga for 40 years. "She's very disciplined, you have to be if you're going to raise four children and do all the training at the same time."
Jason Blair has been stationed at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam since June. He moved there after the family spent three years in Colorado Springs, Colo. Tiffany Blair, just months away from the world championships in Jason Blair's hometown, stayed behind in the U.S.
They sold their home and Tiffany Blair moved with her children to her parents' house in Idaho. The family expects to be reunited after the race when Tiffany Blair and the children move to Guam.
"Being a military family is hard in itself, but especially finding out that we're moving to Guam," Tiffany Blair said.
Jason Blair began with the Air Force as a nurse in 2008. Three years ago, he finished schooling to become a nurse practitioner , which ultimately led him to Guam.
The family has plenty of experience with moving, but this one has had its own challenges.
At the beginning of August, Guam was thrown in the middle of escalating tension between the U.S. and North Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jung Un threatened to strike U.S. military targets in Guam with ballistic missiles in retaliation to President Donald Trump saying North Korea will be "met with fire and fury and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before" if it did not stop threatening the U.S.
But it's something Tiffany Blair tries not to worry about.
"We feel super at ease with our military," she said. "They continue to reassure us that we're prepared, and the threat level in Guam hasn't changed. People have continued to go on with their lives, but it is a little nerve-racking to hear that when you're moving there."
Tiffany Blair after completing Ironman 70.3 Arizona in 2016. It was her first 70.3 race. She won her age group.In the meantime, Tiffany Blair focuses on training, her family and the move.
"They say it takes a village to raise kids, but it's even more than that when you're doing triathlons and are a military family."
Jason Blair was a standout athlete at The McCallie School. He was all-county and all-state in soccer while playing for the Blue Tornado before playing semi-professionally.
Tiffany Blair was a two-sport athlete at Concordia University in Portland, Ore., where she played soccer and ran track. In her short time as a triathlete, she's already made a name for herself as a top U.S. racer for her age group.
In July, she raced in the Spudman Triathlon in Idaho. There were more than 600 women.
She won.
She even beat several relay teams and was the top woman to finish in a field that featured other elite women racers. It wasn't the first win of the season.
In her first 70.3-mile race, she won.
Tiffany Blair hasn't been competing in triathlons long - this is her third year in the sport. But after devoting herself to her family for more than a decade, she decided it was time to start doing something for herself.
"Being a mom for the last 11 years, I've poured myself into my kids. So now having a piece for me and getting to have time for myself."
The key to any successful age-group athlete is balance.
They have to balance hours, weeks and months of training with their regular lives. For Tiffany Blair, it started with her family.
"Everyone has agree to be supportive of each other and all the activities each of us are doing," she said. "It's about finding what works for your family, and that helps give me balance.
"I make it work."
Contact staff writer Mark Pace at mpace@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6361. Follow him on Twitter @themarkpace and on Facebook at ChattanoogaOutdoors.