Promises kept: Starnes to compete in today’s Ironman 70.3 to honor his late daughter

Robert Starnes runs across the Walnut Street Bridge in training for the event.

It all started with a promise to a little girl who loved her father.

When Hamilton County Sheriff’s Lt. Robert Starnes enters the Tennessee River this morning to compete in the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga triathlon, he will be taking another step toward keeping that promise to his daughter, who passed away seven years ago (remember that number — it’s important).

Starnes, 51, is among about 2,500 athletes competing today in the swim/bike/run through Chattanooga and North Georgia. It is the second Ironman event Chattanooga hosts, along with the full Ironman Chattanooga in the fall.

Today will be Starnes’ first attempt at an Ironman triathlon, but the journey he’s been on has more than prepared him for the miles he will cover today.