BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Trifest for MS is a series of races benefiting multiple sclerosis research. It was put on by Rampy MS Research Foundation in Bentonville and is being held this weekend.
This year, Greg Simony, founder of Push 2 Inspire, a nonprofit organization focused on pushing, pulling, and propelling differently-abled athletes across finish lines, came in from Florida.
“Somebody who wanted to do what we were doing, which is pulling people, he had a bigger goal of doing a half Iron Man with somebody and wanted some ideas, he reached out, we became friends last year about this time, he said, you know if you ever can think you need to come out to Bentonville, there's this thing called Trifest," said Simony.
Simony has traveled to seven different states to help athletes in races. He is pulling six Northwest Arkansas-based people with special needs this weekend.
“The swim is done with since it's in a pool, using a raft with a harness attached to it, so I swim pulling it, then the bike with a cord that attaches to the back of the bike, I push a jogger for the run," said Simony.
On Saturday, Sept. 2, Simony completed an Olympic distance which is a 0.93 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike ride, and a 6.2 mile run. He ran and biked while pulling and pushing twelve-year-old Isiah Trinkle.
“He should live through his disabilities and not live with it,” said Isiah's mom, Christina Trinkle. “Breaking boundaries and having no limits with a disability.”
Saturday afternoon Simony competed in a sprint competition and Sunday he will compete in a super sprint with other athletes with special needs.
“I hope to inspire the couch potato by, you know, by seeing what I do. They don't necessarily have to do what I do. But I hope to inspire them to say that, you know, maybe they need to change their ways, and that there are people that can do it, and they could look to me for that," said Simony. “I had my challenges in life, I was pretty heavy. I drank and wanted to get healthy, but also do something positive with it. Which is when I got into racing and triathlons and running races with people that can't do it on their own.”
Simony plans on continuing to travel for these races.
“I've raced in, you know, six, seven states now. My goal would be to eventually do like 50 races in 50 states in 50 days, but it's a pretty big undertaking,” said Simony. “It allows me to do something that's not just about me."
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