CLEVELAND — The Tri CLE Rock Roll Run triathlon returned to Cleveland this weekend for its fifth year, and one athlete introduced a fashion first.
James Miller, a Cleveland man and first-time triathlete, made his debut in Sunday's Super Sprint event, swimming, biking and running-all while wearing jean shorts. The reason? Accountability and a drive for self-improvement.
It all started at a Cleveland Cavaliers game in February, when Miller and his friend, Luke Kim, decided they needed a little extra motivation to achieve their fitness goals.
“We’re at a Cavs game in the middle of February, and we were kind of just struggling to make goals,” Miller said. “But we’re like, let’s set a goal. Let’s actually be accountable to each other and let’s actually set out to, you know, be better, right?”
The contest was simple. Miller and Kim would compete against each other to see who could do the most push-ups, pull-ups and wall-sits. Two of their friends from their Bible Study group, Brandon Deuch and Aaron Yeh, acted as judges. Another one of their friends who judged the competition was not able to attend the interview.
“I was absolutely blown away by how well both of them did,” Deuch said. “Like, James may have lost, but he did, I don’t know, probably like somewhere in the 50s range of push-ups, over a five-minute wall sit, like it was just super.”
Yeh agreed.
“I couldn’t emphasize enough that the effort and the commitment and the dedication from these guys was really impressive," said Yeh. “Especially considering this was, you know, not something that was mandated by any authority.”
Kim, who won the competition, lauded it as a motivator that got him working out more consistently.
“I think having just accountability, whether it's another friend knowing that they're also working towards the same goal or another friend encouraging each other, even if the encouragement is through like smack talk and stuff like that, I think it's extremely helpful,” Kim said.
Going back to their Bible Study roots, Kim related his experience to a bible verse encouraging fellowship with others.
“I think it’s like ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’ And so, in that respect, I firmly believe that,” Kim said.
Even though Deuch and Yeh did not participate in the fitness challenge, they also spoke to the value of friends supporting friends in their goals.
“I would say in general, from my experience, like doing anything with the group of people, specifically your friends, makes it just so much easier,” Deuch said. “So much more motivating.”
“Just having these guys consistently... meeting and spending time with one another and encouraging each other makes all the difference in the world when it comes to being healthy and building good habits— just improving every day,” said Yeh.
The triathlon was chosen for its accessibility, as it features shorter and longer distance events. According to a press release sent earlier in the summer, Tri CLE Rock Roll Run hosts youth and adult participants as young as 13 with male, female, and non-binary categories.
“The distance does make it more accessible,” Yeh said. “The punishment here more is in the wearing the jeans, and I don’t think any of us would be ready for that sort of situation because no one, nobody knows what it’s going to be like.”
On Thursday, I asked Miller what he thought it was going to be like.
“Honestly, I think it’s going to be painful, but I think I’m ready for it,” Miller said, though he also added he’d done some extra training in less-than-comfortable athletic shorts to prepare.
Regardless of the discomfort, Miller was determined to follow through on his word.
“I think it’s very easy to look at a challenge like this and like, ‘Hey I'm not going to do this,’” he said. “But for me, I think that’s something that, especially, you know, in our culture, we need to continue to build on.”
Miller ended up finishing second overall in the super sprint race.
Jessica Yeager, the volunteer and community outreach director for Tri CLE Rock Roll Run, said the event features over 1000 participants and over 150 volunteers and that she was excited to see James among that number this year.
“We at Tri CLE so much love to build community and involve the community around us and so I think it’s so wonderful to see a group of young men motivating each other in such a healthy way,” Yeager said.
