Gokey-Thomas Can't Stop Smiling about "Amazing" Day

Melissa and Todd at the finish line

Melissa Gokey-Thomas' right knee and quadriceps were killing her.

But with two miles left in the Fort USA Ironman Triathlon last week in Lake Placid, New York, she wasn't about to quit.

Her brother, Steve, wouldn't let her.

"He was yelling at me, 'You can do it,' and he jogged with me for a while," Melissa said.

And when Melissa, the Fluvanna, New York, native, reached the final loop of the run on the Olympic speedskating oval, she could see herself on the jumbo television screen and her father, Todd, waiting at the finish line.

That was all the inspiration she needed.

Todd, 62, has suffered for most of his life from von Hippel-Lindau disease, which is a genetic multi-system disorder characterized by the abnormal growth of tumors in certain parts of the body.

All of Melissa's training for the 2.4 mile swim, the 112-mile bike and the 26.2-mile run - at her home in Texas and in Chatauqua County for seven weeks - was to honor her father and raise money for the Cancer Research Fund / VHL Alliance.

She succeeded on both counts, raising more than $72,000 for VHL research, including $8,000 from the Janus Challenge for raising the second-most money of any of the 2,000 competitors.

"Doing an Ironman is tough, but it's nothing like what he's had to face," Melissa said. "It's nothing compared to what I did. He's been doing it for years and I've just been working hard for six months. I was just so excited to get to the end."

Melissa completed the swim in 1 hours, 5 minutes, 22 seconds, the bike in 6:45:03 and the run in 5:23:17. Her total time of 13:28:34 was well ahead of her goal of 17 hours. More importantly, Todd was permitted to present Melissa with her finisher medal upon the completion of the Ironman.

"It was the most amazing day ever," Melissa said. "It was so much fun, it felt so good and I had fun with it."

Other than having sore calves and quadriceps, she was feeling fine.

"I'm looking forward to exercising again," she said, "but I definitely won't run for two weeks."

>> Maybe you can't run a Triathlon, but you can help in your own way. See ideas at vhl.org/help. Thank you!<<

See more about Melissa's Triathlon - Donate honoring Melissa and Todd

As printed in the VHL Family Forum 13:2, August/September 2005. For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, editor@vhl.org. Further information is available from the VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org.

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