“We all have a story. We are all an inspiration. We all face challenges in life and have the need to overcome adversity.” That statement comes from Jason P. Lester, who will be coming in the Philippines this December.
Lester has faith in the motto, “Never Stop.” “I’m a firm believer in those words,” says the recipient of the ESPY award given by the American cable television network ESPN. ESPY stands for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly and in 2009, he became the first male triathlete to win an ESPY Best Male Athlete with a Disability.
Lester had completed an Ultraman Canada, two Ultraman Hawaii events and Ironman Hawaii world championship in a 13-month period. Ironman, touted to be the ultimate endurance, is the pinnacle of triathlon. But what earned Lester the ESPY award was for doing Ultraman, which consisted of two Ironman distances in three days – first day, six-mile swim and 90-mile bike; second day, 176-mile bike; third day, 52-mile run — each day under 12 hours.
Just recently, the 36-year-old Hawaii resident did the unthinkable EPIC5. In less than one week, he completed five iron distance triathlons on five Hawaiian islands in less than one week. Lester accomplished 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running each day.
Lester’s just extremely driven. “He’s a machine when it comes to an ability to race,” coach Dave Ciavarella, who’s a neuroradiologist and trauma team member at Emanuel Hospital and a coach for the Ironheads Multisport Racing team, told a Hawaiian daily. “He’s not super fast, but his ability to endure a work load is tremendous.”
But tremendous is not the word you use to describe his life. He has survived more trials, endured more horrors and surmounted more obstacles than would fit in a Hollywood movie. His biography states: “After each upset, letdown, and setback, he has recommitted himself to pursuing his dream of becoming an accomplished athlete, despite his challenges.”
His recently-published memoir, Running on Faith: The Principles, Passion, and Pursuit of a Winning Life, is his story as an Ironman with the use of one arm and his mission to overcoming adversity, reaching goals and recognizing God’s guiding hand in one’s life.
Born in 1974 in Arizona, Lester has a long history of being an athlete. Growing up as a child without a mother, he played baseball and football. By the time he was 12, he developed into a skilled athlete with numerous accolades.
As fate would have it, he was hit while on his bicycle by a woman driving 70 miles per hour who ran a red light. He was left for dead with 21 broken bones and a collapsed lung. He lost the use of his right arm, which became partially paralyzed as a result of the accident.
Over the next several months while he began a lengthy hospital recovery, dreams of becoming a professional athlete were put on hold. While he was still in the hospital recovering, his father and sole guardian, died of a heart attack at the age of 39.
But that didn’t stop Lester’s drive. Inspired by the memory of his father’s love of athletics, he went on to continue to play baseball and football, making the all star game with the use of only one arm. He continued to play sports throughout high school and college.
By the age of 16, he was competing in running and biathlon events. After participating in countless races, he was ranked No. 2 in the state of Arizona in biathlons at the age of 18. All throughout those years, he never thought of having a paralyzed right arm as a disability but rather sees it as “a challenge.”
There were more challenges when he visited Hawaii. It turned out the visit was the turning point of his athletic career. He stumbled upon the 2004 Hawaiian Ironman Championships taking place in Kona and his spirit was totally overcome by the awe of the race. He felt re-energized and came to believe that this was his life’s calling.
Lester hired a coach to teach him how to swim and began training vigorously. With the intense training schedule, amazingly Jason began to notice that he was slowly regaining movement in his right arm.
But his aspirations didn’t stop at the Ironman. On November 30, 2008, he achieved a personal and sports milestone by becoming the first physically-challenged athlete ever to complete the Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii.
But before that accomplishment, he raced in three Ironman competitions, including the Ironman World Championships, represented United States in the Triathlon World Championships, and completed Ultraman Canada.
Despite all the accolades he has been receiving these days, he never stops inspiring other people. In fact, he launched The Never Stop Foundation in 2007 “to encourage all youth to have the chance to achieve their full potential.” The foundation provides programs and learning opportunities that encourage its participants to think about their lives while giving them the practical skills to turn their hopes and dreams into reality.
His life is a living example. “I could have easily quit,” he recalls that three months of hospital stay and six months of rehabilitation, during which time his father died. “A lot of things didn’t make sense back then. But, I made a decision to go right, instead of left – I chose a path to live a healthier life and use my gifts and abilities to be an athlete.”
If you are wondering how he manages to do all those challenges, here’s how. In triathlons, he straps his arm to his side for swimming, attaches the arm to his bike during bicycling and tucks the arm into his shorts while running.
“It’s like how we wake up and tie our shoes and get out the door – it became natural,” he was quoted as saying by a Hawaiian news daily. “My strongest suit is discipline in my mind. We all have challenges, some are physical and more are mental.”
Inability to use his arm only comes into play while swimming, but Lester uses more of his legs to thrust himself through water and strokes with his left arm. “Your body adapts to one limb,” he points out. “In swimming, it’s all upper body (work), swimmers rarely use power in their legs. I use my legs, probably double of normal athletes. When I get out of the water, it’s like I’ve just run a marathon.”
Lester found solace through art. Both his father and grandfather were accomplished artists, and Jason seemed to have inherited the same gift – a natural talent for painting. He does abstract painting; he doesn’t use brushes but his feet!
In 2001, he opened The JR Gallery in Manhattan Beach, California, featuring the works of new and established artists, including paintings from Jason’s own collection. The gallery and art career flourished and he became an internationally acclaimed artist, with many of his works and private commissions being requested by the sports clients of his past.
Meanwhile, Lester is dead set on making his life as an inspiring example to others – especially among Filipinos during his forthcoming visit. “My hope is to share my story and inspire others that anything is possible, no matter what challenges we face in life,” he answers when asked what’s his reason for coming to the country.
“I’ll be visiting surrounding countries for my book tour and felt it in my heart to come to the Philippines,” he continues. “I’ve had my heart set on visiting for quite a while now, and would love to be involved in one of the races or a charity-based events there. I’d like to reach out to the youth with the possibility of doing a fun run with them to bring them together and inspire them.”
On your mark, get set, go!
Lester has faith in the motto, “Never Stop.” “I’m a firm believer in those words,” says the recipient of the ESPY award given by the American cable television network ESPN. ESPY stands for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly and in 2009, he became the first male triathlete to win an ESPY Best Male Athlete with a Disability.
Lester had completed an Ultraman Canada, two Ultraman Hawaii events and Ironman Hawaii world championship in a 13-month period. Ironman, touted to be the ultimate endurance, is the pinnacle of triathlon. But what earned Lester the ESPY award was for doing Ultraman, which consisted of two Ironman distances in three days – first day, six-mile swim and 90-mile bike; second day, 176-mile bike; third day, 52-mile run — each day under 12 hours.
Just recently, the 36-year-old Hawaii resident did the unthinkable EPIC5. In less than one week, he completed five iron distance triathlons on five Hawaiian islands in less than one week. Lester accomplished 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running each day.
Lester’s just extremely driven. “He’s a machine when it comes to an ability to race,” coach Dave Ciavarella, who’s a neuroradiologist and trauma team member at Emanuel Hospital and a coach for the Ironheads Multisport Racing team, told a Hawaiian daily. “He’s not super fast, but his ability to endure a work load is tremendous.”
But tremendous is not the word you use to describe his life. He has survived more trials, endured more horrors and surmounted more obstacles than would fit in a Hollywood movie. His biography states: “After each upset, letdown, and setback, he has recommitted himself to pursuing his dream of becoming an accomplished athlete, despite his challenges.”
His recently-published memoir, Running on Faith: The Principles, Passion, and Pursuit of a Winning Life, is his story as an Ironman with the use of one arm and his mission to overcoming adversity, reaching goals and recognizing God’s guiding hand in one’s life.
Born in 1974 in Arizona, Lester has a long history of being an athlete. Growing up as a child without a mother, he played baseball and football. By the time he was 12, he developed into a skilled athlete with numerous accolades.
As fate would have it, he was hit while on his bicycle by a woman driving 70 miles per hour who ran a red light. He was left for dead with 21 broken bones and a collapsed lung. He lost the use of his right arm, which became partially paralyzed as a result of the accident.
Over the next several months while he began a lengthy hospital recovery, dreams of becoming a professional athlete were put on hold. While he was still in the hospital recovering, his father and sole guardian, died of a heart attack at the age of 39.
But that didn’t stop Lester’s drive. Inspired by the memory of his father’s love of athletics, he went on to continue to play baseball and football, making the all star game with the use of only one arm. He continued to play sports throughout high school and college.
By the age of 16, he was competing in running and biathlon events. After participating in countless races, he was ranked No. 2 in the state of Arizona in biathlons at the age of 18. All throughout those years, he never thought of having a paralyzed right arm as a disability but rather sees it as “a challenge.”
There were more challenges when he visited Hawaii. It turned out the visit was the turning point of his athletic career. He stumbled upon the 2004 Hawaiian Ironman Championships taking place in Kona and his spirit was totally overcome by the awe of the race. He felt re-energized and came to believe that this was his life’s calling.
Lester hired a coach to teach him how to swim and began training vigorously. With the intense training schedule, amazingly Jason began to notice that he was slowly regaining movement in his right arm.
But his aspirations didn’t stop at the Ironman. On November 30, 2008, he achieved a personal and sports milestone by becoming the first physically-challenged athlete ever to complete the Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii.
But before that accomplishment, he raced in three Ironman competitions, including the Ironman World Championships, represented United States in the Triathlon World Championships, and completed Ultraman Canada.
Despite all the accolades he has been receiving these days, he never stops inspiring other people. In fact, he launched The Never Stop Foundation in 2007 “to encourage all youth to have the chance to achieve their full potential.” The foundation provides programs and learning opportunities that encourage its participants to think about their lives while giving them the practical skills to turn their hopes and dreams into reality.
His life is a living example. “I could have easily quit,” he recalls that three months of hospital stay and six months of rehabilitation, during which time his father died. “A lot of things didn’t make sense back then. But, I made a decision to go right, instead of left – I chose a path to live a healthier life and use my gifts and abilities to be an athlete.”
If you are wondering how he manages to do all those challenges, here’s how. In triathlons, he straps his arm to his side for swimming, attaches the arm to his bike during bicycling and tucks the arm into his shorts while running.
“It’s like how we wake up and tie our shoes and get out the door – it became natural,” he was quoted as saying by a Hawaiian news daily. “My strongest suit is discipline in my mind. We all have challenges, some are physical and more are mental.”
Inability to use his arm only comes into play while swimming, but Lester uses more of his legs to thrust himself through water and strokes with his left arm. “Your body adapts to one limb,” he points out. “In swimming, it’s all upper body (work), swimmers rarely use power in their legs. I use my legs, probably double of normal athletes. When I get out of the water, it’s like I’ve just run a marathon.”
Lester found solace through art. Both his father and grandfather were accomplished artists, and Jason seemed to have inherited the same gift – a natural talent for painting. He does abstract painting; he doesn’t use brushes but his feet!
In 2001, he opened The JR Gallery in Manhattan Beach, California, featuring the works of new and established artists, including paintings from Jason’s own collection. The gallery and art career flourished and he became an internationally acclaimed artist, with many of his works and private commissions being requested by the sports clients of his past.
Meanwhile, Lester is dead set on making his life as an inspiring example to others – especially among Filipinos during his forthcoming visit. “My hope is to share my story and inspire others that anything is possible, no matter what challenges we face in life,” he answers when asked what’s his reason for coming to the country.
“I’ll be visiting surrounding countries for my book tour and felt it in my heart to come to the Philippines,” he continues. “I’ve had my heart set on visiting for quite a while now, and would love to be involved in one of the races or a charity-based events there. I’d like to reach out to the youth with the possibility of doing a fun run with them to bring them together and inspire them.”
On your mark, get set, go!
