Participants Make Tulsa's First Ironman Triathlon A Family Affair

Some athletes braving the Ironman Triathlon are still making their way toward the finish line at Guthrie Green in downtown Tulsa. 

More than 1,900 athletes from around the world competed Sunday in parts of Osage, Creek and Tulsa County.

Participants called the Ironman a race against yourself. For one duo, it sure helps having your brother running alongside you.

"I said, 'Yeah man, I'll do it with you,'" Scott Bacon said. "I had to buy a bike and quickly realize what the distances mean."

This was Bacon’s response when his brother, Mathew, asked him to do a triathlon. Six years later, the Bacon brothers have now completed their second full Ironman together. 

Scott flew from New Hampshire to Tulsa this week for the competition.

"It was a no-brainer,” Scott Bacon said. “Slam dunk. Let's do it together and cross the finish line.”

Simply making it to the starting line was a challenge in and of itself. Before his first half-Ironman in 2014, Mathew thought he was dealing with a bout of food poisoning.

"It wasn't food poisoning," Mathew Bacon said. "It turned out to be stage four colon cancer."

Doctors told Mathew his time was running out, so he began rewarding himself with a race through each stage of his cancer journey. The journey equated to eight half-Ironman races.

"The race itself is a journey,” Mathew Bacon said. “It requires, you know, not only mental fortitude but also the physical fortitude.”

Mathew, who spent a short time thinking he was healed, learned his cancer returned in 2020.

"There were days I couldn't, you know, do it, but I pushed through," Mathew Bacon said.

Mathew may not know how many days he will have, but he can control how he spends them.

For him, it's swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 and running 26.2, back-to-back-to-back.

"After going through two liver resections, part of my lung cut off, part of my colon taken out, radiation, chemotherapy, you have to look at the bright side of things," Mathew Bacon said.

Mathew Bacon is heading to Houston soon for another checkup.

"We're kind of at a ‘wait and see,’” Mathew Bacon said. “Hopefully, you know, not a surgery or chemotherapy again. We'll see. If that's the case, I'll go through it and reward myself with another race at the end."

You can bet Scott will be right there with him for that race, too.