Every year Special Olympics of New Jersey (SONJ) hosts an event at the Jersey Shore known as One More Tri. It is a triathlon that helps raise money for athletes with developmental disabilities who participate in the Special Olympics. Triathlon is a sport that combines swimming, biking, and running.
In the past two years SONJ has shifted the event from in-person to a virtual relay format which partners non-disabled athletes with Special Olympians. Participants get to choose the portions of the race they’ll complete and then race it on their own time, at their own pace, either indoors our outdoors.
Gayle Stamler, a member of the Jersey Shore Tri Gals, participates in triathlons regularly and is also an open water swimmer. Swimming is her favorite part of triathlons and often her leg in triathlon relays.
This year Stamler decided to compete in the One More Tri Unified Relay event and was paired up with former Mercer student, and Special Olympic swimmer, Margo Lee. Lee has won Gold Medals in Special Olympics in swimming in the United States and abroad.
As Jeanene Leppert, Director of Special Events for SONJ described Stamler and Lee’s pairing, tears could be heard in her voice. She said, “[Gayle] wanted Margo to have the swim leg, so she did the bike and the run…She taped Margo’s trading card to her bib, and ran. That’s not what she does, she’s a swimmer, but she decided Margo’s going to be the swimmer. And this was somebody that knows nothing about Special Olympics, and she was one of the first people to register this year.”
Lee, who began swimming competitively with the Special Olympics when she was about eight years old, first swam in the One More Tri triathlon in 2009.
She says her favorite thing about participating is “Making new friends.” While she misses the in person aspects of previous years, she says “just seeing all my friends” is still her favorite part of this year’s event, even though it is virtual.
As Leppert explains, in years past, “You came to the race, you did the race, and you left. And you felt great about it. It was amazing, but you didn’t really get to know the athletes, I think.”
Under the new format One More Tri athletes and community members have been encouraged to engage more on social media, sharing stories about their lives and their love of the sport.
Lepper says, “we asked [the athletes] to fill out a survey that is a deeper dive than, you know ‘How many medals have you earned? What sports do you do?’…The connection between the community and our athletes is way deeper, way more real, much more humanity is brought to our athletes.”
Additionally there have been surprising financial benefits. While the revenue is lower than the typical annual in person haul of $80,000 and up, the expenses have been so greatly reduced as to leave the event with higher net proceeds.
“To put on a triathlon,” Leppert explains, “is a very expensive endeavor, so much more expensive than people realize.”
She continues, “So what ends up happening is the expenses creep up to being about 60% of the total revenue.” Leppert adds, “This year, owing to the reduced expense and heightened engagement, proceeds are up despite less than half the average number of participants so far.”
Current Mercer Student, Gold Medal winning Special Olympian and VOICE reporter Laurie Gallahger reflects this enthusiasm centered on the SO community. She recalls of her days in the Special Olympics that “It’s [about] participation, but I also did it for social reasons, and it got me out of the house.”
While Stamler and Lee will be completing their sections of the race apart, they will still be in it together.
