LEXINGTON, Ky. — Dozens of athletes woke up early Sunday to compete in a special indoor triathlon.
The athletes honored a well-loved community member who participated in triathlons in the Lexington community for nearly 20 years.
What You Need To Know
- ‘Philip Cullen Indoor Triathlon’ is an annual triathlon that honors a beloved community member
- Cullen passed away in May 2021 at the age of 60 years ago
- Cullen is survived by his wife Maureen O’Daniel, who attended Sunday’s triathlon in his honor
Athletes at North Lexington’s YMCA swam, biked and ran to honor Philip Cullen's life during the Philip Cullen Indoor Triathlon hosted by North Lexington Family YMCA.
Maureen O’Daniel was Cullen’s wife for 30 years. O’Daniel caught Cullen’s eye while doing something they both loved: sports.
“We met playing sports. Soccer. So he was always kind of focused on sporting events for the purpose of hanging out with friends,” said O’Daniel.
Cullen is what you would’ve called a team-player. He wasn’t into the glitz and glamor of winning – to him, it was all about good sportsmanship and rooting for others.
In May 2021 Cullen passed away during a procedure at 60 years old.
Cullen loved sports, but triathlons were his favorite and he made sure to do what he loved for nearly twenty years. 55 triathletes attended the ‘Philip Cullen Indoor Triathlon’, a third of whom never participated in a triathlon until Sunday. Triathletes tried their hand at 10 minutes of swimming, 20 minutes of biking and finally 30 minutes of running.
Hayden Dwyer and his pastor decided to jump in just a couple days ago to the race.
“It was a last minute thing, my pastor is Curt Vernon and we’d done a triathlon together in August. We were trying to find a time to coordinate our schedules and he said, ‘I just looked up triathlons on Google’ and he said, ‘There’s one in Lexington, man let’s do it’,” said Dwyer.
So the two did. Dwyer is an Asbury University student who said triathlons are all about keeping pace.
“So I switched to a schedule of four minutes on and two minutes kind of easy. I was just kinda listening to the songs like alright at the end of this song I’m almost done,” said Dwyer.
Triathletes weren’t done before trading in the bike for 30 minutes on the treadmill. Cullen’s wife knows if he were here today, he’d be cheering the loudest for these triathletes.
“He was always trying to encourage others,” said O’Daniel.
Corey Donohoo serves as the Director of Operations at North Lexington’s YMCA and knows the impact Cullen had on triathletes.
“Triathletes, runners, and just loved to make the sport fun and was a well loved member of this community,” said Donohoo.
Cullen was well-loved and a triathlete they won’t forget about. To view final scores for Sunday’s triathletes click here.