Competing for a Cause: Fort Lee Athlete to Participate in Ironman on Home Turf

When the World Triathlon Corporation and New York City Triathlon sponsor the 2012 Ironman U.S. Championship on Aug. 11, it will be the first-ever Ironman competition to take place in the New York City/New Jersey metropolitan area, and the Borough of Fort Lee is taking on a central role, with thousands of athletes, spectators and media expected to descend upon the borough.

One athlete who won’t have far to go is Fort Lee resident Paul Mandala, 23, a product of the Fort Lee public school system—he attended Fort Lee School No. 4, Lewis F. Cole Middle School and graduated from Fort Lee High School—who will be among the competitors from all over the world participating. In Mandala’s first time competing in an Ironman competition, he will be doing so in support of a worthy cause—“putting an end to prostate cancer,” he says.

“I want to put an end to the suffering of prostate cancer that strikes more than 217,000 men each year and kills 32,000 others,” Mandala said in a letter to potential supporters. “The ZERO charity’s goal is to promote greater awareness about prostate cancer, provide free testing to men around the U.S. to combat this leading men’s health disease, and advance cutting-edge research toward finding a cure.”

Mandala also says his admittedly “lofty goal” is to raise at least $5,000 by May 1.

His personal goal was to compete in an Ironman before the age of 25, and he said he was determined to get a spot in the first-ever NYC Ironman. But without ever having completed an Ironman, he didn’t have a qualifying time; he had to look at the charities available and picked a few to apply for. Zero was at the top of his list so when they replied he was happy to except the spot.

“I really wanted to help out for prostate cancer because I felt like there is a ton of hype recently on women’s health issues such as breast cancer, which is a great thing, but I really wanted to help out a male issue,” Mandala said. “Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death in men after lung cancer. As I don't know my dad, I am running this race for all the father figures and inspirational gentlemen I have been lucky enough to know throughout my life.”

After graduating from Fort Lee High School, Mandala attended Monmouth University, graduating with a degree in Marine Biology and Environmental Policy, and currently works for REI in Hanover.

In 2008, Mandala took a summer off to cycle cross-country from Rhode Island to California for a charity called Bike and Build, which supports affordable housing. He completed his first triathlon in Red Bank to support Pencils of Promise, and in the summer of 2011, he hiked the Appalachian Trail, starting in Georgia in June, and finishing in Maine in October.   

“After all these challenges, I realize I hunger to push myself and help others at the same time,” Mandala says. “Those who know me well will attest that I never give up and will always go big.”

And the 2012 Ironman U.S. Championship in August couldn’t get much bigger.

The course includes a 2.4-mile swim in the Hudson River, a 112-mile bike ride on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Bergen and Rockland Counties and a 26.2-mile run, beginning in Fort Lee, crossing the George Washington Bridge and ending at Riverside Park at 81st Street in Manhattan.

The event will start at Ross Dock in Fort Lee, where ferries will take the 3,000 athletes up the river so they can swim back down. Back at Ross Dock, where race organizers will construct temporary docks, participants will switch over to bicycles, do two roughly 60-mile loops up and back on the PIP, including part of Hudson Terrace, and then make the transition and begin their marathon-distance run, also partly on Hudson Terrace.

In preparation for the big competition, Mandala said he’s been running, swimming or biking—or some combination thereof—every day, following a training regiment recommended by a friend.

“I do what I can when I can and always know that an endurance event like this is a mental game,” Mandala said, adding that swimming training is the most challenging for him because he doesn’t currently have a place to practice.

“I make an hour drive down to Monmouth University to swim in my old pool for practice,” he said.

Mandala’s mother, Anna Maria Riccio-Mandala, said she is "very excited" that her son "would tackle such a huge challenge," and that she's very proud of him "for his strength of conviction and his huge heart."

“By the same token, I am a nervous wreck at the huge undertaking and the grueling training involved,” Riccio-Mandala said.

A Brooklyn native and Fort Lee resident for the past 28 years, whose kids were born and raised in the borough, she called her son Paul “a great kid.”

“I don’t know what he’ll do after the Ironman, but it should be good,” Riccio-Mandala said. “He and his best friend completed the [Appalachian Trail] last summer in record time—about three months and three weeks—so they were booking to do that in the heat and everything else. I lived through that, so I guess I can survive this one too.”

Mandala says that while many people in his hometown “may not know me very well yet,” he can promise to “put in 100 percent effort and lots of sweat” and asks that people consider sponsoring him, saying, “Even the smallest of contributions will be greatly appreciated, and I promise I will make you all very proud.”

Mandala, who’s excited to be competing so close to home and especially for a charity he believes in, said it will be nice to have the support of friends and family in such a challenging endeavor.

“A big expense for most Ironman races is travel expense, [and] while the entry [cost] for this race was a little steeper, it’s nice to not have the added travel expense,” he said. “It will be a real treat when we cross through Fort Lee and make our way into NYC like I have so many times in the past. This time it will be totally different.”

As of Thursday, Mandala had raised $1,255 toward his “lofty goal.” Those interested in donating to the cause and supporting a local son can do so online by visiting this website.