At 7 a.m. Sunday, 3,000 triathletes, professionals and amateurs, will hear the starting gun to begin one of the world's most challenging athletic events – the Ironman Lake Placid competition. Among those 3,000 will be nine men from Madison and Guilford.

This 140.6-mile Ironman competition includes a 2.4-mile swim in Mirror Lake, a challenging 112-mile bike through the Adirondacks and a 26.2-mile run. Is this any way to spend a Sunday?

These nine friends think so. They call themselves the "Placid Nine – Racing for a Cure" and they are members of Jacob's Team, a foundation formed by Sharon and Shane Kokoruda of Madison to raise money to support the diagnosis, treatment, and eventual cure of autism. Their son Jacob was diagnosed with autism at age 3.

Check out the full story in the July 21 issue of The Source!