First Deaf Trans competes in Ironman Triathlon

Have any of you heard of the Ironman triathlon before? Kamden Romano, from Illinois, recently completed his first full Ironman in Tennessee. Based on our knowledge, he is the first Deaf trans to compete in the race.

The Ironman triathlon is considered to be one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world. That race includes a 2.4 miles swim, 112-mile bicycle ride, and a 26.22-mile run- all in one day. Most Ironmen races have a limited time of 15 to 17 hours to complete the race. The race originally started in 1978 in Hawaii and has expanded to various places. It is not easy to get in an Ironman race because you have to meet certain criteria to be qualified to participate.

Kamden completed his full Ironman race within 11 hours, 52 minutes, and 43 seconds.

We interviewed Kamden for him to share his experience as being the first Deaf trans to compete in the Ironman triathlon.

Renca Dunn: Congratulations on completing the Ironman! Was this your first Ironman?

Kamden Romano: Yes, this was my first Ironman, yes.

Renca: Wow, that’s a big accomplishment!

Kamden: It’s a big deal, yes. I’m excited and it really feels good to have achieved that goal. I’d been pursuing that goal for a very long time, so I really feel like “finally”! It was an emotional moment at the end, but… Great experience.

Renca: Yes! You’re wearing that shirt. Great!

Kamden: I’m proud, yes!

Renca: You seem to have been a part of two events, one in Utah and one in Tennessee? Or was one half and the other full?

Kamden: Yes, the one in Utah was a half-marathon. In Utah, the one I was just involved with, that was the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.

Renca: Oh.

Kamden: Really, I did not plan on it. Really, all along in my two years of training, my ultimate dream was just Ironman. I wanted to finish the full thing. So, I did two half marathons to prepare myself because those two half marathons helped me prepare for the full marathon. And it just so happened that in my second half marathon in August, in Boulder, Colorado… I did so well that I got the offer to go to the World Championships?! I didn’t expect that one. And that World Championships was eight days before my full Ironman? What should I do? That opportunity was something I couldn’t say no to. An once in a lifetime experience. So, I did it. I drove for two days to Utah myself, with my bike and everything, and drove over. After I competed… In Utah, I knew I had a full Ironman in the next eight days so I decided to just go and have fun, and go in the experience, and just be there. It was a huge honor for me to be a part of that and compete with top athletes from all over the world. I saw many different international athletes there, that was amazing and it gives me goosebumps talking about it. I really enjoyed that experience. After the race was finished, the next day I started my two-day drive home. I packed again to get everything ready, and left for the Chattanooga the next day.

Renca: Wow!

Kamden: So, there was a lot of driving, but it was worth it!

Renca: Yeah.

Renca: Do you feel the timeframe for that training… How long was it? And what did you do?

Kamden: Yeah. From my past experiences before I started Ironman, I grew up playing soccer, so I was running around on the field, then soccer turned into 5K runs and I built my way to the marathon, so I have been running since 2010. Wow. Long time. So, since 2010, I’ve been running, so I felt like I reached my peak at marathons and wanted more of a challenge. So, my mom convinced me to try the Ironman. I thought… Swimming? Eh. She said oh, it won’t be that bad, please? I relented and was willing to try, and my first half Ironman with my mom was in 2015 or 2016… 2016. We did a team relay, meaning I swam first, got out of the water, taped my mom, then my mom would bike, then when she came back she’d tap me and I’d run.

Renca: Cool.

Kamden: That experience wasn’t bad. I enjoyed it, but the swimming part was kind of an awful experience, but not too bad. Then one year later, my stepdad did his full Ironman. I watched him do the whole thing by himself, and that inspired me. From there, that’s where I knew… YES. I wanted to do it. In 2017, the same year I started my transition, so… I decided… My dream was put on hold so I could focus on my transition and everything, because I didn’t feel right to compete when I’m in the middle of navigating my transition. I’d rather be fully authentically myself and who I am, so I put that on hold. After I fully recovered, I started training in 2018 for my first half marathon by myself in 2019. So I knew, ok, I’m ready for the full marathon in 2020. Then COVID happened, so… Anyway, so really, the goal in training was to focus on the three elements - swimming, biking, and running. I had a schedule. I have my paper. I like paper and pencil. I’m old-school. I like writing things down on a spreadsheet, you know, so I can see it. If there’s anything missing I know I have to fill it in. So, that helped me see and plan my training. It’s a lot of meal prep. I have to follow a set plan of how many carbs and fats, it takes lots and lots of time to prepare food, so… With that, on top of my training plan, I’m doing a renovation in my house right now in the kitchen, so really, I started this training at the same time the renovation started, so almost over a year I had no kitchen, so I just wonder how I survived that training.

Renca: You made it!

Kamden: I made it with no kitchen. I ordered pre-made meals from Freshly and had them delivered. That saved me time because training takes a lot of my time so it was nice to take less time to cook and go grocery shopping or whatever else, so it was nice to just put everything in the microwave. I only used the microwave my entire training period. Just… microwaved food, so… and now the renovation is almost done.

Renca: What’s next for you?

Kamden: I do have many goals. Ironman is checked off! Next, I would love to qualify for the Boston Marathon, 26.2 Boston is one of the major marathons in the world. It’s a famous marathon, so I would love to enter it. It’s tough to enter… You must have qualified times. Hopefully soon I’ll make it. And another goal is I would love to do a 50K. A 50K is a 31 mile run, more than a marathon. Anything more than a marathon is considered ultra runners. I wouldn’t mind becoming an ultra runner. So, 50K, and 50 miles, and then 100K, and 100K is 62 miles run. So…

Renca: Wow.

Kamden: Also, one fun goal I want to accomplish is to do half marathons in all 50 states.

Renca: Very cool!

Kamden: So I can travel too, you know. One of my most favorite parts about this, because once I finish the run… Oh. That’s all.

Kamden: This is possible, especially because I did a half Ironman, the 70.3 competition, the week before this race, so… Anything is possible. So, after I finished, I was hooked.

Thank you Kamden for your time. We did ask Kamden what his tip would be for those who would be interested in doing races such as this, he said the commitment is the key. You can follow Kamden and his journey on Instagram. We provided a link to his profile in this transcript. Congratulations to Kamden for completing your first Ironman and we, the Daily Moth, wish you the best of luck for your future races.