John O’Sullivan has never been one to back down from a challenge. The 37-year-old North Bergen native and North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue captain has been tackling athletic challenges all his life.
A standout football player at North Bergen High, then later at Jersey City State College (now New Jersey City University), where he is a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, O’Sullivan has always encouraged new undertakings in his life.
But they are nothing like the one he will try to endure the weekend of Aug. 25 when he heads to Chicago to compete in the Mrs. T’s Chicago Triathlon, the largest triathlon in the world.
O’Sullivan will be among some 20,000 participants who will try to complete the grueling course featuring a one-mile swim in Lake Michigan, a 25-mile jaunt on a bicycle, followed by a 10-kilometer (6.1 mile) run throughout downtown Chicago.
“It’s a great endurance test,” O’Sullivan said. “And triathlons always intrigued me. It was always something that I wanted to do.”
What also piqued O’Sullivan’s interest was the cause he would be competing for, which is to raise money for the New Jersey chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
“My dad died from lung cancer and my mom had colon cancer, so the cause was definitely something that also interested me,” O’Sullivan said. “Eighty percent of what the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society raises goes directly to research, so I liked that idea. So in addition to wanting to compete, I wanted to raise money for a cause and I got the best of both worlds.”
O’Sullivan said that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has helped him with the fundraising and the training for the event. O’Sullivan was assigned a personal coach who taught him how to train.
“When I started to train, I found out that I really didn’t know how to swim,” O’Sullivan said. “I could swim, but not the right way. I grew up in a schoolyard in North Bergen, so what did I know about swimming? I’m a land guy. So I took lessons and went to a swimming clinic. I’m a little nervous about the swim more than anything.”
O’Sullivan said that most people don’t realize how difficult the distances are in a triathlon.
“The concept of the distances is lost with most people,” O’Sullivan said. “I can tell you one thing, that it’s long and very difficult. Most people think they could do at least one or other of the legs, but all three? Being an athlete, my competitive juices just get going and I realize it’s a race, so I get going and pushing myself.”
O’Sullivan said that he has been training actively for the event since February.
“All the people I’ve met through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society have been so helpful,” O’Sullivan said. “They all help each other and push each other. It’s very refreshing that everyone wants to help.” O’Sullivan said that he has raised nearly $4,000 in charitable donations and pledges. He hopes to raise more money before the event.
“I’ve received a lot of support from our firefighter’s union,” O’Sullivan said. “People have been contacting me through word of mouth.”
Emerson High School Vice Principal Bruce Naszimento read about O’Sullivan’s attempt and decided to help out, considering that both are members of the NJCU Hall of Fame.
“He allowed me to use the pool at the Bruce Walter Center [in Union City] to train and made a donation,” said O’Sullivan. “He was a great contact.”
Naszimento was also interested in helping the cause, because his son, Zach, a former Secaucus All-State football player, is currently in remission after battling leukemia.
“A lot of people have been very supportive,” O’Sullivan said.
Last month, to get ready for the event, O’Sullivan competed in the Wyckoff triathlon in Bergen County, and was happy with his results, finishing 97th among 550 competitors.
“I think I did pretty well for someone doing it for the first time,” O’Sullivan said. “But Chicago will be a totally different challenge.”
O’Sullivan will be competing for two honorary New Jersey patients, a 14-year-old boy named Michael D’Amico and a 28-year-old man, Jeff Ruggiero, both of whom are battling leukemia.
O’Sullivan said that he is also running the race in honor of a member of the North Hudson Regional who is battling cancer, but O’Sullivan didn’t want to reveal the firefighter’s name.
“They’ve all given me the strength to go on,” O’Sullivan said.
If anyone is interested in helping O’Sullivan’s cause, you can contact him by phone at (201) 981-3168 or through e-mail at johnos@juno.com. All contributions are tax deductible.