photos courtesy Joey Lee
huge role in bringing him to the metro area. Aside from the triathlons in the Southeast, Joey has accomplished several other notable and extraordinary races throughout his career. After the loss of his first wife from a two year battle with cancer, Joey needed an outlet which his love of running gave him. Joey made the commitment to run the Marathon des Sables, a 150 mile run in the Moroccan desert. Throughout his year of training Joey raised $100,000 for the American Cancer Society. Later in life while training at the reservoir, he met his second wife, Casey, with whom he now has his pride and joy, his daughter. Alongside Casey, Joey swam the Race Around the Rock, a swim around the infamous Alcatraz island off the coast of California. With his family, wife, daughter, mother and father, Joey completed the Boston Marathon the year of the bombings. An extraordinary story in itself, Joey told himself he was just going to run “easy” that day. Upon the start he was feeling good and kept up a strong pace throughout the race. This pace allowed him to finish in around 3 hours and 22 minutes. The “easy” pace would have set him at four hours, the moment when the bombs went off, which would have been exactly where his family was standing. The Lee’s were gone top: Joey and his and safe, but the Daugther, Ginger, finish atmosphere after a 5k in Oregon this past the race was unlike fall. any other he had Bottom: A feeling of success completing the ever experienced. Marathon Des Sables Usually high spirits after 7 days and 150 and swapping miles in the Moroccan stories about the desert. day's performance, the city was silent. When asked for advice, Joey is firm is staying, “Don’t cheat yourself!” He continues, “Be consistent in training and don’t dive in head first. Dip your toe in and work your way up.” For someone who has accomplished so much, what’s next you ask? Other than racing well into his 90s, Joey says, “I want to pass my love of running on to my daughter. We got her a stroller and she is already pushing it from the side instead of behind it.” Chances are he is well on his way. “If I can do that, I am done,” Joey says and smiles. Joey finishes reflecting on all that triathlon has given him in life, “It gave me focus when I was struggling in college, has given me most of my life long friends, an outlet for aggression and grief when my wife was sick and passed away, the sport has given me my pride and joy in my wife, Casey, and daughter, I have learned goal setting and hard work. Finally, triathlon has given me a work ethic and taught me how to achieve things.” Hitting the streets has carried this man miles and miles on a journey that is just now set in its prime. Going on 37 years of passion for this sport, Joey Lee still has many miles left to go.