Born and raised in Cape May, NJ, I spent every summer on the beach, including 11 years as an ocean lifeguard with the Cape May Beach Patrol. In 1989, I raced my first triathlon with my father. I raced occasionally until 2003, when I joined the Boston Triathlon Team. In 2008, after five years of Ironman distance races, I cracked the code and qualified for Hawaii, followed by more Kona trips in 2009, 2010 and 2013.

In 2019, I’ll be returning to Ironman racing, for three good reasons:

My Recovery

While training for the 2015 Chicago Marathon, I started having some knee discomfort. An MRI showed that I had no cartilage in my left knee, and a good portion of cartilage had broken off. I made that problem a bit worse when I tore my ACL in the same knee while skiing in Taos, NM. In October, 2016, I had a tibial tubercle osteotomy (TTO) and ACL repair surgery.

My doctor thought I'd have a healthy recovery, but there were no guarantees; there was a chance that I wouldn't be able to really run again. The thought of this was devastating.

The surgery went well (with a few hiccups), but the immediate recovery (about 2 weeks) was nothing less than excruciating - nothing I ever want to go through again! The recovery process was long and slow, but I did the work and slowly got back to some normalcy. In the summer of 2017, I returned to racing some sprint triathlons.

That's when it hit me: how many people have come back at a high level from this surgery? To finish an Ironman... no, RACE an Ironman... and finish at the front of the race! I wanted to be the outlier, the person who beats the odds.

My Family

I am blessed with a beautiful, supportive wife of close to 15 years, and 2 great kids, Hannah and Ben, who want to race and watch me race. When I last raced Hawaii in 2013, Hannah was only 8 months old. Now, I want them to see me finish an Ironman, and all the hard work that goes into it – and not just finish, but finish at the pointy end of the race.

I couldn't and wouldn't take on this enormous challenge without their full support. There are many, many sacrifices to be made, but crossing the finish line with my family there will be completely worth it!

Speaking of "family", it extends beyond my wife and kids. In my "spare" time, I'm the managing partner at Dwyer, Spino & Goncalves, LLC, a growing law firm in Greater Boston. When I told my partners of my "plan", they were completely supportive, knowing that it will take me out of the office and occasionally away from work. As the saying goes.....IT TAKES A VILLAGE!

My Cause

So, for my family, for my recovery...I needed another reason! I've done this sport for 30 years. It's given so much to me. However, as much as I've donated time and money to causes, I've never really raised money and awareness for my own cause. So, that's just what I'm going to do! But, which charity? Well, there are so many worthwhile charities out there. But, for me, it had to be a child related charity, as this whole journey was started with my own kids...and my desire for them to see me train for and finish and Ironman. Timing is everything, and about a year ago, I met the Chief of Staff at Shriners Hospital for Children - Boston. As we got to talking, I presented this idea, this campaign, to him, and before I could finish talking, he was putting me in touch with his staff. Since then, I've met with the Shriners team and toured the hospital. It's such a great organization! The thing that sticks with me most is that, for most of the Shriners' patients, it's not ONE surgery....but rather MULTIPLE surgeries and procedures as the patients grow from children into adults. It was eye-opening. So, I hope to not only raise money, but also awareness for Shriners. Please consider making a donation, and sharing this site with your friends and family!