Local triathlete helping blind athlete to compete in his first Ironman
Courtesy of Jenny Senko
Jenny Senko and Austin Marshall stand beside a tandem bike. The duo will ride 112 miles on the bike during that portion of a triathlon.
Courtesy of Jenny Senko
Bentley, a 6-year-old Labrador retriever and guide dog, was raised by triathlete Jenny Senko. Senko and Bentley’s handler, Austin Marshall, met after Marshall was paired with Bentley.
Courtesy of Jenny Senko
Jenny Senko holds Bentley, a guide dog she raised.
When blind athlete Austin Marshall crosses the finish line at the Ironman Louisville triathlon on Sunday, he will not complete the race alone.
Beside him for every stroke, spin and step of the competition will be Jenny Senko, a triathlete and vision teacher for Intermediate Unit 1 in Washington and Greene counties.
“I wasn’t prepared whenever we started training for this Ironman for it to be as unique and special of an experience as it has been,” said Senko, 28. “The first Ironman I did, I did for myself. But with Austin, it’s the exact opposite. It’s not about me. It’s about being prepared to do what I need to do so he can make it to the finish line.”
Marshall, 27, of Houston, Miss., was diagnosed at 3 months old with coloboma, a rare congenital condition in which tissue in or around the eye is missing. He is blind in his left eye and has 20/400 vision in his right eye.
Marshall first decided to embark on a triathlon after he traveled to Louisville, Ky., in October 2016 to cheer on Senko when she competed in the Ironman – a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.
He was hooked.
“It had always been in the back of my mind to do a triathlon, but after seeing her finish it, the bug kind of bit,” said Marshall, a freelance production specialist at SEC Network.
Eight months later, Marshall completed a sprint triathlon, which covers about a quarter of the distance of a full triathlon. He also finished the half Ironman in Augusta, Ga., in 2017, and he qualified for the USA Paratriathlon National Championships in Pleasant Prairie, Wisc., where he finished fourth in June. He was accompanied by male guides.
“His attitude is amazing,” said Senko, who met Marshall after he was paired in 2014 with Bentley, a 6-year-old black Labrador retriever and guide dog that Senko raised while she was a graduate student at Florida State University. “Our friendship, because of Bentley, came about so naturally. We have so much in common,” said Senko. “When he said he wanted to do the Ironman and wanted me to be his guide, I jumped at the chance.”
Because the two live in different cities, they have mostly trained separately.
“Typically, if it’s possible, you want to get in as much training time together as you can,” said Senko, who, at 6 feet tall, has to match the stride and stroke of the 5-foot, 5-inch-tall Marshall.
Senko traveled from her Pittsburgh home to Mississippi in July to train with Marshall for a week. During the triathlon, she and Marshall will be tethered by a bungee-like cord for the swim and the run, and will ride a tandem bike, with Senko in front, for the bike portion.
Senko’s training, though, has been hampered by a stress fracture that, at one point, left her unable to run for five weeks.
“There certainly have been some hiccups along the way,” said Senko. “I’m the worrier. The closer we get to race day, the more worried I get. Austin is the optimist. He’s the one who says everything is great, everything is fine.”
Senko, who ran cross country and track in high school and at Slippery Rock University, competed in her first triathlon, a sprint, in 2014. Soon after, she participated in an Olympic distance triathlon and then tackled the Ironman.
Senko has experience as a marathon guide – she ran a leg of Pittsburgh marathon in May with a visually impaired woman – but she hasn’t guided a swim or bike leg.
But Marshall said her experience in the Ironman and his confidence in her is invaluable.
“I know she has been there and done this course, and she knows how hard it is. The wealth of knowledge she has is huge,” said Marshall, who has lost 70 pounds since he started triathlon training. “It’s a lot of teamwork, there are so many details that go into it. She serves as my eyes, so coordination and communication are key. We have to be on the same page. I need to trust what she’s doing, and I do.”
The duo talk and text daily, coordinating training schedules, preparing race strategy and providing encouragement during workouts.
Their goal is to complete the Ironman in under 14 hours. Athletes have 16 hours and 30 minutes to complete the event.
Senko has gained an appreciation for the role of sighted guides for visually impaired athletes who otherwise would not be able to take part in competitions.
“I’d like to get the word out that there are athletes with all sorts of abilities who are completely capable of doing the Ironman and events like this, but they need a guide. If anyone has an interest in being a guide, they should do it,” said Senko.
Marshall, too, is grateful for the support he receives from his sighted guides, family and friends.
“It takes a lot of people for me to get where I need to be. It’s my parents, it’s the guides, it’s the guy who films my swim videos, it’s everybody who makes sacrifices to get me what I need. It’s extremely humbling,” said Marshall, who represents 3TSports Inc., an Atlanta-based, nonprofit sports team that competes to raise funds for charities.
No matter what happens on Sunday, Senko and Marshall – two friends bound by a dog and an extreme athletic feat – say they have enjoyed the journey.
“We’re doing this together, as friends. It’s not just about me and it’s not just my Ironman. It’s ours,” said Marshall. “It’s a great adventure for two friends. For me, this is a story of friendship and how a friend is willing to do anything it takes to be there for another friend.”