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The Ironman Duo: Kyle and Brent Pease advocate for disabled athletes
Aging in Atlanta has returned with monthly print sections this fall featuring more local content than ever. We also launched a monthly Aging in Atlanta newsletter this spring. Visit us at ajc.com/aging to access a recording of our fall virtual event, sign up for the newsletter, and learn more about our special print sections. You’ll find plenty of 55+ focused content there as well as links to our previously published sections and events. At left, Kyle Pease with his brother, Brent. They started the Kyle Pease Foundation – a nonprofit that helps disabled athletes participate and succeed in sports – in 2011.
BY SAMMIE PURCELL The first time Kyle Pease watched his brother, Brent, complete an Ironman, it was 2010. The Pease family had traveled to Louisville, Ky. to watch Brent compete, and Kyle was feeling particularly proud of
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22 NOVEMBER 2021 | REPORTER NEWSPAPERS
himself. “I felt like a grown up,” said Kyle, 36, a Buckhead resident. “It was the first time that I organized my own trip, with my caregiver. I booked my own hotel. I felt like I had a lot of swag. Like nobody could tell me anything.” Watching his brother compete in the race, which includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run, Kyle said he felt something more than a sense of kinship or support. The concept of fighting against his own body felt all too familiar. “The Ironman is what I go through everyday,” said Kyle, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was six months old and now uses a wheelchair. “They were pushing their bodies until they couldn’t go anymore, to find the finish line. I was like, that’s what I go through on a day-today basis.” Kyle, Brent, and Kyle’s twin brother, Evan, grew up in the Morningside area of Atlanta, where sports were a daily part of life. Growing up, Kyle said, the brothers watched sports like other kids watch Saturday morning cartoons. “We grew up in a very inclusive household,” said Kyle. “Sports was our primary love.” That combination of inclusivity and a love of sports is part of what led Kyle to graduate from Kennesaw State University in 2008 with a degree in Sports Management. It’s also what led Kyle and Brent to start the Kyle Pease Foundation – a nonprofit that helps disabled athletes participate and succeed in sports – in 2011. The inspiration and love of athletics had always been there. For Kyle, watching Brent complete his first Ironman was just the final straw. “When I want to do something, nobody’s going to stop me from doing it,” Kyle said. While that first Iron Man in Louisville reporternewspapers.net SS
