An Ironman Who's Not Yet a Man

At 14, he said he's far wiser about managing race day.

Still, Kocher, the Harvard orthopedic surgeon, believes it's "a little out there in terms of the Bell Curve" for a 14-year-old to try a 140.6-mile triathlon.

Craig and Jeannette Lussi don't debate the point, arguing that Hunter represents the extremity of the Bell Curve -- a 14-year-old with uncommon athleticism, rare drive and an adult's discipline.

He loved swimming from the moment he was plopped into water. He played soccer as a child. He's crazy about racecars and his bulldog, Mojo. And his favorite subjects are math and history.

It was while researching an eighth-grade history paper about John F. Kennedy's fitness initiatives as president that Lussi got an idea. Maybe it was time for a new presidential initiative to inspire Americans to exercise more, he decided. So he put his vision down on paper, writing a letter to President George W. Bush urging him to create a national triathlon, to be known as "the President's Triathlon," that would consist of a 500-yard swim, 10-mile bike and 2.5-mile run/walk each Labor Day.

"It wouldn't be based on time, or getting first or last," Lussi explained. "Just participating." Families would take part together -- as many as a million people on the same day in cities around the country.

Lussi also pitched his idea in letters to presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, challenging them to give American families "the gift of fitness" for Labor Day.

"Kids feel like adults, and adults feel like kids when they exercise together," Lussi wrote the candidates. "And when the kids beat the adults at a sport or race, the issues of growing up with parents always bugging kids seem to disappear. The issues get replaced with the fun of getting tired together."

He hasn't gotten a response, but remains hopeful.

"We need another Kennedy," he declared.

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On the morning of this year's ChesapeakeMan, the Lussis are out in force. Craig, 47, is competing alongside Hunter for safety's sake, as he did last year, even though he can't keep up with his son's pace anymore. But if Hunter gets in trouble on the course, his dad won't be far behind to lend whatever is needed, whether encouragement, a spare bike part or an extra PowerBar.