THE PIG IRON’S LONE FINISHER

SCOTT LAWSON

FIVE YEARS AFTER taking up the sport, Scott Lawson, 56, of Halifax, decided the time had come to tackle the toughest test in triathlon. “I spent a couple of years doing sprints and Olympic distance races and I did a couple of halves,” says Lawson. “I thought it was time to give it a shot.” He set his target as the long-distance event at the Michigan Titanium Triathlon, in Plainfield Township, Mich. Race day was Aug. 23, 2015. The morning was cool and calm, but late in the cycle leg, a storm swept through. Lightning and rain forced race organizers to first suspend, then cancel the race. Lawson shared the news with friends from Halifax Triathlon Club (HTC) on Facebook. Immediately, Stacy Juckett Chesnutt, a race director in Halifax and Ironman triathlete, had a plan. “Let’s throw a race for Scott,” she wrote on Facebook, Within 20 minutes six people had signed up to help organize. Two weeks later, a long-distance race was hosted just for him. A cancelled race isn’t the first challenge Lawson has faced in his athletic career. Eleven years ago, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and he began running regularly. After a few years just running, Lawson was bored, so he took up triathlon and joined the HTC in December, 2010. In his first season, in 2011, he completed six races and established himself as a big part of the triathlon community in Halifax. “He does everything, for everyone,” says Juckett Chesnutt. “He’s at every race volunteering. He doesn’t just show up to get a shirt. He’s integral to so many races.” Lawson helped found the Epic Dartmouth triathlon and joined the HTC board of directors.