Group Of Cyclists Riding For Suicide Prevention Prepare For Ironman Race In Tulsa

Four weeks from now, thousands of athletes coming to Tulsa for their chance to qualify for the Ironman World Championships. Some of the participants took part in a charity bike ride on the course earlier Sunday.

Cyclists said riding can be therapeutic. Like medicine for the mind.

Bill Taitano peddles onward, with one person in mind: His daughter.

"She's my light. She's my shining light,” Taitano said. “Every day, you know, I think about her.”

Taitano said he lost his daughter Celestae Taitano Gibbons; a victim in a murder-suicide in 2016.

"When you lose someone close to you like that, instead of going in depression, we want to do something about it,” Taitano said. “And so, that's why I'm here. I'm trying to do something about it.” 

Taitano is one of approximately 200 athletes who took off Sunday morning for a charity race from OSU-Tulsa ahead of next month's Ironman race. Taitano is also co-captain of "Team Suicide Prevention", which is a group of cyclists who will also be riding in the Race Across America in June.

It is one of two charities benefitting from the qualifier.

"It's just a way, me helping others,” Taitano said. “I couldn't help her, but I can help someone else.”

Ironman organizers announced they were bringing a qualifier race to Tulsa in June 2019. The 2020 race was subsequently postponed due to the pandemic.

Bixby Bicycles owner and organizer of Sunday’s race Buster Brown said he hopes to help restore hope along the way.

"It's fantastic. Get people back out racing,” Brown said. “The social aspect of it. The comradery of people being out together.”

"Hope is Oxygen" is the other organization benefitting. Stefanie Clary considers Sunday’s race a win, regardless of who finishes first.

"A lot of these people on the team have been impacted by suicide in one way or another and that just breaks our heart,” Clary said. “You know, we don't want one more person to be lost to suicide.”  

"Cycling is what has kept my mind in focus,” Taitano said. “It's an outlet for me to get my depression out. My anxiety. All the things that are bothering me.”

The Ironman North American Championship Tulsa is scheduled for May 23.