Utah man with multiple sclerosis to compete in Ironman

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — Lyle Anderson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis on his 30thbirthday, which was about seven years ago, and since that time he’s completed seven marathons, four half-Ironman races and one full Ironman race.

Come October, he’ll complete in the Kona Ironman, which is one of the most prestigious races known to man.

“Some days I’m just worn out, and it’s hard training for an Ironman on those days because you really have to kick your butt out the door to go work out because you just don’t want to,” Anderson said. “You just want to lay down.”

Some days are better than others for Anderson. The 36-year-old  father of four was diagnosed with relapse remitting MS, which means he’ll have periods of little to no symptoms and then he’ll experience flare ups.

“It was pretty bad for a while there,” Anderson said. “I lost a bunch of weight cause my digestive system wasn’t working. Basically everything that could go wrong went wrong with me.”

Anderson chose to get active and started running marathons, then triathlons, and just last year he finished one of the most respected endurance races in the world: the Iromman. An Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a full marathon, 26.2 miles, on foot.

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