Rae Timme lives in Pueblo West, Colorado. For as long as she can remember, she's struggled to keep her weight at a healthy level. She married at 20 and had all three of her children by 27, and for years, taking care of herself sat at the bottom of her priority list. She was never, by her own account, an athletic person.
Rae is, however, deeply motivated once she sets her mind to a goal — even a physical one. In her mid-thirties, she started walking to relieve stress. It worked, and over the course of a year, she also lost 50 pounds, without changing her diet much at first; that came later, once the early results motivated her further.
That first weight loss gave her the push she needed to cut the junk food from her diet. At the time, she was a corrections officer at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex, which had just opened a military-style boot camp for non-violent, first-time offenders built around physical training and overall wellness. Staff working with the offenders were required to pass an Army-standard fitness test, and by state statute, female offenders had the same opportunity to take part in the program, which could reduce their sentence on successful completion. With male offenders outnumbering female roughly nine to one, the co-ed program was both unique and challenging to run. Short on female officers who could pass the fitness test, the unit captain — who'd noticed Rae on her daily walks — asked her one day whether she could run two miles in the 17 minutes and 45 seconds allotted for women (16 minutes for men).
She's not sure if she said it out loud, but she remembers thinking, "Why would anyone want to run two miles?" Her honest answer was that she couldn't — but the seed was planted. She was ready for a change at work, and qualifying would open the door to a sergeant's position at the boot camp. Once she decided to try, she had immediate support from two running coworkers, one of whom was also her neighbor. One Sunday, while she was at work, he mapped out a two-mile course starting at her front door. It was cold and windy by the time she got home, and she half-hoped he'd call to say it was too blustery to run. She didn't make the full two miles without walking that day — but it wasn't long before she did. A few weeks later, running the official qualifying test, she finished in 17:10. "Not only did I pass, I was the only person who passed that part of the test that day. It was unbelievable, and for the first time in my life, I felt like Rocky," she says.
Rae loved her job at the boot camp — the first time in her career she felt part of something that could genuinely change offenders' lives, and the most motivating environment she'd ever worked in. Staff had to maintain their fitness and pass the run test yearly. It was there she met one of the best friends of her life: Jerry McFarland, a former Army Ranger who refused to let her quit at anything. He pushed and inspired her like no one had before. After three years at the boot camp, she was promoted back to the main facility as a lieutenant. She and Jerry remained running partners until his death in 2000 from lymphoma, linked to his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
Rae kept running for a while after Jerry passed, but without him pushing her, she stopped testing her limits the way she once had. Running and healthy eating slipped down her list of priorities again, and she regained the weight she'd lost. In 2006, her younger sister Linda died of emphysema at 45, after a long struggle with recurring breast cancer. In 2009, her younger brother Joe died of congestive heart failure, worsened by an addiction to prescription medication. In 2010, she lost both of her parents — her mother after years with Parkinson's disease, her father's health failing rapidly soon after. Her father had arranged for all of their ashes to be buried together, alongside her brother Victor, who had died of leukemia at age three. Standing at the cemetery that day, Rae confronted her own mortality for the first time. She knew most of her family would have lived longer, healthier lives had they taken better care of themselves — and she felt, more urgently than ever, that she needed to do something about her own health. There was too much living left to do.
About three years ago, Rae discovered Dr. Sanjay Gupta's CNN Fit Nation Challenge. Each January, she watched him introduce a team of six or seven everyday, non-athletic people she could relate to, share their stories and challenges, and explain how he and the CNN team would help them train for a triathlon that year. She didn't fully understand what a triathlon involved, but she was moved by their commitment. In December 2012, she submitted a video and essay for consideration as part of the 2013 team, one of more than 200 entries from across the country — never imagining hers would be seriously considered, since she was still convinced she couldn't finish a triathlon.
No one was more surprised than Rae when, about a month later, she learned she'd been selected. "It was me, four thirty-somethings, and a 28-year-old that would comprise the 2013 Fit Nation Six Pack," she remembers. She didn't particularly want to do a triathlon, and hadn't expected to be chosen; the day she got the news, she remembers already doubting herself and thinking, "What did I get myself into?" Under the guidance of professional triathlete and USAT-certified trainer April Gellatly, and with her teammates' support, she took it one step at a time, holding onto the mantra "Keep moving forward" — borrowed from 2012 team member Jeff Dahler. Her life changed direction, for the better. The following year alone, beyond the Nautica Malibu Triathlon, she ran several 5Ks with her daughters and grandchildren, completed three bike tours with her oldest daughter — including the three-day, 170-mile Pedal the Plains — hiked the Manitou Incline, and rode nearly 30 miles to work on her bike. Best of all, she enjoyed every minute of it, feeling better than she had in years. As Dr. Gupta puts it, training for a triathlon is a chance to "hit the reset button on your life."
Each year, CNN selects six iReporters to train for a triathlon with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Three women and three men made up the 2014 Fit Nation team. Follow the team at www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/fit.nation.