September 28, 2017
Athletes, coaches, friends and colleagues, it is with a poignant and heavy heart that I announce that Ignition Fitness will be closing down as of October 01, 2017.
For the past three years, as the symptoms and severity of a debilitating brain injury have muscled me further and further away from life as I knew it, I’ve had to continually withdraw from all aspects of life to focus on recovery. Through the challenges of this difficult time, Ignition Fitness and its athletes remained a beacon on my horizon; a radiant fraction of my normal life that I thirsted for. I drew strength from my experience as an athlete and coach, lessons learned carrying forward to help endure something new. I’ve remained resilient and strong, giving 100% of whatever my 100% has been each moment I’m upright, practicing the same mantra I tried to embed in the athletes I’ve be fortunate enough to work with. I’ve committed myself to recovery in the same way I committed myself to training. But my best hasn’t been good enough; I’ve accepted that indeed it is the time to let go of any future I’d imagined with or for Ignition Fitness. So much of my time is spent sheltered from any interference that any remaining time I have with my family has become precious. Despite the continued success of the company with Roger and Paolina at the helm, the fact remains that my injury is insurmountable–as much a part of me as my heartbeat–and has become the obstacle, bottlenecking everything, in carrying on the success of the company.
Paolina, Roger and I all wanted Ignition Fitness to carry on. However, after much deliberation, we have all agreed that the best way to move forward is individually. It was a difficult decision for all of us.
I was composing an email to Paolina and Roger a couple of days ago in which I was describing how I’d like to make this announcement, and sadness appeared, percolating to the surface the way thoughts and feelings do. This is real. This is actually happening, I thought. I stayed with that feeling in that moment, and watched with delight as the roots of the sadness–all of the hard work we’d done, the time and energy we’d invested, fading away–quickly blossomed into petals of fulfillment. We trained amateurs, professionals, and first-timers; we trained Kona qualifiers, Boston qualifiers, and world championship qualifiers; we trained national champions, middle of the pack age groupers, and last place finishers. We trained winners and brought them to their peak; we trained losers and taught them to accept defeat without being defeated. We redefined how athletes experience triathlon.
Thankfully there is still plenty to look forward to. All of those that have supported us, our athletes, coaches and friends, present and past, and their families will be invited to join Roger, Paolina and myself on Saturday October 28th for an afternoon of celebrating one last time. Details about the party will be passed along as they develop. Please SAVE THE DATE!!! If you’d like to get an early start and add yourself to the RSVP list, please add your name here.
We may be closing the book on Ignition Fitness, but the legacy of our work and the legacy of the success of those athletes that trained and raced with Ignition Fitness will carry on. I will stand proudly with that legacy, and I ask you to take your spot beside me.
Thank you. All of you.
Tommy Ferris
Head Coach