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Hardy family photo at the Ironman race in Cozumel, Mexico. (Submitted)

Andrell Hardy in a wetsuit after the 2.4-mile open water swim of the Ironman race in Cozumel, Mexico (Submitted)

The Hardys pose for a photo with Susan Haag, first woman to hit 130 Ironman races. (Submitted)

Andrell Hardy rides in the bicycle portion of the Ironman race in Cozumel, Mexico. (Submitted)

Alexa Hardy poses for a photo with Anne Reischmann, 1st place pro triathlete in the Ironman race in Cozumel, Mexico. (Submitted)

Conor and Alexa Hardy and Wanda Markin shop at Waldo's grocery in Cozumel for food to feed families in need.(Submitted)

The Hardy family of Natchez, each year on the week before Thanksgiving, takes off to Cozumel, Mexico, to participate in the Ironman Triathlon.

The Ironman is a true test of endurance and willpower that involves a 2.4-mile open water swim, and a 112-mile bike ride, and finishes with a 26.2-mile run on a flat paved course along the waterfront walk, downtown plaza and historic neighborhoods.

Of the 1,143 event participants, 100 men and 36 women didn’t finish.

Andrell Hardy, a physically fit U.S. Army Veteran, husband of Neifa Hardy and father of Conor and Alexa Hardy, said running the triathlon is a “humbling experience.”

“I don’t like to think about where I finished,” he said, adding it’s enough that, with a time of 15 hours and 20 minutes, he finished at all.

Conor and Alexa, ages 10 and 11, are still in school at Adams County Christian, but take their school work along for the trip and incorporate some of that experience into the assignments, said Neifa Hardy.

They walked a nature trail and made observations of the local vegetation and wildlife. Alexa and Conor said they liked seeing iguanas and coatis — akin to a raccoon but with an elongated snout.

Conor and Alexa also interacted with friends Spanish-speaking children their age, practicing their Spanish with Duolingo.

The family also spends a part of their two weeks in Cozumel helping needy families as their way of thanking the city for its hospitality to them.

“We know that we are fortunate and we’re blessed, and we want to be able to show this to our children, that everywhere you go, there’s always a need. And just like we do things here in our own community where I’m on the Stewpot Board and the kids (volunteer) at Stewpot with me and we support an Angel Tree family, anywhere we go, we still like to be able to provide to a community,” Neifa said.

Because Cozumel is a big tourism community, Neifa said natural disasters that impact the island take away families’ main source of income. They connected with Wanda Markin of “Casa de oportunidad,” House of Opportunities in English, to find and help families in need, some homeless and jobless.

They purchased a variety of foods with a long shelf life such as rice, spaghetti, cans of tuna, and cereal from Waldo’s, a local grocery store. They also bought toilet paper, some cleaning supplies and toys and splurges of snacks like chips and cookies for families with children. They used these items to fill 20 to 25 bags to give out to people in need. It only takes about $20 to fill one bag with a month’s worth of supplies for one family, she said.

The children’s race, called “Panties Y Pijamas,” raises funds for a community outreach that helps families with disabilities.

“It’s a 2K run, the Friday before Ironman,” Neifa said.

Alexa was the first youth female to make it across the finish line and Conor was the first youth male to finish in Panties Y Pijamas, she added.

“It was fun for them to hear it come across the loudspeaker and they had a good time with that.”

Sunday is the long race, which Andrell Hardy runs with the support of his family on the sidelines.

“We get up at 3 a.m.,” he said. “You have two bags you bring to your transition points, one with all your biking gear in it and one with your running gear. … They bus us down to the swim starting point and it’s basically a 2.4-mile open water swim from straight lines along the coast in around 40 feet of water. You jump off a manmade pier and you swim 2.4 miles to the end. It’s actually a sea life wildlife park that we finish up at … then we get our bikes and do a 112-mile bike ride around the island. So, it’s basically three laps around the island with 112 miles total anywhere from 18 to 24 miles per hour.”

Andrell said his first triathlon ever was part of a bet he made with his Army friends at Fort Lewis, Washington in 2008. Each of them bragged about who would finish first, he said.

“Then we realized, just because you’re in the army don’t mean you’re in that good of shape,” he said. “When did that first sprint triathlon, from then on I’ve been hooked.”

Andrell ran his first Ironman in 2019. The family didn’t race in 2020 because of COVID-19 but still returned to Cozumel to do their mission work, buying food and passing it out in the community. They’ve been back each year since.

Andrell said it may take six to eight months of training for an athlete to prepare for an Ironman, or at least a year for the average person.

“You have a decent swim, at least 200 yards without stopping,” he said.

Inspired by their dad, Alexa and Conor said they look forward to starting the children’s version of the triathlon in Cozumel with shorter running, biking and swimming routes. They also run a race in Gulf Shores each Spring, Neifa said.

At ACCS, Alexa runs cross-country and track. Last year she finished 7th out of 17 competitors in the girls’ age 6 to 10 division of her first official race, the Crawfish Man triathlon, with a time of 26 minutes and 29 seconds. She had to swim 100 meters, bike two miles and run a mile.

“I would like to become an Ironman when I get older,” she said.

Conor plays football, baseball and soccer and will officially start cross country in the sixth grade, he said.

“When Alexa started to run, I had to,” Conor said.

Andrell said something he and his children learned about the race is, “You don’t have to look the part.”

Regular people with dad bods and soccer moms who have a level of mental fortitude for enduring amounts of pain for hours on end can be the best competitors,” he said.

Susan Haag, the first ever woman to do 130 Ironman races, is a white-haired woman who “looks like she may be someone’s mom or grandmother,” he said.

“You cannot base your race on sizing up the competition,” he said.

Neifa said the whole experience teaches her children, “You have to run your own race,” she said. “Don’t look left and right. Look straight ahead.”

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