A Connecticut mom is marking a major personal milestone. Rebecca Kowalski completed her first half Ironman race this month.
She did it to honor her son, Chase Kowalski, who died in the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012. Chase would have turned 17 on Halloween. Nearly 10 years after losing Chase, Rebecca is keeping his legacy alive.
“Those are his preschool pictures,” she said. “So next year, he would graduate from high school.”
Every year, Chase’s parents and sisters celebrate his Halloween birthday.
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“We actually have a family tradition now, we carve pumpkins for him, we put whatever age he would be. So this year's pumpkin will be 17. Then we keep them lit all night long,” Kowalski said.
Chase’s mom said he had a lot of drive in his seven-year life. One of the things he was determined to accomplish: a triathlon.
“That was him getting out of the water,” Kowalski said, pointing to a picture. “He was in his element. He was loving it.”
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She remembers when Chase crossed the finish line.
“His sister Erin was like ‘I'm gonna beat you there!’ And she started running and he chased right after her and took right off. So that was really cute,” Kowalski said.
Kowalski said completing the race was so empowering to the little boy, just going into kindergarten.
“Chase had a speech delay. So this, him accomplishing becoming a triathlete, was huge,” she said. “That just brought him out of his shell. I guess he just held himself a little prouder, a little taller.”
This month, Kowalski crossed a finish line of her own.
“I did an Ironman 70.3,” she said. “It’s crazy. It gets so emotional.”
Emotional, because she completed the race in honor of Chase.
“He's not here,” she said. “It's never easy.”
Kowalski dedicated seven years to training for the half Ironman.
My why is Chase. I do this because Chase can’t do this. Because the opportunity for him to be an Ironman was stolen from him.
Rebecca Kowalski
She originally planned to do the race for her son’s 15th birthday in 2020, but due to the pandemic and injuries, she deferred to this year.
Then on Oct. 16, Kowalski swam 1.2 miles, biked 56 miles, and ran a half marathon in Ironman Waco. When the race got tough, she took comfort in small signs along the route.
“On the bike, sunflowers were one of his favorite flowers. And I saw a barn that was on the side of it was painted with sunflowers,” Kowalski said.
She crossed the finish line in just under eight-and-a-half hours.
“This is for his 17th birthday,” Kowalski said. “I decided I wasn't going to take my little Ironman band off until his birthday!”
It was the race of a lifetime, not only to celebrate her son, but also the hundreds of kids that become triathletes during the Race4Chase triathlon held each year in his honor.
“I love looking at the pictures,” Kowalski said. “We don't get to see Chase grow up, but we get to see some of these kids grow up, which is really cool.”
On Chase’s birthday, his parents surrounded themselves with kids at the Greater Waterbury YMCA.
“They are so adorable,” Kowalski said.
They made an annual donation on behalf of the CMAK Foundation to the YMCA’s preschool and readiness programs. Over the past 10 years, the CMAK Foundation has donated $200,000 to those programs.
“We honor Chase, because preschool meant so much to him,” Kowalski said.
As the Kowalski family spends the rest of the day in reflection, Kowalski said Chase is still a big part of their lives.
“Every day we honor Chase, every day we talk about him. He’s always with us,” She said. “So, yes, in physical spirit, he's not here, but he's always in our hearts.”
She feels his presence.
“He was at the finish line cheering, and he was up there. He was very proud. I’m sure,” Kowalski said.
Kowalski makes sure her son remains a part of those big moments.
“I did have the ashes with me. So the next day, we went and we scattered some of his ashes at the bridge that I crossed, right in the corner. And we put his little ‘Remember Chase’ pin,” she said.
The family, living out a life of good in Chase’s name.
“Right in this corner, this corner is where we buried the ashes,” Kowalski said. “It was really, really cool. Just to know that he's there.”
Kowalski was also recognized by the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame this month for completing the half Ironman in honor of Chase.
