Making dreams come true

COEUR d'ALENE - One overcame cancer.

Another is battling back from a brain injury.

A third has shed 75 pounds.

These are the folks CDA Tri Team wants to help reach their goals. So members have been walking, running, swimming and biking right alongside them.

They're not done, and they're looking to do even more.

"We really are looking for the people who have the heart to do it and want to do it, and are willing to put in the work," said Megan Motley of CDA Tri Team. "They're going to be dedicated and need the extra push. We'll help guide them through it, but they can actually make it on their own."

Time to meet Amanda Lazaro, Laura Narolski and Nick Maniscalco.

Each has overcome personal challenges.

The 30-year-old Lazaro dropped from 220 pounds to 145 and completed a half marathon earlier this year and is gearing up for a marathon.

The 45-year-old Narolski has been cancer free for more than a year and is preparing for Ironman Coeur d'Alene on June 23.

The 24-year-old Maniscalco sustained a brain injury in a January 2008 car wreck outside Walla Walla, Wash. Despite needing a walker, he earlier walked 365 miles in 365 days, and is planning to ride a bike 3,650 miles in 365 days.

CDA Tri Team vows to see each of them through.

"Part of our goal as a club is to give back to the community," Motley said.

Last July, it put out word it wanted to help an athlete, one who overcame personal challenges and wanted to complete a race of any distance, whether it be an Ironman or a 5K.

The idea was to start helping people who wanted to race or get into the sport, but didn't know how, Motley said. They needed guidance on training, gear and nutrition. Basically, they needed a plan or a little money.

The group eventually accepted three of about 15 applicants, based on their desire, dedication, goals and obstacles they're already overcome.

"We knew they were dedicated and wanted to work," Motley said of Lazaro, Narolski and Maniscalco.

Their stories

Lazaro was working out on her own and had lost 60 pounds, but was struggling to take off more. It was Narolski, a friend through their property management work, who suggested she contact CDA Tri Team about becoming a sponsored athlete.

She did.

Soon, she was receiving assistance on intensity and mileage, food and drink, recovery. She got help with strength training and motivation. Members ran with her. In October, she took on the Spokane half marathon - and completed it.

Throughout the 13.1-mile run, she was joined by CDA Tri Teamers. They took pictures at every mile. They sang "Sweet Caroline," over and over (not sure how it got started, but once it did, they didn't stop). They laughed and smiled and cheered.

"It was awesome," she said. "I think at the finish line, I actually cried."

She recalled taking 22 minutes to run her first timed mile.

"I got that down to 9 and half minutes in a half marathon with a smile on my face and singing with a group of girls. It was fantastic," she said.

Lazaro lost the weight the old-fashioned way - exercise and diet. Well, call that exercising "like crazy."

In late April, she'll tackle her longest distance yet at the Eugene Marathon in Oregon, and recently started her training program to get through the 26.2-mile race.

"It's been quite the journey," she said.

And despite not being a biker or a swimmer, an Ironman in 2014 is in the picture, too.

Lazaro said CDA Tri Team allows her to train at her own pace, but also pushes her to do more than she might have believed possible.

She has learned that as long as she sets realistic goals and challenges, she can meet them.

"I can learn anything, and make anything happen," she said.

Laura Narolski

Narolski was long the picture of health. The 5-foot-2 brunette was a dance major in college. She played tennis. She ran, biked and swam, completing a triathlon and the duathlon along the way.

She was energetic, fit and trim.

On March 1, 2011, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"My life changed," she said. "It probably goes down as one of the worst days of your life."

But the Coeur d'Alene woman never gave up. She didn't lose hope. After chemotherapy, after losing her hair and after enduring many "bad days," her resolve paid off.

She's been cancer-free just over a year, and now has her sights set on Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June. That's a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.

It's something she always wanted to do. She was intrigued by the demands of the race, but didn't know how or where to begin to take on the rigors of the race.

CDA Tri Team provided exactly that.

"With this I feel amazingly lucky. This is a distance that it's enormous. This isn't something you decide, 'I'm going to do it, I'm going to give it a shot.' You really need to want to do this."

CDA Tri Team, she said, has encouraged her, supported her and stayed by her side.

"All these people came into my life, which makes it more enriched," she said. "They're willing to help anywhere I need help."

Her efforts include rising at 4 a.m. - which she's never done - so she can train by 5.

She couldn't do it, she said, without folks like Motley. CDA Tri Team is a great group, who do more than triathlons. They go snowshoing, they paddleboard, they hang out.

"Everybody coming into my life, it's just amazing. I couldn't have done this without all of them."

Most important, Narolski said, is she has learned this lesson:

"You think you have limitations, but no, you don't. You can get past them," she said.

Nick Maniscalco

The Dalton Gardens man sustained a traumatic brain injury in a January 2008 car wreck that left him in a coma for three months. He was confined to a wheelchair after waking from the coma and when he started walking, it took him an hour to get 20 feet.

Still, he refused to stop.

In September, he completed his goal of walking 365 miles in 365 days.

His goal is to walk without the aid of a walker.

CDA Tri Team is helping him get there.

"They're all standing behind me," he said. "They've all stood behind me, pushing me forward, 'You can do this,'"

Next up, bike 3,650 miles in 365 days. He wants to get as strong as possible and stay injury free.

Motley said they learned of Maniscalco's goals after reading his story in The Press.

The club held a fundraiser and purchased a stationary bicycle trainer for him and is tracking his progress. Their support, physically, emotionally and mentally, has been priceless.

"It helped me out immensely," he said.

As determined as he's already proven he is, Maniscalco said CDA Tri Team has taken him farther than he expected.

"It's really surprising and definitely a blessing," he said.