Mike McQuaid
Episode 159
14 FEB 2022
He has been involved in various sports-related capacities. Most recently is his foray into the sport of triathlon, which has seen him compete in over 20 long-course, Olympic, and Sprint triathlons, including reaching the podium six times in the past two seasons. On April 2nd he will compete in the Ironman Oceanside 70.3 in San Diego, and in preparation for that he will complete a training ride next week in which he will tackle the 10,068-foot, 35-mile climb to the summit of Maui’s Haleakala Volcano dubbed as the “World’s longest paved climb.” He had been an All-Pac 10 and national champion rower in his 20s. As a competitive sailor, he was a member of the winning crew at the 1998 Swiftsure International Yacht Race. Plus, he has held administrative roles in sports with the Seattle Goodwill Games, the Washington State Olympic Committee, the Seattle Sports Commission, USA Canoe/Kayak, and even US Lacrosse, among many others.
Notable guest quotes:
“In growing up, mom surrounded us with Catholic families, and we attended Mass… and throughout my early life, being Catholic was always a part of my identity.”
“As we were preparing for that game a local priest came in and we held hands and had a prayer, a blessing prior to the game. And that was something that was very, very monumental for me, to understand and explore the power of faith and the power of God as you approach competition.”
“I was working on a program that helped athletes acclimatize prior to competition, it’s very common prior to games. And I wanted to connect Philip Boit with Kenyans in the local community. So, there’s a priest that I was very close to, Fr. Stephen Okumu, who was quite a successful soccer coach and athlete himself.”
“We see this in 1 Corinthians 9:24, which essentially says, ‘Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.’ And if we look a little deeper into that verse, we really understand that it’s at the heart of the Olympic creed and it’s more about effort and dedication and the journey, and the reward is beyond the hardware that you can put around your neck.”
“It’s very much about competing with integrity. It’s not about winning at all costs or abandoning your values, and really, it’s about, yes, we will lose sometimes. We’ll get beat sometimes, absolutely. But by performing with honor, we can always be victorious in the eyes of God. And I think about that before every competition.”
“I can recall just the comfort that praying quietly… It brought me a sense of understanding, a sense of absolute calm, a sense of reconciliation… and a connection with God and understand that God was indeed there.”
“Prayer has helped tremendously. I know God loves me and I know God is guiding me.”
“Prayer and… patience is important to Catholics and anyone, that the signs are there, and the path of peace is there. We just have to be patient and be willing to work through some of the challenges along the way.”
“I think that if it wasn’t for the Catholic Jack Kelly and his quiet demeanor and patience, that experience might not have played out that way. And I think that’s a tremendous metaphor for life in a lot of ways, that if we have that kind of patience and if we have that kind of trust, we can have wonderful opportunities. We see this in Proverbs 3, 5 and 6.”
“He implored on me, as a very last piece of advice he gave me, he says, ‘Trust in your training and have patience and trust in God’.”
Related link:
Mike’s bio from his company’s website
