Nothing Can Stop Clayton Treska

Dawn Henry profiles an inspiring Ironman 70.3 competitor

Clayton Treska lives in a hospital. Diagnosed in the summer of 2009 with stage four testicular cancer, the 30-year-old was told that his condition was terminal. Not long after, Treska checked into a hospital in Southern California and began experimental treatment, including high doses of chemotherapy, stem cell transplants and blood transfusions in a no-holds-barred wrestle with death.

Clayton Treska is an active duty Marine. He grew up in a military family and enlisted in the Marines in 1998. Through the military, he has been exposed to cities and cultures around the world. He was stationed in Japan for years and he also served in Iraq. Treska would have returned to Iraq for another tour of duty in 2008 if he had not been diagnosed with cancer – at that time, stage one testicular cancer – for which he underwent treatment and received the reprieve of remission a few months later.

Clayton Treska is one of the newest members of the Ironman family. He always dreamed of competing in an Ironman event and, after his first bout with cancer, he decided to get serious about accomplishing that dream. Treska saw the race as a celebration and a declaration that he had regained his health.

Treska's diagnosis last summer changed the playing field for Treska and his supporters. As his body registered the strain of living with stage four cancer and the toxic treatments meant to cure him, his spirit remained bright. He committed to racing the 2010 Rohto Ironman 70.3 Hawaii as a way to focus his journey beyond the cancer and to give hope to his family and friends. Through painful treatments and a number of weeks at the end of 2009 where Treska's body was shutting down, he kept hope alive by focusing on the June 5th race.

Incredibly, Treska survived, and began to regain his health. Five months ago, he could not walk up a flight of stairs. He did not ride a bike or get in a lap of swimming until February, 2010. A few weeks before coming to Hawaii, he learned how to swim without a wetsuit. Nothing would deter Treska from his dream.


In the beginning of June, Treska checked himself out of the hospital to fly to the Big Island and lived for a few days in the sumptuous luxury of a beachfront bungalow courtesy of Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows.

Twenty of his closest supporters had traveled to the Kohala Coast to support him in the 70.3 the way they'd supported him through his experience with cancer. Treska looked out on his assembled team, including his mother and his father. He said he'd learned the value of true friendship in the past year and nothing could have made him happier than being surrounded by those who loved him. "No matter what happens tomorrow, tonight is the happiest moment of my life."

Treska didn't dress up the daunting task of the race in front of him. He wasn't a triathlete to begin with, he'd spent most of the previous year experiencing dying, and he'd only started training a few months before. He said, "Whether I travel .3 miles or 70.3 miles, it won't make any difference to me."

Laying odds against this young man has not proved to be a good bet. Surviving war, surviving cancer, Treska made quick work of the daunting Rohto Ironman 70.3 Hawaii course. He experienced nerves before the race and even during the swim and the bike. But nothing was going to stand in the way of his crossing the finish line. "The race was the most wonderful experience of my life," said Treska.

"Every time I've accomplished something, like getting out of the hospital for a couple of days, or seeing progress in treatment, I never had a sense of peace. I always had a feeling that 'we're not done yet.' I finally felt a sense of peace when I crossed the finish line. In my whole life, this was the most wonderful feeling in the world. All the efforts and contributions that everyone's made to help me – they can all say that it was worth it. They can have no regret. All the sacrifices they made. We set forth a goal and it was actually completed."

Moments after crossing the finish line, Treska repeated what is quickly becoming his daily mantra: "This is the happiest day of my life."


Now Treska has given himself a new goal: to complete an Ironman before November 25, the one-year anniversary of the end of his chemotherapy treatments. To go from hospital bed and terminal illness to the finish line of an Ironman, within the span of 365 days, is the kind of challenge that brings a smile to Treska's face.

Completing a full Ironman was never a part of the original arrangement, but Treska wants to find a way to give back to his supports. "There are only so many things you can do to say thank you. The words themselves feel so inadequate in terms of the way that I feel." So he consulted with family and friends. "They were all for it."

Meanwhile, life for Treska "gets better and better every day. It's not because everything is going right, but it's because any challenges I see in the future are miniscule compared to what I've gone through. Knowing that I can take the lessons I've learned and apply them in my own life and share them with others." Through cancer, he's found his life's purpose – to work with cancer patients and their families.

Treska also has plans to change residences this summer. He'll leave the hospital to fulfill another lifelong dream: complete a college education. He’s received a scholarship to attend San Diego State University where he’ll study post-chemotherapy nutrition and physical fitness and, ultimately, earn a Ph.D. "Cancer is so prevalent and chemotherapy is so widely used, it's something I have to do. I have to see this through to the end."