Hall County Sheriff’s deputy Mitch Salain has game and will put it to use this weekend at the IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta to honor fellow deputy Nicolas Blane Dixon, who was killed in the line of duty on July 7.
Salain’s "game" is that of an endurance athlete, having competed in triathlons, including the Ironman events, for about a decade. His game also includes 24 years in law enforcement. Until now, his two worlds have rarely met.
“Through all of the years that I’ve been doing it (triathlon), I’ve never felt like I’ve really had a chance to do anything for anyone who has been killed in the line of duty,” Slain said. “I thought this would be a good thing to do for his (Dixon’s) family.”
Salain, who has been at the Hall County Sheriff’s Office for approximately four months, didn’t personally know Dixon, but like everyone in the agency, was greatly impacted by his death. With the blessing of the command staff, and clearance from the body that governs Ironman, Salain began the intense training process to do the event – but with a twist. He plans to do the cycling and running stages in his duty uniform.
With a predicted high of 95 degrees in Augusta on Sunday, Salain will assess his duty uniform decision on race day, but he’s been training in the heat to prepare.
“The heat is a big deal, and I’m going to have to monitor it closely because by the time that you know that you’re getting too hot, it’s almost too late,” Salain said.
While he has finished full Ironman triathlons, Sunday’s event is the half, or 70.3-mile version. Nevertheless, the race is grueling with a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run.
“You really have to prepare for these, which is why my training, at the peak training, I’m doing 20 hours a week on top of working and everything else,” Salain said. “It’s something I love to do, and I’m not going to go into these not trained like I should be.”
Members of Dixon’s family are scheduled to be at the finish line for Salain. His goal is simple.
“I want to get to that finish line. I’ll get there if I have to crawl for this one.”
