A local man, who was taken off the Ironman course during the swimming competition, completed the course anyway and got a special gift in honor of his accomplishment. Casey Kammel was the only physically challenged participant in the competition. He is paralyzed on his right side, but decided to do the race anyway. Casey started out like every other athlete in the water on Sunday morning, but because of his disability and the rough conditions on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Casey was only able to finish half of the swim portion of the race, disqualifying him completely from Ironman. However, Casey pushed on, biking 112 miles and running 26 miles on his own. Casey did not get a medal, but on Monday, Hugo Ferlito heard about Casey's story and stopped by his house to give Casey his Ironman finisher's medal/KXLY. More here. Video here.

DFO: There were many inspirational stories from Ironman Coeur d'Alene this year. But I can't think of any that top this one. Can you?