Ramsey Saab.

DEARBORN — He didn’t know how to swim, so he learned. He bought a bike. He ran. He set out to finish a grueling 140-mile race — and he did. 

Ramsey Saab, a 35-year-old customer manager for a global software company, recently completed his first Ironman — a triathlon that challenges participants with a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle route and a marathon (26.2 miles) in one day.

“You don’t know if you’re going to finish and you don’t know if it’s going to hurt,” Saab said. 

But he tried anyway. 

Saab had raced in Ironman half races, other triathlons and marathons, but the competition in Louisville in October was his first attempt at completing a full Ironman.

The yearlong training Saab undertook to prepare for the race was also part of a greater goal. He said he was athletic in high school. But in college, and later when work became his focus, Saab didn’t prioritize fitness. 

“I just decided I didn’t want to be average,” he said. “I didn’t want to be heavy and unhealthy and I wanted to be a good example for the kids. So I went on a journey to take control of my health.” 

He dieted and lost weight. He started running and loved it. 

In 2011, Saab challenged himself to finish the Dearborn Martian Marathon, though he hadn’t trained for the full race. It took him nearly six hours. 

“I tried it and it almost killed me,” Saab said. 

He described it as the hardest thing he’d ever done, but also as an experience of self discovery.

“And then I was hooked after that,” he said. 

Saab started training to “own” the same race the following year. Encouragement from a neighbor later led him to register for the Ironman race last fall. 

Waking up at 4 a.m. became the norm, as did long, sometimes eight-hour bike rides. After long workouts that began early on the weekend, Saab would get home around 1 or 2 p.m. and try to squeeze in time with his family. 

That time commitment was Saab’s greatest challenge in preparing for the race. Maintaining his routine while traveling was a close second. He would often drive many hours to meet with customers instead of flying so he could bring his bike to train. 

But as part of the Motor City Endurance training team, which has more than 60 members, Saab had help through the demanding process. 

“You have a support network within the group that helps you stay focused and work out when you probably don’t want to work out,” he said of the team. 

Roman Krzyzanowski, head triathlon coach and team co-founder, worked with Saab. He gave Saab unlimited access to text, email or calls with training questions for the entire year leading up to the race. 

Krzyzanowski has been racing for decades and recently completed his 23rd Ironman.

“I think I get more enjoyment helping people like Ramsey and others be able to achieve their physical goals,” he said. 

Saab shares that sentiment. 

“Running and all this stuff really doesn’t mean anything in itself,” he said, adding that races don’t impact the world. 

But after Saab ran the Ironman, he said high school classmates touted him as an inspiration. He now hopes to motivate friends who want to get in shape or meet other goals. 

Saab is also aiming to add meaning to athletics by helping coordinate a community relay in May. 

As a board member of Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, Saab dreamed up the One World Relay and passed the idea along to president and CEO Steve Spreitzer. 

Professionals and students are invited to walk one mile or run a 5k as part of a relay team.

Spreitzer said the event can connect communities in Southeast Michigan that are racially and religiously segregated. It is also a chance for students to meet mentors who can give career advice.

“It’s bringing people across their boundaries,” Spreitzer said. “His (Saab’s) bigger vision is that people around the world will be doing this together, simultaneously all for a great cause.”

Saab said a race is also important to the individual who sets out to finish it and then achieves the goal.

For Saab, his approximately 365 days of discipline ended in success. As he ran through the finish for the Louisville Ironman, an announcer’s voice rang out over the loudspeaker: “Ramsey Saab, you are an Ironman.