But outside of the office, DeSantis has been hard at work these past 10 months — training to compete in his first Ironman Lake Placid.

DeSantis is one of 20 local athletes who will be in action on Sunday. DeSantis is no stranger to the 140.6-mile triathlon. Before becoming a full-time resident, he and his family often visited, and during that time they volunteered for Ironman Lake Placid on numerous occasions, working a variety of stations. As DeSantis watched up close over the years, his desire to participate grew.

“I just said, ‘Some day, I need to do this,’ and here I am,” he said.

DeSantis has some past experience with endurance events. He ran the Lake Placid Marathon in 2022, and often competes in the High Peaks Cyclery Mini-Tri summer series, held Monday evenings in Lake Placid. He has been training for the Ironman Lake Placid since October, consistently ramping up and adding volume as the race approached.

During the winter, DeSantis spent a lot of time in the garage on his stationary bike trainer, while also taking advantage of local outdoor opportunities, such as cross-country skiing and hiking, to maintain and build his overall fitness. He said of the three legs, he was least looking forward to the swimming.

“That’s going to be the hardest one for me,” he said. “I’ve been a confident swimmer most of my life, but laps in the pool aren’t the same as open water laps with 2,000 of my closest friends.”

DeSantis noted that the mini-triathlons have been helpful to getting acclimated with the open-water swimming on Mirror Lake. He said he was most looking forward to the biking portion.

“It’s a beautiful course,” he said. “You see different communities and there are so many unique elements, so I’m hoping for a nice day, and I think I’ll enjoy the bike and hopefully get through the run.”

He said that living in the area and being able to train on the actual course after the snow melted has its perks.

“Lake Placid is certainly a hilly course, particularly for the bike, so having been able to spend weekends over the past two-and-a-half months actually training on the course — it’s hard to replicate that, and certainly beats long hours on the trainer,” he said.

DeSantis said his daughter, Pippa, and his wife, Erin, have been his biggest supporters, and without them, he couldn’t have put himself in this position. Training, he said, demands an enormous time commitment. He is grateful for his family not only being understanding of that, but going above and beyond to take some of his normal chores and responsibilities, enabling him to juggle training with a full-time job, and still spend time with them. DeSantis said Pippa has been his coach throughout training.

“She’s 9, but she’s proud to be my coach,” he said.

DeSantis said he’s also appreciated support from friends and community members.

“As I’ve been training, and more and more people have found out that I’ve been doing this, it’s been great,” he said. “I’ve really appreciated the messages from people, people saying they’re going to be out on the course and that they’ll be looking for me. I anticipate this being a long day, so that support is very much appreciated.”

As for his recovery, DeSantis said he was focused on the race and didn’t want to think too much about his physical condition afterward, but has penciled in a recovery day.

“I’m focused on getting through the race, I think I’m taking Monday off to recover, and then put everything back together,” he said. “But I’m sure it will be a long week.”