When Alvaro Nuñez pedaled across the finish line of one of the world’s toughest bike races, he wasn’t alone. On the other end of a FaceTime call was his biggest cheerleader, his dad, who was simultaneously undergoing treatment for advanced Stage 4 prostate cancer.
“That was one of the most emotional moments ever,” Nuñez said, recalling the exact image he had visualized for 12 straight days on the road. “Me crossing that finish line and seeing my dad on the other side.”
The Miami-based entrepreneur had just conquered the Race Across America, a brutal 3,000-mile challenge that spans from California to New Jersey, across 13 states and more than 150,000 feet of climbing. That’s about five times the height of Mount Everest. And Nuñez did it on his very first try, in just under 12 days.
He learned about his father’s diagnosis just a month before the race.
What could’ve shattered his plans became his new fuel.
“He told me, ‘Don’t you ever, ever say that you’re gonna drop on this. You finish what you start,’” Nuñez shared. “‘And just so you know, you give me more strength by doing this race than by being here with me.’”
That was the beginning of a promise, a bond that would carry them both through their battles. “So we made this agreement,” Nuñez said. “If I didn’t quit throughout the race, he wouldn’t quit throughout the treatment. And when you have a bond, an agreement [that is] so strong, you feel just unstoppable.”
From then on, the race wasn’t just about miles or records. It was about heart.
Though he stood 6-foot-4 and weighed over 200 pounds, Nuñez had never raced a bike competitively before. But he trained obsessively for up to 12 hours a day, sleeping barely at all, to prepare for the physical and mental mountain ahead.
During the actual race, he averaged just one hour of sleep per night. He hallucinated. He lost feeling in his hands and feet. There were moments he could barely eat, or think.
But his dad was with him the whole way, encouraging him from afar.
Nuñez later learned that before every treatment, his dad would rush the doctors, saying, “Hurry up because my son is about to make it to the time station and to this cutoff time, I need to be there for him.”
The two kept in touch throughout the ride, and their mutual strength carried them both. “Pain fades and glory stays,” Nuñez said. “It’s about just staying in the game for as long as you can.”
Race Across America’s executive director, Rick Boethling, praised Nuñez’s determination.
“When I spoke with Alvaro last year, when he crewed for a 2-person relay team, he said he was going to race solo the next year,” Boethling said. “I hear that a lot and oftentimes it is just words… It is really impressive that he decided to race and then put together a successful rookie race in under a year.”
“His dedication to success, not only in his career, but also preparing for RAAM, really shone through,” he added. “As with every RAAM finisher we are super excited for him.”
Nuñez is still recovering physically and emotionally, but his heart is full.
And he has a message for anyone facing a tough climb of their own: “Sometimes we are going through a lot of pain and we quit when we are so close to the end … so for those out there that are struggling in their own battles, that are fighting every day, just keep on going.”
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