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For Fiachra MacFadden, 13, it is a privilege and a joy.
He is among the 1,000 or so people who have signed up so far for July's Osim Singapore International Triathlon.
He is unlikely to win the race. But, for Fiachra, just starting it at the East Coast Park will be a triumph in itself. The Irish boy was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia (CML), which is cancer of the bone marrow, in April last year.
'When I was diagnosed, I felt my life was over,' said the United World College grade seven student.
Then, he was a sickly bag of bones. In the six months leading up to his diagnosis, he had lost 10kg on his wiry frame and weighed just 35kg. Usually spunky, he began to tire easily.
'His stomach swelled up like a football,' recalled his father Declan, 54, the Asia Pacific president at fragrance and flavour maker Symrise.
On the day of his diagnosis, his son looked as white as a sheet.
'I thought my world had ended,' said his housewife mother-of-six, Anne, 51.
Then Fiachra stopped going to school. For two months, he could not exercise because he could not strain his spleen.
Yet, looking at the bubbly teenager posing for photos and chatting happily at his home off Dunearn Road yesterday, it is hard to believe that he has gone to hell and back.
CML, an illness most commonly found in the middle-aged and elderly, affects one to two people per 100,000.
Symptoms include fatigue, weight loss, pale skin caused by the lack of red blood cells and a swollen abdomen caused by an enlarged spleen.
Fiachra has opted not to do a bone marrow transplant just yet - though two of his sisters are perfect matches.
Instead, he pops two tablets of Gleevec, a relatively new cancer drug, daily.
He returned to school last August and has, as Anne put it, lived a very normal life.
That includes cliff diving in Greece, reverse bungee jumping at Clarke Quay and doing the 10km Terry Fox Run.
Three days a week, he swims, cycles or runs to train for July's race - the fourth straight year he is doing it.
Last year, he clocked 42min 55sec to finish 23rd among 108 kids in the 10- to 12-year-old age-group.
This year, armed with a new Scott road bike, he is aiming to go under 35min.
'Sometimes, I feel exhausted. Sometimes, I feel like throwing up,' said Fiachra. 'But I tell myself to just keep going, keep fighting.'
His inspiration?
American cyclist Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor who won the Tour de France seven times.
'I like how he kept going no matter what,' Fiachra said.
He has two reminders around his wrist to remind him to persevere no matter how bumpy the road ahead.
The first is Armstrong's yellow Livestrong wristband, which was created to raise cancer awareness and encourage people to live life to the fullest.
The other is Fiachra's own blue silicone wristband, with 'Fight for Life' and his name etched in light blue text.
Doing the Osim Triathlon is just one of many sporting activities that he plans to undertake to remind him of how far he has come since April last year. And how uncertain the future is.
'But I'm not afraid of the future,' he said. 'I just do my best and see what it holds.'
