Jason Hare

Age: 46
Family: Wife, Jessica (44), daughter Ella (11), son Julian (8)
Resident: Wilton, originally from Port Washington
Profession: Director of Patient Experience, Glens Falls Hospital
Primary Sport: Triathlon

By Mona Kulkarni Caron

Community, gratitude and a positive attitude are a few of the themes that came up several times during my conversation with triathlete Jason Hare. The trajectory of Jason’s journey into triathlon has been an unlikely one if you ask him. From a self-proclaimed non-athlete with an arts and theater background in his younger days, Jason’s foray into triathlon has been impressive. From the beginning, Jason and his wife Jessica have made balancing family, work and being active a priority. If something is off-balance, they communicate and make adjustments and above all, they support one another in all endeavors. Jason and Jessica met at the University at Buffalo as students. After graduation in 2000, they moved back to New York City for their careers in health care. While living in Queens, Jessica started bicycling and encouraged Jason to pick it up too. Then, after participating in the 42-mile Five Boro Bike Tour in 2008, the idea to do a triathlon was activated!

Jason needed some coaching to get started. In 2010, Jason and Jessica completed their first race at the NYC Triathlon as part of Team in Training for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He went on to do three more from 2011-2013 with Team in Training. Jason and Jessica raised $16,000 on a goal of $2,500 the first year and went on to raise an additional $25,000 for Team in Training while training and competing! Jason was hooked on triathlon and thoughts of doing an Ironman by his 40thh birthday in 2017 began to enter his mind.

Fast forward to 2014: Jason and Jessica each with full-time jobs, which now included a long commute for Jason from Long Island, and a new baby daughter Ella (born in 2012) – something had to give. Racing and training went by the wayside as they had too many commitments and not enough time. Son Julian came along in 2015 and as anyone with very young kids knows, there isn’t much time for anything else. The triathlon training and goal of doing an Ironman by his 40th birthday was not possible. In 2017, they were ready to make a big life change. 

A move was planned and several factors brought them to the Capital Region: their love of the Adirondacks; Jason’s parents had another home in Minerva (which included skiing at Gore Mountain when Jason was a teen); and Jessica’s family lived in the Albany area as well. In August 2017, the family moved to Wilton. Jessica started work as a Critical Care Physician’s Assistant at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany and Jason at Glens Falls Hospital as their Director of Patient Experience.

In March 2018, Jason discovered the Adirondack Sports Summer Expo, and I was thrilled to hear that it jumpstarted his enthusiasm to get back into training and competing. He made his way to the Saratoga Triathlon Club booth and found the group to be very warm and welcoming. He joined the club on the spot and began swimming and training over the summer. A club training swim in Moreau Lake State Park that summer gave him the inspiration to dream about Ironman again, with hopes that he’d be crossing the finishing line before his 45th birthday. He chose Lake Placid because of its proximity in the Adirondacks. 

Jason got back into the sport with local sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. In 2021 he began training with T3 Coaching where his coach John Evansky helped him prepare for his first 70.3 (half-ironman) race. As he prepared for Ironman Lake Placid, the pandemic allowed for time to focus on strength, nutrition and getting into the physical and mental space to take on the journey. 

Coach Carl Regenauer helped him prepare for Ironman Lake Placid in July 2022. His goals for Lake Placid were to “finish it feeling good, strong, and with a smile on my face.” It was tough day due to the heat, but Jason achieved all of those goals and finished 34th in his 45-49 age group. He credits Carl and T3 Coaching for helping him to be the best athlete and person he can be. He also feels gratitude for his community of family, friends, coaches, and the Saratoga Tri Club. 

Jason was STC’s vice president from 2019-2022 and stepped up to become president this year. It’s his way of giving back to the sport and the community. He comments, “The club was so welcoming to me and as president I want to help others as they helped me.” He continues, “My role is to make everyone feel welcome, with as many resources of support as possible, especially if you’re just getting started or returning to the sport.”  

Jason has followed through with his desire to make the club and the sport more inviting by including a guest speaker or clinic at every off-season club meeting, whether it’s a teaching clinic on injury prevention, mobility or nutrition, or a hands-on clinic on how to fix a flat or maintain your bike. These opportunities to learn from others are what make the meetings more welcoming. New this year, Jason instituted a mentor-mentee match to pair new athletes with experienced members. It’s already gained interest with people signing up to become mentors. It’s the sense of community that brought him to the sport and what drives him to help others experience it too.

In many ways, Jason’s professional life parallels his athletic life. As Director of Patient Experience, Jason ensures that patients and families have the best experience possible and in turn he educates staff and colleagues on patients’ needs, amplify what they’re doing well, and improvements that can be made. He clearly aims to do the same for his club members and teammates.

Jason’s family is very important to him and he is inspired by his wife Jessica. She puts in 12-hour night shifts in the ICU, has an hour-long commute and is training for her first 70.3 in July. It’s the family support that he has with Jessica that helped him achieve his goal of training for and completing his first full Ironman Lake Placid last year. This year is Jessica’s turn as she is getting back into triathlon and training for her first 70.3 at the Ironman Musselman in Geneva in July with Jason’s full support.

Jason is very disciplined in his training and preparation. He works out at 5am to get his training in before work, and is able to take Ella and Julian to their after-school activities, and help with the bedtime routine. He meal preps on Sundays to maximize his time with the kids and focus on their activities.

They’re an active family. Ella has participated in Girls on the Run and the Saratoga Shredders mountain bike program, while Julian is active in recreational biking, soccer and dance, and both take music lessons. This year, each member of the family has a triathlon on the calendar. Jessica and Jason are both doing the Ironman 70.3 Musselman in July. Ella and Julian are doing their first multisport race at the T3-sponsored Kids’ Triathlon in Glens Falls this June. Before press time, Jason reported that he and Jessica had a great day at the Memorial Duathlon in Saratoga Springs. He says, “Jessica finished strong and smiling, and I came in second place overall!” A great start for this summer’s racing season.

Throughout our conversation, Jason’s very positive, infectious attitude reminds us that you can do anything that you set your mind to. He lives this each day and says, “You get to define who you are.” He passes this along to his kids to show them what’s possible when you put in the work. 

Jason’s focus is on fun, not competition. With starting at a later age, it’s about being thankful for the support from his family and the camaraderie he shares with friends, teammates and volunteers. He reflects after every workout and expresses gratitude for this enthusiastic community.

Mona Kulkarni Caron (mona@adksports.com) is race director of the Good Karma 5K Run/Walk in Clifton Park, a mentor for Freihofer’s Run for Women Training Challenge, and enjoys running and bicycling. She also works at Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, managing the NYS Canalway Water Trail.