DARE TO BE GREAT: MAURO FERNANDEZ-WYNTER'S ULTRAIRONMAN PROJECT

For many of us, competing in a triathlon is about daring ourselves to face our fears and discovering what we are truly capable of. Few triathletes exemplify this more than Mauro Fernandez-Wynter, a 24-year-old based in McAllen, Texas, and the founder of Yaku Hybrid Athletes.

In less than two years, Mauro went from a complete beginner to a finisher of 5 IRONMAN events. He's discovered his calling as an endurance athlete, and he's set an ambitious new goal for 2026: completing an “UltraIRONMAN.” The idea is simple. Mauro will double all the distances—swim 4.8 miles, bike 224 miles, and run 52.4 miles—and if he pulls it off, he’ll definitely earn the right to brag for the rest of his life! 

Mauro has given his goal a fitting name: Project Dare to Be Great. He sat down with us and told us how he discovered triathlons, how he trained for an IRONMAN 70.3 as a beginner, what it means to be a “hybrid athlete,” why he hopes to inspire others, and why he rides the Quintana Roo X-PR. 

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Progressing from Beginner to IRONMAN

It was just about showing up and staying consistent.

Quintana Roo: Mauro, you’re relatively new to triathlon. How did it all start? 

Mauro Fernandez-Wynter: I grew up playing basketball. I was never really into other sports. I had never even run a 5K or anything like that. My dream was always to be a professional athlete in some sort of way, and basketball was the way for me. I made it all the way to college and played semi-professionally in Philadelphia. Right before I was about to graduate, though, my mother got sick with cancer. She was above this world. She was the best, most caring mother. After that, I struggled. I didn't know what to do with my life. I was at a very weird crossroads. I was at my lowest.  

Then, for some reason, a friend of mine called me in the middle of the night and told me about an IRONMAN 70.3 happening in Monterrey in three months. I didn't know how to swim. I didn't know how to ride a bike. Maybe I knew how to run. But I had been praying for an opportunity to change my life, and I believed this was it. So, I learned to swim and ended up completing my first Half IRONMAN three months later. This was 2023, so yeah, pretty recent, but that’s how I started triathlon!

QR: Many new triathletes start small. You clearly didn’t! What drew you to doing multiple IRONMAN events in your first year competing? 

Mauro: I actually saw an IRONMAN M-DOT Medal Hanger in Mexico that holds 5 IRONMAN medals, and thought that was really cool. I got so obsessed with it and I did 5 IRONMAN events in a year. I did my first full IRONMAN this past November, and it was a great experience. I finished it honestly, still feeling pretty fresh. I don't know how it happened, but I felt really good. I started to believe that I was built for this specifically. I wasn't built for basketball. I believe I was built for this! 

QR: What challenges did you face jumping headfirst into the sport like that? 

Mauro: Well, when I started, I didn't even have a bike for most of my training block. I used a stationary bike in the gym, and I would just pray when I got an actual bike, that it would work the same, like I would just keep pedaling and get to the finish, or T2, whenever I get there. 

In that first 70.3, I rode the worst bike possible. It was a cheap steel frame with mountain bike handlebars. After that, I can really appreciate what a good bike offers! I got the bike the day before the race, so I didn't even know how to make turns! I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't know how to grab bottles, and my whole first half IRONMAN was just a learning experience by itself. I saw firsthand how much difference aerobars and a good aero position on the bike can make if you're doing a half IRONMAN or longer. My back was hurting so bad, and it felt like I was fighting the wind the whole time! 

QR: Sounds tough! Was the bike the most challenging part for you? You mentioned you had to learn to swim, too. 

Mauro: Yeah, in the beginning, swimming was definitely the most challenging. I couldn't even float! So I spent a week just drowning in the pool. Then this really nice lady came and offered to teach me. I ended up going every day for 2 1/2 months straight. I was there at 5:00 in the morning, practicing until I started getting the hang of it. When I did it became so much easier. It was just about showing up and staying consistent. 

But the bike was a whole different thing. Going from a stationary bike to a cheap steel bike and now to the X-PR has been a huge learning curve. Basic things like standing up on my bike or grabbing bottles were so alien. I fell a couple of times while learning! It has definitely been the hardest discipline to get a handle on, but it's been the best experience and so rewarding. 

QR: Do you have tips for people who might be looking at doing their first Half IRONMAN, or even their first triathlon?

Mauro: I personally always tell people to get accustomed to doing the three sports back to back in training. So many people feel shocked biking after a swim or when they come off the bike and start running. Your legs feel like Jello if you're not used to it! Incorporating brick workouts into their training is so crucial. 

Even though I didn't have the best resources available before my first half IRONMAN, I regularly did brick workouts, like swimming and then biking right after. I really think it’s what helped me perform well for my first half IRONMAN. 

Also, ride outside if you can. So many people get too used to riding indoors. Unless you're already a skilled cyclist, you need to keep all the fundamentals sharp. It’s easy to fumble simple things like grabbing a water bottle if you aren’t used to doing it while riding outside. You can do really good work indoors, but get used to your bike outdoors. That would be my biggest tip. 

Choosing the X-PR and Gaining Confidence on the Bike

It was such a humbling experience, just learning how to clip and unclip... Now, I love spending time on my bike. It’s the best thing I do! 

QR: You’re currently competing on an X-PR. Why did you choose Quintana Roo?

Mauro: I became very obsessed with just finishing my first Half IRONMAN, so I started researching a lot to achieve that goal. The first thing I found was Quintana Roo bikes, and I fell in love! I'm from a Hispanic background, and Quintana Roo is very close to where I grew up. Having that name on a bike, plus the overall aesthetics and the aerodynamics, just looked amazing. It was such a beautiful bike, and I promised myself that if I finished my first race, I’d get myself a Quintana Roo.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I knew for sure that I wanted to keep doing this forever. So the next thing I did was buy myself the X-PR. My dad helped me out since I graduated. I told him, “You don't have to get me anything. Just help me pay for half the bike, and I'll pay for the other half.” He was like, “Deal, perfect.” 

QR: You mentioned a big learning curve when you switched to the X-PR. What challenges did you face?  

Mauro: As soon as I got the XPR, it was just a whole new experience because I wasn't used to clipless bike pedals. I was nervous since it was such a beautiful bike. I ended up going to a track with a turf field to learn. I figured if I fell, at least I wouldn't scrape up anything or break anything. I tried just clipping in a couple of times and fell right away! I kind of got discouraged. 

Then my brother also bought an X-PR. He was like, “Hey, let's just go outside and try it on the road for real.” I was like, No! I kept thinking about how I fell so many times at the track, but he said he’d run next to me and try to catch me. So I agreed, and I ended up clipping in properly right away! That was amazing. But then I didn't exactly know how to unclip, so I fell! It was such a humbling experience, just learning how to clip and unclip. 

QR: Falling while clipped in is truly a rite of passage. You seem to have taken to the bike quite well, though!

Mauro: Yeah, I became obsessed with the mechanics of the bike after that, learning all of the details about how the derailleurs work and everything I needed to know about the bike to be self-sufficient. I mean, that was a whole learning experience as well, because I didn't know how to change gears! 

As soon as I got into this world, I was asking people for help and advice. Like, hey, what are you supposed to do, and when do you use this, and when do you use that? I learned something new every single day: how to ride in a peloton, how to ride by myself for a long period of time, how to grab my bottle, and how to manage my hydration better, and all these things that eventually helped me get more comfortable on the bike. Now, I love spending time on my bike. It’s the best thing I do! 

Building a Triathlon Community of Hybrid Athletes 

It's about becoming the most well-rounded individual you can be, both fitness-wise and mentality-wise.

QR: Asking for help and advice seems to be the foundation of your community, Yaku Hybrid Athletes. Can you tell us what it’s all about?

Mauro: Yeah! I kind of built the whole Yaku Hybrid Athletes community around the process of obsessing over a certain goal. I tell anyone following me, “If you need help, I can help you. I'm going through this myself. If you ever need anything, just reach out." 

I started Yaku when I was living in Pennsylvania, and I realized that a lot of people online were charging a lot of money for basic tips and just recommendations for products. I believe everybody should have access to knowledge and support, just to get to know the basics. Then you can make decisions about whether you want to pay a coach to train you specifically. I don't ever charge anybody for any consultation or any help. 

I don’t pretend to know everything, but I’ve built this network, where someone can come to us for help, for example, with their first ultramarathon. I’m not an ultramarathoner yet, but I can connect them to an ultramarathoner or two or three, who can tell them everything they need to know. It’s about having a connected community of athletes that is always super ready to help each other or teach you to achieve whatever you want to do. We’re making friends with athletes, all with different strengths, all from different parts of the world, from Costa Rica to Spain to Germany, and more. 

One more thing I want to mention is that I'm also currently based in McAllen, TX. It's the most obese town in America. That's another big reason why I wanted to build this community. I want to change that ranking eventually, to not be the number one, because I think we can make that happen. If we do, it will feel like we changed the world. 

QR: What is a “Hybrid Athlete” in your mind?

Mauro: I personally think it's about becoming the most well-rounded individual you can be, both fitness-wise and mentality-wise. If you can perform in everything from an IRONMAN to a HYROX to an ultramarathon, you’re well-rounded and a great hybrid athlete. I'm a HYROX ambassador in Mexico, so I'm actually going to do a few HYROX events this year too. 

QR: So to do IRONMANs, you obviously train the three sports. But what else are you doing? 

Mauro: Other than swimming, biking, and running, I do a good amount of strength training on the side. I’m always training my strength and endurance to be able to withstand these sorts of challenges. My friends also own a padel club, so I play padel a lot, and then a bit of golf, too. Little by little, I end up playing a lot of different sports on a day-to-day basis. But I would say my main emphasis is always triathlon and then HYROX. 

The Build-Up to Project Dare to Be Great

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I knew for sure that I wanted to keep doing this forever.

QR: What events are you using to build up to Project Dare to Be Great? 

Mauro: I have a 24-hour bike ride for my mother coming up soon. Since she passed away. I want to do something to remember her every July 11th, so this year I'm going to try Everesting on a bike. The X-PR is definitely the bike I’m going to be using! Then I'm going to do IRONMAN 70.3 Waco in October and IRONMAN Florida in November before my Ultra-IRONMAN in February. I have a few HYROX events mixed in, so it’s going to be a busy year! 

Mauro’s Event Schedule:

• July 11: 24-Hour Ride + Everest Climb Challenge

• July 26: Last Man Standing Ultra

• Sep 6–7: HYROX Acapulco – Double Competition

• Oct 5: IRONMAN 70.3 Waco

• Oct 8: HYROX Mexico City

• Oct 21: HYROX Dallas

• Nov 1: IRONMAN Florida – Main Feature Event

• Feb 7–8: UltraIRONMAN: Project Dare to Be Great

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We’ll be following Mauro to support him as he prepares for his Ultra-IRONMAN. Be sure to follow Mauro on Instagram to keep up with his training and build-up for Project Dare to Be Great, and wish him luck!