All In The Family: The Kellys - Triathletes
All In The Family: The Kellys - Triathletes
- April 18th, 2012By Cathy Hill, Valeo Magazine
Drs. Larry and Emily Kelly’s shared devotion to family and athletic competition recently culminated in a thrilling family trip to Kona, Hawaii, in October, 2011, where Emily competed in the Ironman World Championship. As Emily says, “We took the whole family including, all of the kids and my mom and dad to Kona for the week leading up to the race.”
Emily finished the competition, which consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile cycling event and a 26.2 mile run, in 10 hours 15 minutes.
Family
Four children: Eliza (10), Will (8), Samuel (6) and Vera (4)
Medical Specialties
Larry is an interventional radiologist with Diagnostic Imaging Alliance of Louisville. Emily is an endodontist and owns her practice, Endodontic Associates of Louisville, with one partner, Leslie Malueg.
On the Run
Emily started running in marathons two years ago, then jumped into triathlons in June, 2011. She qualified for a spot in the Ironman World Championship after finishing fourth in her age group in the Ironman Louisville competition in August, 2011.
Since returning from Kona, she has scaled back her training and tried to get back to “normal” life. She recently joined the racing team at VO2 Multisport and plans to keep running and doing shorter triathlons. As she says,”I will probably try the full ironman distance again, but maybe not for a few years.”
Larry runs for fun but does not compete right now. He expects to participate in this year’s Triple Crown road races.
Family History
Larry and Emily met on the swim team at Georgetown University in 1995, and were married in 1999.
Larry graduated from UL medical school in 2002, then specialized in interventional radiology. Emily graduated from UL dental school in 2003, then specialized in endodontics.
What are the challenges faced by family members working together?
As Emily says, “We have two minivans, so that whoever finishes work first is able to pick up all of the kids. All of our kids are involved in a lot of athletics, so we spend a lot of time driving them around and watching them compete and play.
“It is tough to be a busy two career family, with four kids, but we do get a lot of help from Larry’s mom, Ruth Kelly, who lives in town. I work three days a week, so my job is fairly flexible. Plus, Larry is an amazing husband and very ‘hands on’ dad. He and the kids have been to almost all of my races and keep me going during the long hours.”
Advantages
We are both good time managers. We both swam in college, so we are pretty good at balancing athletics and academics.
Defining moment - What made you want to become a doctor or enter the field of healthcare?
We are both science people. We knew we didn’t want a desk job.
