Michael, who lives in Ocean Township, is 2 1/2 years old. His wavy blond hair, plump build and serene blue eyes bring to mind the cherubs of another Michelangelo.
Michael was born with cerebral palsy, a condition that affects the area of his brain that controls movement and posture. For Michael, that means not being able to walk, sit up, chew his food or talk. But, boy, is he trying.
Michael's parents, Tara, a 37-year-old architect, and Michael, a 38-year-old contractor, are convinced that an aggressive type of therapy, called conductive education, can stimulate his damaged central nervous system to create new neural pathways between his brain and his muscles.
So two or three times a week, Michael exercises for 3 1/2 hours with a conductive education therapist in Middletown. And every three or four months, he travels with his parents to Budapest, Hungary, for weeks of intensive, six-hour therapy sessions at the Peto Institute, whose rigorous methods have helped many neurologically impaired children and adults like Michael maximize their mobility. Some reportedly even get up out of their wheelchairs and walk.
That's what everyone hopes Michael will do some day. But keeping that hope alive is costing the Fiores about $50,000 a year, because in the United States, conductive education is still considered experimental and Michael's therapy is not covered by insurance.
James loved the idea, and the brothers soon enlisted Hlatky, 30, of Brooklyn, to join them. All three had competed in triathlons before, but never an Ironman, which is a cut above the rest. The Florida Ironman, held in Panama City Beach, Fla., consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon.
Another friend, professional triathlete Mateo Mercur, volunteered to be their coach. He recognized that it would take a full 18 months for the trio to prepare themselves for such a grueling test.
Mercur's meticulous training regimen, which included precise instructions on everything from heart rate targets to when to eat a half an energy bar, required the three men to work out seven days a week, for a total of 20 to 25 hours. It was like taking on a second job, one that would have to take precedence over their personal lives for a year and a half.
On a typical Saturday, Jason would show up at James' house between 7 and 8 o'clock in the morning — "He'd be in his boxers making pancakes," Jason recalls — and they'd head out on a five-hour bike ride. After that, they'd run for 45 to 90 minutes.
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has said that while there might have been more talented cyclists in the world, he had the best team behind him.
In addition to Mercur, it included the Watts' mother, Margaret Dellinger, of Ocean Township, who kept track of donations and sent out thank-you notes to donors; Dan Weeden, a friend from Interlaken, who often trained with the Watt brothers to get himself in shape and urge them on; Karista Senavitis, a work colleague of Jason's whom he calls his personal "coach," and a network of friends and family who were fully committed to the cause.
He credits the firm's chief executive officer, Meg Brunette, with planting the seed that blossomed into the Ironman crusade. At a meeting one day, Brunette encourage the staff to stretch themselves, not just at work but in their personal lives, too.
Using his expertise in "brand communications," Jason developed a marketing plan for the newly created Michael Angelo Fund, complete with an eye-catching logo and an official T-shirt. He decided to sell advertising spaces on the T-shirt for $500 and give the shirt to anyone who contributed $50 or more.
"The idea sold itself," says James, an architect with offices in New York City and Asbury Park. "All you had to do was get it in front of people."
Jason had set what he thought was an ambitious goal of raising $10,000, but donations soon surpassed that mark. Completely unsolicited, friends of the three men held cocktail parties to raise money and asked for contributions to the Michael Angelo Fund in lieu of birthday presents for their children.
Just prior to the race, Hlatky, who would later admit that 18 months of "unrelenting" training had driven him "to the brink of insanity," turned to his teammates and said, "As far as I'm concerned, the race is over. This is just icing on the cake."
Once the race was under way, the men found that Mercur's training had indeed prepared them well. Jason says that when he hopped off his bike after the 112-mile ride, "I was ready to do a marathon," and his teammates also felt that they, too, had energy to burn.
Jason crossed the finish line first, with a time of 11 hours and 3 minutes. Hlatky was next, at 11:03, followed by James at 11:15. Their times placed them in the top 20 percent of finishers.
Among the throng waiting there for them were Michael Angelo and his parents. Three weeks later, Tara Fiore is still overwhelmed by what she witnessed that day, and by the sacrifice that the three men and their loved ones made on her son's behalf during those long months of training.
To date, the Michael Angelo Fund has raised more than $80,000, and there are more fund-raisers in the works, including a party, titled "Mikey Mania," at The Headliner in Neptune on April 27.
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