It started as a dare, and when it was over, Bob Lamothe was pretty sure he’d never do a triathlon again.

That was 27 years ago.

He’s done a few more.

Lamothe, a 56-year-old Warwick resident, has completed more than 300 races, from sprint triathlons to Ironman events. He’s raced in the world-famous Hawaii Ironman World Championship three times, most recently in October of 2009.

Lamothe never could have imagined that 27 years ago. He’d had some success in road races. Over a few beers one night, a friend put forth a challenge.

“We were letting our egos go a little bit, and he said, ‘If you’re so tough, why not do a triathlon?’” Lamothe said. “So I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’”

He did his first one in Westerly, and by the end of it, he thought it would be his only one.

“I borrowed a wet suit, and I think it had more water inside than out,” Lamothe said. “I got done and said, ‘This is crazy. I’m never doing this again.’”

But something tugged at him. When the exhaustion faded, his competitive streak took over. Lamothe wanted to see if he could do it again – and do it better.

That tug has never gone away.

Lamothe tried another triathlon, and then another. The sport was just starting to evolve, and he evolved with it. There were no special bikes at first, no established training regimens, no knowledge of nutrition.

Lamothe stuck with it anyway, like hundreds of others, all learning as they went. He realized pretty soon that he was good at it.

“For some reason, my body has really taken to it,” Lamothe said. “I’ve been doing it 28 years and I’ve never had any major injuries.”

He’s also had plenty of success, from local victories to impressive performances on bigger stages. He’s been named an All-American in his age group on several occasions.

“I’ve really come to enjoy the sport, so I end up racing a lot,” Lamothe said. “Besides family and work, it’s my main focus.”

Lamothe and his wife, Lisa, have two children. Eli is a senior at Toll Gate and Addie is an eighth-grader at Winman.

Lamothe has worked as a special education teacher at North Providence high school for 19 years. When the school year ends, Lamothe’s triathlon season begins. He enters whatever races he can find in New England then targets one bigger race as his summer focus. This summer, it’ll be the Amica Rhode Island 70.3, a half-ironman that’s in its third year of existence. Lamothe raced in the first two and was Warwick’s top performer both times, finishing just outside the top 100.

Last summer, he was also targeting the Ironman in Hawaii. He says this summer will be a little more relaxed, at least by his standards.

“It’ll be low-key this year,” Lamothe said.

But that doesn’t mean the competitive fire has faded. Lamothe grew up in West Warwick and attended Bishop Hendricken. He didn’t play any sports there and he didn’t get serious about running until he was 25.

You could say he’s been making up for lost time.

“I really like testing myself,” he said. “Any time you play sports, you want to do your best and excel. I didn’t play any sports in high school, but I’m getting a chance now. I feel like I’m living a sports dream.”

And he plans to keep living it, even if it was a dream he never thought he’d have.