Michael Honing remembers wondering if he'd ever walk again.

The damage to his foot was significant – nearly severed just below the ankle, the bones were exposed and the tendons, veins and liaments torn into a tangled mess.

The accident happened in a matter of seconds. Honing was on a ladder in the backyard of his South Surrey home, working on an equipment shed that was to store his and his wife Lynda's triathlon gear.

He put pressure on the drill, the ladder kicked out, and he went down, catching his left foot on the bottom rung.

The pain wasn't immediate; he felt the soreness of his broken wrist first. Then, "it was like somebody taking a pair of bolt-cutters and really squeezing," Michael recalled of the limb that looked "like an offset putter."

When Lynda ran outside, she saw her husband's foot at a grotesque angle, still in its shoe, hanging by a piece of skin.

Nearly two years later, reflecting on crossing the finish line of a race that included swimming in frigid waters, biking the hills of San Francisco and climbing a 400-step sand ladder, the Honings have a message: don't let fear stop you, obstacles can be overcome and never give up.

The Honings – Michael is a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company; Lynda has a wellness studio and dances competitively with Spiral Dance Co. – were among 2,000 people from around the world to compete in the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon.

The June 14 race attracts world champions, Olympic medalists and amateur triathletes from more than 40 countries. Participants must either qualify for a spot, or, as the Honings did, win one in a random lottery.

Described online as "one of the most infamous and extreme sporting events," the triathlon features a 1.5-mile swim from Alcatraz Island to shore, an 18-mile bike race that Lynda likened to cycling Oxford Street over and over for 90 minutes, and an eight-mile run that included the grueling sand ladder.

Michael was inspired to give it a go after watching a friend do the race last year. He saw competitors of all shapes, sizes and abilities, some of them missing limbs, give it their best and make it across the finish line. It made him realize his injury did not put him out of the running.

Lynda and Michael trained together, competed together and crossed the finish line together.

When one lagged behind, as Lynda did on the swim, the other waited.

When the run got tough, Michael's thoughts drifted to the memory of best friend Alex Beltran, a local veterinarian who died in July 2007 in a crash on King George Highway. Beltran was an outdoor enthusiast famous amongst those who knew him as someone who would go out of his way to encourage people to be active, even offering to buy them the shoes to do it.

The September before Beltran died, he and the Honings did the XTC Triathlon at Bunzten Lake together.

As Michael began to lose steam on the run in San Francisco, he also thought of people like Terry Fox, as well as competitors who were out on the course despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

"I'd do 100 metres and I'd be exhausted and I'd think, how did (Fox) do it? I dug deep, looking at those people and I'd think, if they can do it, I can do it," he said.

The Honings hope their story will inspire others to dream big, and to keep reaching for that goal, whatever it is, one step at a time.

"The limitations we have are only the limitations we've put on ourselves," Lynda said.

"We're not any different from anybody else in this community. We're just doing it.

"If Michael can overcome this... "

The feeling of inspiration is mutual between the couple. Lynda lives with chronic pain from injuries suffered at age 19, when her vehicle was struck by a drunk driver. She remembers being told she could give up on her body, or rebuild it. She chose the latter.

Michael's foot is still not back to 100 per cent. It feels like he's wearing a sock that needs to be pulled up to smooth everything out. And there's still pain, including when he walks on an uneven surface.

But it's all part of the journey, one that has made him pay attention to things he used to take for granted.

Considering it all, he wouldn't change what happened to him. Looking forward, he's determined to not let pain, or any other obstacle, stand in his way.

"The pain is just part of the process," he said.

"Some days it's good, some days it's bad. Is that what's going to stop you?"