It's long been said that it takes a lot of heart to tackle the Ironman World Championship.

Kyle Garlett is the first triathlete to try it with someone else's heart.

Tomorrow, three years to the day that he received his heart transplant, Garlett will be among nearly 1,800 triathletes lined up along Kailua Bay on the Big Island, eager to get started on the 140.6-mile endurance test that includes a 2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.

"I really want to finish the race, but it won't define anything about me," said Garlett, 38. "It would put an exclamation on my recovery."

The Los Angeles-based writer and motivational speaker has been diagnosed four times with cancer. He fought off Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1989 as an 18-year-old high school senior, and again in 1991 and 1994. A bone marrow transplant in 1994 damaged his heart.

In 1997, Garlett heard the devastating news again. He had secondary leukemia, triggered by chemotherapy drugs.

Three years of chemotherapy knocked out the leukemia, but repeated blasts of cancer-fighting drugs wreaked havoc.

In 2000, Garlett's right hip and left shoulder were replaced, and in 2001 he was placed on the heart transplant list. Then, on Oct. 10, 2006, he got the call. A construction worker had died on the job and Garlett was to receive his heart.

"This time it was like they were repairing me finally," he said.

By then, Garlett had become involved in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and its fundraising program Team in Training.

And now he says he's just happy to be in Kailua, Kona.

"I feel a little like I'm crashing the party," he said.

SOCCER

MEARNS LIFTS BYUH

Emily Mearns scored four goals as Brigham Young-Hawai'i beat host Notre Dame de Namur, 5-3, yesterday in a Pacific West Conference women's match at Belmont, Calif.

Ashley Hunter had a goal and an assist for the Seasiders (6-2, 4-2). Victoria Colon had two goals for the Argos (3-7, 3-2).

Elsewhere in the PacWest:

• Sam Akinaka and William Barber scored goals as BYUH (2-6-1, 1-3-1) tied Notre Dame de Namur (3-8-1, 3-1-1), 2-2, in a men's match at Belmont, Calif.

• Chance Bukoski scored a goal as Hawai'i Pacific (6-1-1, 3-1-1) tied Dominican (5-5-1, 2-2-1), 1-1, in a men's match at San Rafael, Calif.

• Stephanie Malone scored two goals as Dominican (4-5-2, 2-2-1) beat Hawai'i Pacific (5-3-1, 3-2-0), 6-0, in a women's match at San Rafael, Calif.

• Jordan Roylance scored three goals as Dixie State (3-4-1, 1-3) beat Chaminade (1-6, 0-4), 4-0, in a men's match at St. George, Utah.

• Dixie State (5-3, 4-0) outshot Chaminade (0-7, 0-4), 40-3, to post a 7-0 victory in a women's match at St. George, Utah.

• Shanna Brown made eight saves as Hawai'i-Hilo (3-5-2, 2-1-1) played Grand Canyon (4-5-2, 1-3-2) to a scoreless tie through two overtimes of a women's match in Phoenix, Ariz.

• Kyle Ciliento scored three goals as Grand Canyon (9-1-1, 6-0) beat Hawai'i-Hilo (4-6, 3-1), 3-0, in a men's match at Phoenix, Ariz.

TENNIS

LAJOLA LOSES

Georgia's Jamie Hunt beat University of Hawai'i junior Dennis Lajola, 6-0, 6-3, yesterday in the opening round of the D'Novo/ITA All-American Tennis Championships at Tulsa, Okla.

Lajola plays Texas' Dmitar Kustrovsky today in the 32-player consolation draw.