Mike Murillo
Mike is a news anchor and reporter at WTOP in Washington, D.C. As an award winning journalist, he has reported from the scene of many historic events, including the inaugurations of President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, and the Baltimore Riots.
For Mike, his MS journey began in 2016 while he was reporting and noticed tingling from his waist down that was followed by intense fatigue. Several MRI’s would reveal he was experiencing an MS exacerbation.
Since starting a treatment plan, Mike continues to live an active life even though he admits he listens to his body, much more than he ever did before being diagnosed
His hope with Mastering MS is to learn about this illness with other #MSWarriors and share the stories of people living their best lives, after being diagnosed.
Nick Irons
Nick is an author, ultra-endurance athlete, strength and conditioning coach and owner of Irons Fitness, a personal training studio in downtown Bethesda. Nick made national headlines in 1997 when he became the first person in 70 years to swim the length of the Mississippi River and the first to swim it with the locks and dams of its “modern” form.
His historic swim began when he jumped into the 56-degree water of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and took the first of more than a million strokes that pushed him down the longest river in North America. After swimming 1,550 miles, he completed his dream four months later in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His swim was featured on hundreds of local, national and international media including: The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, People Magazine, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and of course WAMU and NPR.
Nick didn’t just do his swim for the challenge or the glory; but as a personal
mission to raise national awareness and funding for multiple sclerosis (MS)
research, the disease his dad (a physician practicing in Bethesda) lives with.
Nick followed up his swim with a 10,000-mile bike ride around the perimeter
of the United States, also to benefit multiple sclerosis research. The trip took him from Washington, DC to Florida, across the US to San Diego, up the west coast to Seattle, across the northern United States to New York. He finished his ride 5 months later back home in DC. The two events raised over $500,000 for research and brought months of invaluable national awareness to the disease.
In 2003, Nick became an award-winning author with his book Swim Lessons: Ten Secrets for Making Any Dream Come True
In 2008, Nick was the subject of the award-winning documentary Swim Lessons: The Nick Irons story.
Nick is now the owner of Irons Fitness, a personal training studio in downtown Bethesda. Founded in 2011, Irons Fitness was founded with the mission “To change lives through fitness and to have fun doing it.”