I couldn’t say it better >> So, here is a re-cap on Las Vegas, Pumpkinman, USAT Club Nationals from Brian Morel and Ian Murray with some fotos!From BRIAN (to Club):
Congrats to everyone who raced the USAT Club Nationals this weekend!!! Many of us braved extreme travel conditions and delayed flights to make it to Las Vegas, but the skies cleared for an awesome day of racing! (below, Brian, me & Paul the night before the race, at the Hard Rock).
In the end the LA Tri Club came up short to two-time USAT National Champions - Columbia Multisport Club (CMC) out of Columbia Missouri. CMC treats nationals much like Lance Armstrong treated the Tour de France — with a singular focus on assembling the team and resources to win. And they did. Hats off to CMC for nabbing their third USAT Club Nationals! (below, Travis, Gary & I before the start of the race - Ck out the SKY!!)
More impressive than their race results was the sportsmanship CMC displayed on the race course. There were multiple reports of CMC racers stopping to help others on course -- in at least a couple of cases, the racers they helped were LA Tri Clubbers. That type of sportsmanship reminds us that, regardless of the jersey we wear, we are all triathletes doing what we do because it's fun and because we love it. It is sometimes worth a few extra minutes added to your race time if it ensures that a fellow triathlete is able to continue having their fun. That's not to say that we LA Tri Clubbers don't display the same kind of sportsmanship - I've seen it - it's just nice to see that sportsmanship displayed on a race with such high stakes for all. (below, the swim start at Lake Mead).
Though we didn't take the top spot, we still showed a solid performance with *many* LA Tri Clubbers landing on the podium. Rather than naming names for fear of excluding anyone, I'll defer to the Club's race results. However, one member whose performance was unparalleled was Kathryn (Katie) Donovan who was the first-place overall female for the Olympic distance race -- it was just awesome, especially considering the competition. Her victory was so solid that she had finished a smoothie by the time her nearest rival - LA Tri Clubber Loren Uscilowski, who had a very solid race in her own right - crossed the line! Well done Katie - and Loren - way to represent! (below, The Presidents > Paul, w/the president of winning club, CMC)
Whether you landed on the podium or not, whether you did the Olympic or Sprint distance race, every member who crossed the finish line helped the LA Tri Club put on a very solid performance. Most would agree that this is one of the more difficult race courses they've done, so crossing the finish line was an accomplishment in and of itself. (below, Evan in his Elvis get-up. YES, he RAN in it!)
Thanks to everyone who rallied to support us in our first-ever bid for nationals! Special thanks to Mike Gwaltney for orchestrating the Club's free bike transport -- we didn't quite realize what we were taking on when we extended that offer, and Mike made sure that it went off flawlessly! Thanks also to Nike whose support helped us provide free bike transport, goodie bags, t-shirts, etc. Thanks to Coach Ian and the gang at Triathletix for preparing free training plans to help members train for nationals. Thanks to Liz for arranging the great after-party at the Pink Taco. Thanks to everyone who helped rally members to join the cause -- many training leaders and individual members helped to motivate others to come join the fun! Thanks to all of you! (below, my race fotos: swim/bike & run... slowly... ; )
To those members who weren't able to race this weekend (we get it - life, and injury, sometimes get in the way...), we thank you for your support! There are plenty of photos from the race, and the after-party. Check them out via the link at http://www.LATriClub.com/photosWe may not have won nationals, but we are still the best triathlon Club on the planet! Thanks to you all for making that possible! (below, The Board of the LA Tri Club: Ian Murray, Konrad Ribeiro, Mike Gwaltney, Brian Morel, Gary Schechner, me, Larry Turkheimer & Paul Hekimian)
From IAN (to CLUB):Howdy All, I am incredibly proud of this club and never more so than after finishing second at the Club National Championships to Columbia Multisport out of Missouri this past weekend - LET ME EXPLAIN....You see Columbia's singular focus is this event, they put all their eggs in this one basket. That's nice, but let's take a look at a-day-in-the-life of the LA Tri Club, a complete club, a family of dedicated, committed, lovers of all aspects of multisport....
On Sunday we had roughly 150 athletes kickin' it at PumpkinMan in Boulder City, Nevada. Outstanding performances included Katie Donavan with an overall win, and Loren Uscilowski getting second overall. As well as age group wins from Alan Morelli, Nicole Lott, Debbie Richardson, Claudia Campos, Bill McDermott, Ray Eastwood, Emse Levy, and Nina Greenberg. And dozens of other great efforts on the day. (below, Ian, Konrad, Mike and Jamie Silber in the Hard Rock hotel's pool... a little post-race entertainment for the 200 clubbers at the after-party)
On that same day we had... Roughly another 150 members giving it their all at HERMOSA with age group wins from Andrew Lockton, Rachel Dunbabin, Helen Geoffrion (and probably a few others whom I missed).
On that same day we had....11 members in their final preparation for the IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONS. Headed to Kona are: Holger Beckmann, Nellie Buckner, Julie Guthrie, Kristi Johnson, Jason Kurian, Nick Martin, Peggy McDowell-Cramer, Jeff McFarland, Susan Murphy, Michael Peters, and Cherryl Rose. (below: a really hot foto of Konrad, hellllooooooo!)
On that same day we had...14 members ready to taper for the XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. Headed to Maui are: Kalyn English, Brad Bailey, Gina DeTolve, Todd Gottfried, C. Jane Harmon, Heather Hill, Dan Lehnberg, Al Martinez, Paul McLaughlin, Vina Prince, Christopher Rosien, Joe Traba, Shelly Williams, and Tom Wood.On that same day we had... 17 members prepping for the SOMA half including Mike Beauregard, Erin Beresini, Patty Collins, Greg Darbonne, Arvin Fajardo, Javier Fernandes, Bridget Haga, C. Jane Harmon, Keith Ho, Michael Ireland, Cindy Kramer, Larrissa Lewis, Scott Moore, Kevin Pearce, Johanne Vied, Mark Watson, and Fred Winter - as well as Brandon Barousse and Kevin Powells who are headed to the Soma Quarterman. (below, Ian and I fooling around in the Hard Rock hotel--good times!)
On that same day we had... 10 members prepping for the La Jolla Canyon Legend run including Patricia Anglano, Gerardo Barrios, Amy Berkin, Frank Boyle, Guillaume Reynet, Edwin Rodriguez, Thomas Rohr, Holly Scheideler, Craig Schoenbaum, and Chris Taylor.And 4 headed to the Marine Corps Marathon: Kevin Elgan, Joanna Ip Durie, Justin Warfield, Monica Zaragoza. And another 27 headed to Muddy Buddy, and another 40+ running the Santa Monica 5,000 & 10,000, and the Camp Pendleton Mud Run, and on, and on, and on.
We should all be very proud of what are members are doing. It's an honor to be a part of this group and I wish you all the best in your training and racing.
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Final thoughts? Amazing weekend!! We raced hard and partied harder. Nothing like travling to a place like Vegas with 200 buddies!
