As I know new people continually find the blog, I wanted to share a little bit of background and context before going forward. If you’ve been following the blog for years, you probably already know parts of this story, as I’ve referenced it several times. 🙂
In early 2014, after Rutgers joined the Big10, I started to receive emails from the Alumni Association about the BTN race in Chicago. While I hadn’t run in years, I decided to give it a try. When that first 5K didn’t “kill” me (although there were some very interesting training sessions early on), I tried a couple of other 5Ks before the end of 2014. I must have seen ads for the 2014 Chicago Triathlon that summer, since one of my running guides was also a triathlete
helped guide me for my first Tri in 2015. Like the BTN race, a triathlon looked like fun from the ads (very nicely done by their marketing department :)).
After settling on the Naperville Sprint Triathlon, Terri (Jacob) helped with finding a local store that would let us borrow a tandem for practice and for the race (Oswego Cyclery — now The Bike Rack Oswego), we started practicing. At the time, the plan was that the Naperville Sprint Triathlon would be a “one and done” race. And then the Shamrock Shuffle happened…
After the first few 5Ks in 2014, I had learned to reach out to the Race Directors (RDs) about being a Visually Impaired (VI) athlete, needing guides, and finding out what was needed. Prior to the Shamrock Shuffle, I was told to find the Athletes With Disabilities (AWD) coordinator in a specific place and was given her name (Keri Serota). During the roughly hour that we were in the tent pre-race, my mom (who was one of my guides) first found out that Keri was the Executive Director for a local ParaTriathlon organization (Dare2Tri), and then told Keri that I was doing my first Triathlon in August 2015.
While I don’t remember the entire conversation that ensued after Keri found that out, I do remember two very specific things — the first being her graciously inviting me to their ParaTriathlon camp in May 2015 (Pleasant Prairie, WI) and the second being that she would not take no for an answer about me showing up. 🙂
So I showed up in Pleasant Prairie, and the rest is history… Ten years later, the Holiday Classic Triathlon was my 100th Triathlon. That number includes both sanctioned and unsanctioned races and indoor, outdoor, and hybrid (pool swim, bike trainer, outdoor run OR pool sim, outdoor bike, outdoor run) races. While there have been some bumps along the way (see the blogs for Leaning Tower, the near drowning at Pleasant Prairie, the 2022 Leon’s T1 breakdown, and the The Woodlands crash blogs for a few examples), there have also been a lot of successes. And ten years in, I’m still learning; I’m still working to improve; and I’m still refusing to give up. But I would not have gotten to 100 races without a LOT of help and support from so many. While I have tried to remember everyone who’s been a part of this journey since 2015, I apologize if I’ve forgotten someone. It is not intentional — I have a good memory, but it’s not photographic. 😀 Also this is solely on the Triathlon side. There are many others that have helped me in other athletic endeavors; I’m just focusing on the Triathlon side (overall or in its core parts as swim, bike, and run — without obstacles :))
-> Dare2Tri: For so many things too numerous to list. But a few include the initial opportunity that helped to change my life, all the different training and race opportunities, and a long list of ways they’ve supported me over the years (including helping with a grant for my tandem).
-> Naperville Noon Lions Club – For providing continual support of my athletic endeavors. They helped to support the very first Dare2Tri camp, and have helped immensely since that point.
-> Oswego Cyclery (now The Bike Rack Oswego) – For providing the tandem so that we could practice and I could race during the firs two years.
-> Coach Joe LoPresto (Experience Triathlon) – For being willing to say yes when Terri asked him about guiding me for that first race, for continuing to help in so many other ways, for helping with swim training, and for keeping the ET Indoor Tri Series going (watch for the 2026 race announcements) while other RDs were still uncertain about what they’d do in 2021.
-> Terri Jacob (Artistic Creations Salon) – For embracing my “crazy” and saying yes when I asked her to be my first triathlon guide, sticking with me during some of the early hard times on the tandem (including the session where in roughly 2 hours I couldn’t get a mount and was ready to just give up), all of the guiding help, and other support.
-> Naperville Running Company – For providing support in so many ways and so many different running opportunities over the years.
-> Team Red, White, and Blue (Team RWB) Chicago – For providing training opportunities in so many different training opportunities. Also on the Triathlon side (Team RWB Triathlon) providing help at the beginning when I was so uncertain about guides, rules as a VI, and other items.
-> Achilles Chicago – For providing many different run training opportunities and standalone running race support.
-> The Bike Rack – For helping to get the CoMotion bike fits done, building the tandem (Erik) and for continually being there as I’ve needed help with the tandem over the years.
-> Hammer Nutrition – For being my first nutrition sponsor, and surprisingly saying yes so early on in my Triathlon career. The support they provided truly helped in those early years.
-> Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) – For providing travel grants for so many years. Not being able to drive, this support has helped immensely with all the traveling I do / need to do — for practices, camps, training opportunities, and races. Also for providing the underlying support that has allowed other organizations to support me.
-> Amy Dixon USA (Amy Dixon) – For providing the camps and training opportunities in the San Diego area and an opportunity to be at the USOPTC there (I believe it’s been renamed at this point).
-> USA Triathlon – For providing the opportunities in and around the USOPTC in Colorado Springs and all of the support in general over the years. Also from the Foundation side, providing funding support for a VI-friendly treadmill so that I can train.
-> Catapult – For providing so many training and racing opportunities, continued grants to support swim training, for continually providing opportunities to push the “comfortably uncomfortable” boundary, and so many other things. As I’ve said in prior blogs, the TIR experience (running down a two-lane country road in the dark in “Nowhere”, Texas) and the literal “blind platform diving” (when I couldn’t see the water in the dark) were just two of the key moments related to pushing that boundary.
-> U.S. Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) – For providing support and so many training opportunities — namely, what is officially called the USABA Cycling Camp (which was led by Pam at USOC Colorado Springs) 😉
-> Skratch Labs – For providing support and product to help when I switched over.
-> ParaGuide (Paul Harrold) for guiding and providing training and other support.
-> Chicago Tri Club (CTC) for providing so many different training opportunities over the years.
-> Foreseeable Future Foundation – For providing individual grants and also providing general support for all VIs at different camps and races.
-> HOKA – For partnering with Catapult and generously providing gear at the Welcome2Running camps. I made the switch to HOKAs after that camp for all my shoes and have been tremendously happy that I did. 🙂
-> EliptiGO – For providing equipment that’s helped with my training.
-> All of the coaches – Not just my personal coach (Stacee), but all the different coaches that have helped me to improve, have taught me new things, and have been with me throughout the journey. Even when that journey included doing transition practice in a hail storm… 😀
-> All of the guides – I am truly grateful to a long list of people who have not only shared their time and talents, but have also given up their individual race to be part of helping me. And for being with me during the good, the bad, and the ugly, regardless of what that looked like.
-> My parents – For all of their support over the years in so many ways (including numerous airport runs).
-> A long, long, long list of RDs – For essentially saying “yes, we’d love to have you there. Tell us what you need.” when I did my initial reachout.
-> A long list of fellow athletes – For their support, knowledge, and ideas that have helped me grow both athletically and personally.
-> All of the sponsors behind the camps and races – Triathlon is an expensive sport. None of the camps, races, or training opportunities would have been possible without these companies and organizations providing their support to the events.
-> The volunteers – It truly takes a village to make any of these events happen. Like the sponsors, none of these opportunities would have been possible without so many generously giving their time and volunteering. So PLEASE, as you race, as you’re at a training, as you’re at a camp, say thank you to the volunteers. I know it’s sometimes hard while you’re focused on racing, but even doing it post-race can make a difference to them. Some are helping to keep you going, others are helping to keep you safe, and so many others are behind the scenes.
As one final point on the volunteers, I do want to specifically recognize Ryan Jarvis, who is a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) somewhere in eastern Indiana. He was part of the “sweeper” crew that kept us safe when the thunderstorms rolled in at Muncie 70.3. I’m truly grateful to him and the rest of the “sweeper” crew, as things could have gone dramatically worse without it. (I was told there was thunder and lightning — I felt the winds and torrential rain).
As the first race was Ten years later, the goal is still to race until a USAT official has to physically pull me off the course in my 80s… That point was inspired by seeing one of the AG Nationals broadcasts where the 80 – 85 AG guys were still crushing it. We’ll see if I make it to 500 before that point does occur. 🙂
