Are you kidding me? I mean, holy smoke, what a weekend of racing! And the crazy thing is that some of it is still going on. The Coeur Family was out in full force this weekend racing in the North, the South and in the Middle of the globe.
The racing kicked off in Canada as Coeur Pro Kate Bevilaqua began Ultraman Canada. As you might expect, any race that begins with the word “Ultra” is off the charts in terms of distance. It covers 520K (or 323 miles) of total distance and lasts for three days. The race begins with a 10K swim that is followed by a 425.6K bike and ends with an 84.4K run. As of today, Kate is on the run and hanging tough.
Kate on the Bike at Ultra 520K Canada
Sunday started early for many of us with Ironman Boulder and the Olympic Test Event in Rio. Thanks to having Katie Zafares on the team, we have begun to learn the intricacies of not only draft legal ITU style racing, but also of the Olympic Qualifying process. Katie’s husband (Tommy) was kind enough to write a blog for us that described the intricate process of selection. The short version is that on Sunday, the U.S. would have the opportunity to qualify two individuals for the Olympics. The requirement was that the individuals finish in the top eight overall.
Katie put in a heroic effort and finished in the top six, which should have been good enough to get a spot on the U.S. team. I guess it is fortunate, but I feel like saying it is “Unfortunate” that the U.S. women are incredibly strong and that two other U.S. women actually finished ahead of Katie. Not surprisingly, Gwen Jorgensen won the race and Sarah True finished fourth, so they have secured their place on the Olympic team. The good news is that Katie will have another shot for a slot, and we know she’ll give it her all.
The U.S. has an amazingly strong team of women
Related to all this, Katie’s husband (Tommy) was also racing in the test event. Thanks to our relationship with Katie, we’ve gotten to know Tommy over the past year and he is an incredibly positive and talented individual. He went to the Olympic Trials in swimming before transitioning over to triathlon, so we knew he had a huge aerobic engine and could hang with the best in the world.
A modern Triathlon Power Couple - Katie and Tommy Training Together
Tommy put in an incredible effort and held on to 4th place all the way through until the last lap of the run. When he got passed and dropped into 9th (outside of the limit for an Olympic spot), he dialed it down. Even so, we have to think that this bodes well for his shot at qualifying and we’re hoping to see a husband and wife duo in Rio!
Tommy Running with eventual Race Winner Javier Gomez
After the Olympic test event, we turned our attention to Ironman Boulder. While it was a nice day to race from a weather perspective, we knew the altitude would present a challenge. Despite that, our Ambassadors, Customers, and Friends put in amazing performances.
Congratulations to Rebecca Neumeier, Kecia Place-Fenci, and Ashley Dragon on great results. By the way, Ash (who grabbed a Kona slot with her 2nd place AG finish) took some time out of her training to do some modeling for us recently when she starred in our bikini fit/sizing video.
Rebecca Showed Heart all throughout and at the end of Ironman Boulder
Congrats to Kecia on a great race at Ironman Boulder
Ok..let's spin the globe and head over to Norway. Yes...Norway. The one that is cold! In an effort to find tougher and tougher events, Coeur Ambassador Sonja Wieck donned her cold weather gear and headed to one of the most extreme triathlons in existence - The Norseman. We've been told that to those in the know, the name Norseman brings an interesting combination of feelings. A mix of love, fear, and deep respect. The course is strikingly beautiful and also incredibly harsh. The ruggedness of the course is matched by the camaraderie of the participants. It's right at Ironman distance but it is really in a class of its own. Now, we've asked Sonja to share details of her race in an upcoming blog and we don't want to steal her thunder, but it suffices to say that she had a great race and we are in awe of her toughness and spirit. Sonja, congratulations on an unbelievable accomplishment!
Sonja pre-swim at Norseman
We also want to say congratulations to Jenelle Glover & Lisa Holt who shared the Podium at Cayuga Lake Triathlon.
Jenelle & Lisa sharing the podium
Now, all of our spectating wasn’t online on Sunday. We were fortunate that the Brentwood Grand Prix Criterium was a couple miles from the Coeur office and we spent a good bit of the day cheering the cyclists as they absolutely hammered around the course. We mentioned this in a few of our tweets, but we’re continually struck by the beauty of the sport of cycling. You really get a sense for the speed and power of the peloton when it flies by you at 30 miles per hour.
Kebby Cheering at the Brentwood Grand Prix
After the race, we went back to the office and began strategizing on how we might sponsor a women’s cycling team!
Oh…speaking of cycling, we released our cycling bibs last week. Someone asked us why they might want to wear bibs and one of our hard core cyclists provided the best response. She said that bibs are great when you want to completely eliminate pressure on your stomach. She said it is somewhat like the difference between wearing a skirt and a dress. Since the bibs are held up by the straps over your shoulders, there is practically no constriction in the waist. In other words, they are incredibly comfortable.
Ok, that should do it for now. As always, we have to say thank you to everyone wearing Coeur. You all are amazing ambassadors for endurance sports and we are truly appreciative of everything you do.
Have a great week everyone!
Your friends at Coeur.