Making Tracks

Earth, wind, water, and fire--the kind that burns inside especially motivated athletes--converged in the successful completion of two triathalons in which Thacher students and one faculty member recently competed.

After training on local roads, in the foothills of the Los Padres National Forest and the Thacher pool, seniors Patrick Coughran (Monterrey, Mexico), Lucas Currie (Portland, Oregon), Marshall Gifford (Woodside, California), Matt Wyckoff (San Francisco, California), and Joe Bell (Gloucester, Massachusetts) packed wetsuits, running shoes, and bike gear and headed north to the 30^th Annual AVIA Wildflower Triathlon. Karleanne Rogers, mom to Lucas, Nate ‘15, and Trevor CdeP 2009, and Thacher’s Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving, and husband Kevin Berigan took turns at the wheel; also present for moral support was the boys’ classmate Anouk Ackerman, who’d trained all winter for the event but ultimately sacrificed participating in this race to focus on interscholastic track finals. (A few days later, she broke the School Record in the 800m by two seconds.)

There, at Lake San Antonio, the boys went through the paces to finish in great time, Lucas and Patrick tying for 9th in their age division. Once he’d caught his breath, Patrick weighed in with this: “From the training to the actual race, the whole experience was unforgettable. I learned a lot about myself, had a great time doing it, and by the end was in the best shape of my life. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a challenge, a motivation to get in shape, or even to just have a great time.”

Meanwhile, Studio Art and Photography teacher Elizabeth Reynolds Mahoney CdeP 1988 and her husband Bert packed all the gear plus their three boys, Aidan, Declan, and Darragh, for a road trip to St. George, Utah, where Liz would compete in an Ironman Triathlon. Forty mph winds on the uphill and 4-foot swells made this race “the hardest ever,” in the words of both the men’s pro and the women’s pro winners--and the latter has logged 44 of them. But give Liz hard and she’ll meet it square on: while others were being hauled from the drink, Liz kept swimming. Before biking. Before running. In the end, 30 percent didn’t finish--those headwinds were that forceful.

In retrospect, though, Liz focused on the positives, in addition to her being part of the 70 percent who did complete the course, despite choking on dust and inhaling the chop. “It was beautiful there and the volunteers (which numbered 4500, making it just about 3.2 volunteers per athlete) were amazing, They did everything for us except race! The town went all out for the event; it was like a party for them. Hordes stayed there cheering the finishers on until midnight. It was a great time and I had a blast. My boys did the IronKid race the evening before--a mile-long race that raises money for a local charity.”

And, Liz being Liz, once was not enough: “Because of the wind and dust, I didn't meet the goals I had set--so I had to sign up for a second one. Crazy, I know.”