3-out-of-the-10 Fastest Women at Calgary 70.3 Wear MRT Kit

Coach Carrie's Calgary 70.3 Report

For starters, there was Sara Gross’s amazing race. Though I’m not her coach, as her official BFF, I feel qualified to elaborate.

At T2, she was in third place, nine minutes down from the leader. It was clear right away that she was running strong….but even the announcers were skeptical about anyone being able to make up a gap of 9 minutes. Unphased by the gap, Sara charged on. By the 17km mark, she’d taken over second place, and made up 5 minutes on the leader…and she was still going strong. I wish I had a recording of the announcers as the leader made her way around the corner to the finish line. They’d been congratulating her on victory, long before they’d even seen her, only to be stunned by the sight of Sara turning the corner seconds later. It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever seen! If the race had been 10m longer, there’s no doubt in my mind who would have crossed that line first. Congratulations Sara!! What an inspiring effort!! A worthwhile read, her race report, can be found here:

http://saragross.blogspot.com/2011/08/calgary-703-race-report.html

Next up, rising superstar Lorraine Churchill, demonstrated HER champion spirit in a very similar fashion. After putting together a solid swim, and bike, she was on track to have a really good race. Things changed around the 17km. She decided a good race wasn’t enough. After learning she was 3 min behind the next couple girls, she contemplated if digging deep would be worth it…already having a race that she’d be happy with….could she catch them? Should she try? Would it be worth the effort? Finally landing on, “If I don’t try, I will never know…”, she went for it. In the last 4km of the race, she passed 2 women, one of whom was in her age group. Her late-race charge, earned her 4^th place overall, 1^st place in her age group, 10^th place including the pro-women, and bragging rights by smashing the previous course record for her age-group by over 13 minutes. Her day went from good, to great, in an instant. Congratulations, Lorraine!! Here she is with her very proud, and supportive cheering section!

Leanne Sherman was out to get revenge at this race, after some bad luck at the Chinook Half. Like Lorraine, she was well on her way to a good race, and her day also changed in an instant. Unfortunately, not in the way we’d have liked. She had accomplished a big goal by staying in the moment and focusing on the present leg of the race she was in. So focused, that near the end of her solid ride, she had a crash, which did this:

We are confident that all the “character-building” races are out of her system now, and that her next race will be the big one!! Its been a painful recovery process, but Leanne is ready to go!!!!

Tanya Kingwell entered the Calgary 70.3 as one of her 2 big races this year. In her first season back from a training/racing hiatus, she has come a long way, and accomplished a lot, including a personal best at her first half ironman of the year…. all while living very full life at home, with 2 young kids and a full-time job! The day didn’t go exactly as she’d hoped….some nutrition issues got to her, but they didn’t get the best of her. She spent much of the day battling with the demons, but was determined to get the job done. Here she is getting by with a little help from her friends & teammates, Tessa and Lisa, who prove triathlon IS a team sport. Congratulations, Tanya!! I know there are many more great things to come for you!

A finally, a big congratulations to coach Michelle Barnes (previously known as Milot) who was the 2^nd overall age grouper, and 7^th overall including the pro women!! Way to go, Michelle!!

A very proud day to be part of such an amazing group of athletes!! As always, thanks to Kaz Matsumoto for all the awesome pictures....and a photo credit/cheerleader shout-out to Heather Myers, too!!!