2016 Recap: In 2013, I qualified to apply for my Elite/Professional license as a result of my overall 3rd place finishes at the South Beach Nautica and Tri-Rock Philly events. At the time, however, I elected to maintain my amateur status for a couple of reasons. First, I had a good event at the 2013 ITU World Championships held in London and for the first time in 20 years, this championship event was scheduled to be held in the United States (Chicago) in 2015. I felt it was a rare opportunity to be able to again participate in this world championship event here in our own country. Second, I have enjoyed participating in the annual USAT National Championships which have been held in Burlington, VT, Milwaukee, WI and Omaha, NE over the past several years. I had my best finish/results last year in this event with #2 Age Group and 10th place overall results. And third, as my career has progressed, I developed an interest in Ironman distances and soon had the ultimate goal of qualifying for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI. Fortunately, I qualified at Ironman Arizona and had the great experience of competing in Kona this past October. And, with an overall win at the HITS Naples event and my results at the USAT Nationals, I again qualified for my professional license. Overall, 2016 was a good season, and I would like to thank all my friends and family (including my aunt and uncle and cousins traveling entourage) for their continuing support. Also, thanks to Knapps Cycling for their continuing service.
2017 Schedule: A couple of months ago, IMG, a global international sports and talent management company and Premier Event Management, a well known triathlon event management organization announced a partnership forming a new series of Olympic distance professional racing events here in the United States called the Escape Series. The events will offer both age group and professional races and will offer prize money for the pros. Olympic distance professional racing has been substantially reduced in recent years here in the U.S. so this was a welcome announcement as Olympic distance racing is my favorite event. The races will be conducted at five cities throughout the country and will culminate with a championship event at the famous “bucket list” race, Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco.
So, after giving it some thought, I applied for and received my Elite/Pro license and have signed up for four of the five IMG/Premier Escape events. I don’t have high hopes of making many podiums in these events but the opportunity to experience competing against some of the top touring professionals in the world is too good to pass up. Just by coincidence, the first event is right here in Philadelphia in June so I need to get back to training. Will keep you posted….and wish me luck.
2017 Schedule: A couple of months ago, IMG, a global international sports and talent management company and Premier Event Management, a well known triathlon event management organization announced a partnership forming a new series of Olympic distance professional racing events here in the United States called the Escape Series. The events will offer both age group and professional races and will offer prize money for the pros. Olympic distance professional racing has been substantially reduced in recent years here in the U.S. so this was a welcome announcement as Olympic distance racing is my favorite event. The races will be conducted at five cities throughout the country and will culminate with a championship event at the famous “bucket list” race, Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco.
So, after giving it some thought, I applied for and received my Elite/Pro license and have signed up for four of the five IMG/Premier Escape events. I don’t have high hopes of making many podiums in these events but the opportunity to experience competing against some of the top touring professionals in the world is too good to pass up. Just by coincidence, the first event is right here in Philadelphia in June so I need to get back to training. Will keep you posted….and wish me luck.