Special Thanks

This event depends on our fantastic sponsors and volunteers. Without either we would not be able to put on such a great race. Our generous sponsors are listed below and deserve our gratitude.

He has an amazing story. Four years after he lost his sight, a friend, who knew of Bigoney’s athletic background, suggested he do a triathlon. His first triathlon was the 2000 Red Hills Triathlon in Tallahassee, where he was attending Florida State at the time. “That was probably the hardest thing I had ever done since backpacking the Grand Canyon when I had my sight,” Bigoney said. “I was so psyched but I was learning as I went. I thought my butt was going to fall off after the bike and I got a cramp on the run, but I was hooked. Check out this video. It is an amazing story.

A website is only as good as it’s graphics and photographs and when Judi Knight of New Tricks set out to redo the SRI TRI site she needed some great photos. She asked everyone she knew and the results were, well, not so good. Then Judi thought about Flickr and Jackpot! There she found the amazing work of Greg Reigler. Greg is a professional photographer, who shoots for PNJ and has some of his SRI TRI photos  on-line there. He has a great breadth in his work, but his action shots of the triathletes in the 2005 SRI TRI were really phenomenal. After seeing these pictures we just had to have them.

Luckily for us, Greg agree to let us use his photos on the website and we are grateful. We wanted to use two of his shots, those of the bike and the run, on the site’s header, so we were really glad he gave us permission and we didn’t have to go back to the drawing board.  Here are some more photos from the race and then be sure to check him out for Weddings. His beach wedding pictures are beautiful.

]]> http://www.santarosaislandtriathlon.com/2009/08/greg-reigler-photographer-extradinaire-is-a-friend-of-the-sri-tri/feed/ 0 http://www.santarosaislandtriathlon.com/2009/08/want-to-get-in-shape-try-a-triathlon/ http://www.santarosaislandtriathlon.com/2009/08/want-to-get-in-shape-try-a-triathlon/#comments Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:37:09 +0000 Charles http://www.santarosaislandtriathlon.com/?p=792 Over 40? Want to get in shape? Try a triathlon. Triathlons were once the province of the most elite athletes but now triathlons have become an event to the average athlete who is craving a new challenge. No longer do you have to do an Iron Man with it’s grueling distances. There are Sprint Triathlon’s like the SRI TRI at Pensacola Beach. A sprint Triathlon consists of  a 400 to 600 yard swim, a 10 to 20 mile bike ride and a 2 – 4 mile run. That’s do-able right?

There are three reasons why you should do it. One, you’ll get super-toned and strong. Two, your esteem and confidence will soar! And three, the whole process is a fun way to spend your extra time.

Some first time timers are hesitant to consider triathlons because of their fear of the swim. But it needn’t be too overwhelming. In fact,  a goal for indoor exercise in the winter months could be swim lessons and training. Check out the pools in your area. YMCAs and Universities often have great facilities. Some Universities, Georgia Tech for example, allow non-students who are members of the U S Masters Swim Club, to swim there at a nominal per swim charge. To become a US  Master Swim member, simply  go to their site and sign up for a modest fee. The Master’s Swimmers are a good resources as well for training as they have groups all over the country that conduct training sessions  for adults.

The US Masters Swim  has a lot of great tips for taking your act out of the pool. They just posted an excerpt of an article by Terry Laughlin’ from his  new book, Outside the Box: A Program for Improvement, Satisfaction, and Success in Open Water. So don’t let the swim stop you. Dive on in, the water is great.

Jason wrote…..Last Saturday, October 4th 2008, Lisa accomplished something that no one else I know has done…finished a triathlon. It was a “Sprint Triathlon” which meant it was 1/3 mile swim, 18 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run to finish it off. The triathlon was held at Pensacola Beach and it was an absolutely beautiful day for one. The only other time she did an “open” water swim the water was really rough, but on this day it was as calm as I have ever seen it. Lisa had been sick leading up the race and she still had a nasty cough the day of the race…but if you know Lisa you know that she wouldn’t let a cough keep her from meeting her goals. The swim was her hardest event. 1/3 of a mile does not really sound like it would be hard to swim. However, seeing how far they had to swim; there is no way I could have swam that far. I was getting worried about her though as I was waiting…..read more on their blog….