Santa Rosa Island Triathlon | Santa Rosa Island Triathlon

Greg Reigler, Photographer Extraodinaire, is a Friend of the SRI TRI

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.

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Individual Race Photos by Brightroom

Brightroom is the official Race Photographer of the Santa Rosa Island Triathlon and will be taking individual shots of each triathlete. You can go to their site and give them your race number and they will notify you when the pictures are ready.

Want to get in Shape Try a Triathlon

swimmer copy 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.

Twitters of the Week 2009-08-23

Pre-Race Pasta Dinner by Bamboo WIllie’s $6 adults, $3 kids under 12. Portofino boardwalk Oct 2 6:00. #
Carrabbas Italian Grill is Cooking for the SRI TRI Post-Race party. Don’t miss it. #

Lisa, The First Time Triathlete

triathlete-at-dawn Jason and his wife Lisa have a blog called Running the Race. After the SRI Tri last year, Jason wrote about Lisa’s first Triathlon. This year, Lisa accomplished another sort of event, she had a baby. Congratulations, Lisa and Jason!

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….

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Press: 2005 SRI Tri Dedicated to Memory of Charles Knight

Get ready, get set for Santa Rosa Island Triathlon

BY JULIE B. CONNERLEY Gulf Breeze News, 2005

Ann and Charlie Knight were honored in 2004 with a polished granite monument for their tireless efforts as founders of the highly successful Santa Rosa Island Triathlon begun in 1996. This year’s SRI-TRI is dedicated to Charlie Knight who lost a courageous three-year battle with cancer last year.

One of Pensacola Beach’s premier shoulder season events, the popular annual swim/bike/run Santa Rosa Island Triathlon (SRI-TRI) has officially been given the “go ahead” by SRIA general manager Buck Lee and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Bob Clark. The event will be held September 24 beginning at 7:30 a.m.
“I met with both men late last week,” excitedly explained Ann Knight, Race Founder and Coordinator for the event now celebrating its 10th year. “We have their support 100%. They feel confident the beach will be ready to handle the race and the businesses will be ready to welcome the guests.”

Ann’s husband of 52 years, Charles Knight, who served as Event Coordinator for the past 9 years, passed away shortly after his 76 birthday on New Year’s Eve 2004. He fought a courageous three-year battle against melanoma cancer. Last year’s race was canceled due to Hurricane Ivan. This year’s race will be held in Charlie’s memory.

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“At this same time last year we had more than 1330 reservations,” said Ann. “Right now we are behind, with only 630 registered so far, but I am hopeful we will have a good turnout and the beach will bounce back.”

The new host hotel for this year’s event is the Springhill Suites. After being closed for ten months, they were only open ten days before Hurricane Dennis slammed the area and closed them down again. The hotel has 75 rooms already booked for the SRI-TRI. They too are pleased that plans are proceeding to hold the race, although some changes in the routing of the run portion will have to be made due to construction concerns.

Anyone wishing to get in shape for the triathlon is welcome to join the Mere Mortals, a free training group that meets almost every Sunday helping first timers prepare for a triathlon event. To learn more about the Mere Mortals, contact Tom Henderson at 932.6953 or Paul Epstein at Running Wild, 435.9222.