“Life is an echo. What you send out, comes back.” 

Our amazing athletes’ attitudes have been inspirational this month. They’ve turned their weaknesses into their strengths, raced for purpose, surpassed old goals and have now made new goals. The WOL Coaches are very proud of ALL our athletes who competed, consistently trained and/or came out to their very first practice. You are all winners because you’ve set your attitude to Embrace the Challenge.

Alaskaman Extreme Triathlon
Coaches Sami Winter and Kristin Jeno, along with WOL athletes Phillip Davis, Erin Green and Erin Jackson, all conquered the 141.6 mile trek through cold/crisp ocean waters, beautifully scenic mountainous passages, and up extreme trails of the hardest run course in the sport. It is the most challenging event of it’s kind in the United States and our amazing athletes thrived, smiled and came home with incredible memories from an epic journey. READ MORE about their trip and triathlon journey.

19989424_10214138134906847_4658406013362660211_n 19961407_10214138135546863_2848180348912366007_n

20031824_10214162154267316_6365555680918988603_n 20155931_10214162154227315_5622866500791612872_n

Sand-Sational Run at the Beach
Keith Parella took first place overall at the Camp Lejeune 8k! Racing against the storm that was quickly following him, he paced thru with an excellent time.

Triangle Triathlon
Dave Dupont is BACK!  He won his age group kicking down runners!  Way to go Dave. Marcy Waters took 3rd place in her age group and Walt Greer ran another solid race on the hills! Way to represent the flatlanders team.

19989278_10211324815094563_3488684891033109212_n 19990380_10211324813654527_3902253233079310684_n

Chalan Long Course Triathlon
Ed McDermott placed 19th overall and 1st in his AG 45-49. This was an awesome breakthrough race for Ed, nice work!

The SCREAM Half
Mary Margaret McEachhern placed 3rd in her AG. It was a tight AG bracket, with less than :30 seconds separating the top 3 runners. Keeping the podium warm with her was Pam Keenan, who placed 2nd in her AG. Way to tackle those mountains for another year of healthy running!

Walk, Run, Roll 5k
Christine Bean placed 1st in her AG at the very hilly Walk, Run, Roll 5k in Bangor, Maine. She enjoyed the 70 degree temps and dew point in the 50’s. A fun and refreshing way to race!

Battle of the Border
WOL coaches Tom Clifford and Aaron Kolk, along with Steve Everhart, Shawn Horton, and Leah Blakeley raced cross country style at Indigo Farms through wooded trails and rocky roads for bragging rights. It was a fun 4 mile course with friendly competition between local running clubs.

20229462_10156109035306754_860795796190601028_o

PRA Cares
Bryan Haas spent three days biking on a scenic journey from Vienna to Prague with an amazing group of people from all over the world raising money and awareness for Alzheimer’s and memory disorders. You are inspiring Bryan!

Barb’s Race Sprint Tri NC
Catherine Clement snagged 3rd place in her AG, rocking her training and showing her rockstar status. She has been working hard this year on her strength work and it has paid off! Way to go!

Ironman Lake Placid
ANGELA LEONARD, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!  Again 🙂  And you will be again soon. One of the most difficult mental aspects of coaching is ensuring the athlete believes in their success.  Returning for a challenging and difficult race can be a roadblock and together Angela and Coach Sami worked through those challenges making her ready for Placid!  Ironman Lake Placid did not disappoint and on a perfect weather day, Angela crossed that finish line with a smile! During training she was quite attached to her goggles, but  left those along the way (ask her about that).  More great performances from Angela to come in the future but for now it’s all about recovery.

Asheville Gran Fondo 100
Welcome to the Century Club! Michael Jones, Holly Cunningham and Lisa Kerr are now Century Rockstars.  Picking the most difficult course, but proving they are strong and fit, they conquered the Asheville Gran Fondo 100! Wow, Coach Sami is one super impressed Coach!

BRYAN HAAS’s RIDE FROM VIENNA TO PRAGUE

Bryan spent three days on a bike with an amazing group of people from all over the world raising money and awareness for Alzheimer’s and memory disorders. He Thanks everyone who donated to this worthy cause. There were lots of hills, mountains and crazy downhill runs. They had groans of agony on the ascents and joys of the downhills. All the while, they could see each other’s cycling jerseys which had “the longest day” printed on them to remind us of why we had chosen to attend. A great cause and wonderful to see colleagues who work every day to bring life saving medicines to patients.

20170726_205708

Special Note from Coach Sami:

“Sami’s Kids! I apologize to all of my Rockstar athletes for the late kudos.  Due to my vacation, I was unable to respond to the blog posts.  Know that I was thinking of you and the entire WOL squad was behind you. There was a lot of hardware brought home and some stellar performances. Way to go!”