News and Community

Summary: Birgit Prigge signed up for her first triathlon as a New Year’s resolution in 1999, when she couldn’t swim or bike and planned to race on a mountain bike. Four seasons later she qualified for Kona at Ironman Germany in 11:01:49 — racing in her home country — after progressively more structured training and a bike-focused plan that transformed her run.

Summary: A former rugby player and lawyer who ballooned to nearly 300 pounds, Patrick Rezzo backed into triathlon through a joke about home-fitness equipment. A relative newcomer whose longest race was the California Half Ironman, he won a lottery slot to Kona — learning the news live on TV — and set out to conquer his first Ironman, drawing motivation from his mother’s recovery from a stroke.

Summary: Mickie Shapiro started running in 1978 just to keep up with her 7-year-old daughter and became an “accidental athlete” — marathoner, then triathlete, then Ironman. Racing into her sixties, she has completed Ironmans in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Hawaii while overcoming broken collarbones, hypothermia, a corneal abrasion mid-race and post-traumatic stress, embodying the idea that triathlon keeps you young.

Summary: A former Ohio State track walk-on who traded keg stands for triathlon after moving to San Diego, Mike Drury jumped into the Ironman with a 10-mile long run and never looked back. He has raced Ironmans from Vineman to Kona, dipping to a 9:40 PR at Ironman California, and qualified to represent Team USA at the World Championships alongside plenty of good-natured trash talk with his training partner.

Summary: TCSD’s 2002 Ironman of the Year, Brad Buchanan tackled three Ironmans in a single season — Australia, Vineman and Florida — steadily lowering his times to a 10:17 PR. Son of Kona legend Bruce Buchanan, he shares hard-won lessons about the fine line between enough and too much training, and his goal of one day racing alongside his dad in Hawaii.

Summary: A former duathlete who joined the first Team In Training tri team in 1999, Steve Diggs has raced three Ironmans across Canada and New Zealand and views the distance as one of sport’s great puzzles. Deeply involved with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, he coaches, fundraises and evangelizes for the San Diego Triathlon Challenge, and was gearing up for the original “Ironman Revisited” course in Hawaii.

Summary: Dan Powell — better known as “Captain Challenge” — has raced triathlons since 1989 and completed five Ironmans across California, Switzerland, New Zealand and Hawaii, finishing Kona in 13:00:21. Beyond his own racing, he has raised more than $100,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation through the San Diego Triathlon Challenge, changing lives one prosthetic leg at a time.

Summary: A former collegiate basketball and baseball player once drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, John “Jake” Kenney found triathlon in his forties and rose fast. Just two years after his first club race — on a mountain bike — he finished the inaugural Ironman Wisconsin in 11:33, crediting a full year devoted to training, faith, and the friendships forged along the way.

Summary: Two TCSD friends share their journeys to their first Ironman Hawaii. Rob McElroy earned his Kona slot at Ironman Lake Placid — his fourth Ironman — grinding through pre-race mechanical disasters and a gutsy marathon to place 6th in his age group. Allison Felley qualified at the Half Vineman without ever having raced a full Ironman, relying on calm, momentum and a high pain threshold.

Summary: Dared by a buddy to try a triathlon, Rick Ashburn went from his first race in April to finishing Ironman USA at Lake Placid the same year — making it just his fourth triathlon ever. Battling leg cramps all day, he walked half the marathon but still had a blast, discovering that his 41-year-old body could respond dramatically to training.

Summary: A self-described tomboy who grew up chasing her older brother through every sport, Denise Bienas came to triathlon as a team relay cyclist and worked her way up through 5Ks, centuries and the Deathride. In this interview she is preparing for Ironman Canada in Penticton as a first-timer, crediting the TCSD community and her husband Rick for inspiring her to finally take on the distance.

Summary: TCSD Vice President Bill Gibbs started with a humbling first club race on Fiesta Island in 1995 — last out of the water and swimming the wrong way — but got hooked instantly. After a couple of half-Ironmans, a persistent friend signed him up for Ironman Canada, which he finished in 2000, remembering the training summer as one of the most special times of his life.