Core Women Participate in the Danskin Triathlon!

On August 16th, 2009, three Core Design women participated in the annual Danskin Triathlon.  The Danskin Triathlon has raced in Seattle for the last 17 years bringing over 5,000 competitors to strut their athletic prowess at Gennesee Park.  The course begins with a .5 mile swim leading to a 12 mile bike ride that takes the athletes onto the I-90 express lanes to Mercer Island and back to the park.  The last segment of the race is a 3.1 mile run that loops around the park to the finish line. 

So what led three Core women to participate in this Triathlon?  Holli Hopkins, a drafter at Core, ran the race in 2008 and thought it would be an excellent bonding opportunity for co-workers and a great way to get in shape.  She admits that she was surprised when she was able to finagle 2 willing participants: Gina Brooks and Martina Collom into training for their first ever triathlon!

The women agree that signing up for the triathlon was the easiest part of the process, and the real struggle came from the months of training that followed.  Armed with downloaded training plans from GOOGLE, the three women began the arduous training process: run, bike, swim (repeat).  Morning coffee and lunchtime became a time to consult each other on their routines, triathlon purchases or just providing support and motivation.  Other co-workers joined in on the fun asking questions about all sorts of things: what if you get kicked in the face during the swim? What if you get stuck in your wetsuit (which actually happened)? Are you afraid of falling off your bike? The BIG question…do you think you can finish?  Thankfully, not only did everyone manage to finish, they all ran triumphantly over the finish line in under 2 hours 10 minutes.  Way to go Core women!