Larsen Highlights List Of Triathlon Entries
June 28, 2018 at 3:40 p.m.
Larsen Highlights List Of Triathlon Entries
By Zach [email protected]
Fort Wayne’s Kim Larsen will take the stage for the 23rd time and has won the race on several occasions, most notably, she won the first race in 1994 in a time of 1:06.27. She followed suit the following year and was the overall female winner in 1995.
“Each year I get a little slower, but the fun of racing is something I look forward to,” Larsen said. “I don't want to be an armchair athlete and think about my glory days. I want to keep going for as long as I can.”
The 57-year-old Larsen was in attendance for the 2014 triathlon, but didn’t participate due to a back injury. In 2007, she was finishing up a seven-week cross country bicycle ride that began in Los Angeles and ended in Boston the week after the triathlon took place.
She attributes her passion for triathlons to her brothers. In 1983, she watched her siblings compete in a triathlon at Purdue University and wanted to see how she would fair in one.
“If they could do it, I could do it,” she said. “I did the West Lafayette Triathlon in 1984 and was hooked. The combined three sports work well for me and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Larsen has competed in a triathlon every year since her first time stepping to the starting line. In 2014, she was in a team triathlon and did the swimming and running portion, as her back injury limited her contribution.
In the Optimist Triathlon, athletes start with a quarter-mile swim, then a 14.4 mile bike ride and finish it with a 3.6 mile run. For the competitors who want to opt out of the swim portion, there will be an 1.5 mile kayak event instead. Larsen’s least favorite part of the race in the last segment.
“Running is not my true passion,” she said. “I love triathlons, but hate the death march.
“Triathlons aren't about the drive to win. They’re about the satisfaction of being able to still put one foot in front of the other on the ‘death march’ that is officially the run, completing the event and looking forward to the next.”
Her lifestyle allows her to take on the race. Larsen typically swims four to five times and runs three times a week, and when summer arrives, she will bike five to six times a week. She doesn’t necessarily train for a race, she just keeps up the routine every year.
She has her eyes set on three more triathlons this year. The KPC Sprint Triathlon, Wawasee Kiwanis Triathlon and the Mighty Mississinewa Triathlon.
The Optimist Triathlon begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday at Winona Lake Park. Registration is open to people ages 11 and older.
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Fort Wayne’s Kim Larsen will take the stage for the 23rd time and has won the race on several occasions, most notably, she won the first race in 1994 in a time of 1:06.27. She followed suit the following year and was the overall female winner in 1995.
“Each year I get a little slower, but the fun of racing is something I look forward to,” Larsen said. “I don't want to be an armchair athlete and think about my glory days. I want to keep going for as long as I can.”
The 57-year-old Larsen was in attendance for the 2014 triathlon, but didn’t participate due to a back injury. In 2007, she was finishing up a seven-week cross country bicycle ride that began in Los Angeles and ended in Boston the week after the triathlon took place.
She attributes her passion for triathlons to her brothers. In 1983, she watched her siblings compete in a triathlon at Purdue University and wanted to see how she would fair in one.
“If they could do it, I could do it,” she said. “I did the West Lafayette Triathlon in 1984 and was hooked. The combined three sports work well for me and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Larsen has competed in a triathlon every year since her first time stepping to the starting line. In 2014, she was in a team triathlon and did the swimming and running portion, as her back injury limited her contribution.
In the Optimist Triathlon, athletes start with a quarter-mile swim, then a 14.4 mile bike ride and finish it with a 3.6 mile run. For the competitors who want to opt out of the swim portion, there will be an 1.5 mile kayak event instead. Larsen’s least favorite part of the race in the last segment.
“Running is not my true passion,” she said. “I love triathlons, but hate the death march.
“Triathlons aren't about the drive to win. They’re about the satisfaction of being able to still put one foot in front of the other on the ‘death march’ that is officially the run, completing the event and looking forward to the next.”
Her lifestyle allows her to take on the race. Larsen typically swims four to five times and runs three times a week, and when summer arrives, she will bike five to six times a week. She doesn’t necessarily train for a race, she just keeps up the routine every year.
She has her eyes set on three more triathlons this year. The KPC Sprint Triathlon, Wawasee Kiwanis Triathlon and the Mighty Mississinewa Triathlon.
The Optimist Triathlon begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday at Winona Lake Park. Registration is open to people ages 11 and older.
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