It takes determination and guts. First, to train and race your way to a World Championship event. Second, to brave a swim with jellyfish. Diana Ruderman and Raul Correa are two of our most determined and gutsy triathletes. This past weekend, the couple competed in the 2018 Fyn ITU World Championships in Denmark. The festivities lasted all week with various races that brought together some of the world's top competitors. Both Ruderman and Correa qualified for their respective events at the Miami Man 70.3 last November.
Ruderman competed in the ITU Aquabike World Championship, and she placed in the Top 10 in her age group! She commented that they had to swim in a sea of jellyfish, and this would be frightening for any athlete. She swam an extra 240 meters, but with no stings and still a top performance, it was a good day for Ruderman. Correa also had great performance, testing mind and body with a longer event. He raced the ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships. Correa finished the 3k swim, 121k bike, and 30k run course in 7:47:30, earning him 46th place in the world for his age group.
Also racing abroad this past Saturday were Coach Mark Saroni and visually impaired athlete Brandon Adame. The team competed at the 2018 Magog ITU Paratriathlon World Cup in Canada, placing 4th in their category PTVI.
Back in Texas, Team Paragon athlete Kelly McConie competed in Tri Waco. McConie had a great race and placed 5th in her age group. Sprint and Olympic distance options are available at Tri Waco, and it is the first race in the 2018-2019 Collegiate Series.
Evan Landez, Tri Club Vice President, provides us with the report from UTSA:
The team took six people to the race to represent, with three people racing the Olympic distance and three racing the sprint distance. The course was quite varied with a warm swim in the Brazos River, a fast and flat two loop bike course around the Baylor university, and a deceivingly hilly run in the nearby neighborhoods. The race saw great success for a number of athletes, especially for Tiffany Tabourne who raced in her first Olympic race and even won her age group. Valerie Lozano also won her age group and earned a new PR for her effort. Ivan Cisneros placed third, sporting only a speedo, in his age group in the sprint race despite a crash on the bike. Although some may see the summer as off-season, these athletes see it as an opportunity to test their capabilities against other collegiate teams across the region. According to Landez, "The race is a perfect benchmark to see where your fitness is at this time of the year. It is both a pleasant surprise and a wake up call to see how far you've come in one discipline and where you need work on." The next race in the Collegiate series for the Roadrunners is Craig Ranch Tri in the fall. Birds Up!
Saturday, July 14: Fyn ITU World Championship
Diana Ruderman, Aquabike: 10th Age Group, Female 45-49
Raul Correa, Long Distance Triathlon: 46th Age Group, Male 45-49
Saturday, July 14: Magog ITU Paratriathlon World Cup
Mark Saroni and Brandon Adame: 4th Division PTVI
Sunday, July 15: Tri Waco
Kelly McConie: 5th Age Group
UTSA Triathlon: Six athletes compete; Tiffany Tabourne, 1st Age Group; Valerie Lozano, 1st Age Group; Ivan Cisneros, 3rd Age Group
Make sure to send your pictures from training and racing to: racing@paragontraining.org so we can showcase all the rad stuff you guys do.
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