Tunbridge Women Finish
Their First Triathlon
By Scott Beavers

Last autumn, Leigh Woods had a great idea and mentioned it to some of her friends. She suggested they enter a triathlon the following summer, even though none of them had ever done a race of this type.

Four of her friends decided to take the challenge and join Leigh in the Danskin Women’s Triathlon in Webster, Mass. July 27. This New England race is part of an eight-city triathlon series that has taken place each summer for the last 19 years, throughout the country. The races are open to women ages 14 years and up and are made up of three athletic disciplines—swim a half mile, bike 12 miles, and run three miles.

As the race day approached, two of the women were unfortunately unable to participate, leaving Leigh Woods and Lorinda Oliver of Tunbridge and Eva Langeois of Etna, N.H. to do the race. Registered in the mixed-age category, so they could be together, the three women were focused on the challenge. They were confident they would accomplish their goals, even though none were very experienced in any of the race disciplines or had previously participated in a triathlon.

Langeois had not ridden a bike in almost 41 years, so she bought and fixed up a used pink Huffy bicycle, figured it would do the job just fine, and began re-honing her bike riding skills. On race day, Trek, the bicycle company co-sponsoring the event, took a look at her bike and quickly offered to loan her a $3,000 Trek road bike to use during the race. She happily accepted their offer.

On top of personal challenge and desire, there are two primary goals of the Danskin race series. One is to raise money for the National Association of TEAM Survivor (NATS) and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the official charity of the Danskin Women’s Triathlon series. The second is a focus on changing women, helping them succeed in anything they attempt and to do something they’ve never done before. The motto of the race is "The woman that starts the race is not the same woman that finishes the race."

The morning of the race brought cloudy skies, rain and thunderstorms, but did not dampen the racers’ excitement and focus, and they were all ready to go. This was not the weather anyone hopes for during a race, but after a 20-minute delay of the planned 8:20 a.m. start time, the rain let up and the first group of 100 racers began their swim in Lake Webster.

The weather continued to clear and all 3,000 race entrants were able to start their swim, bike and run. The swim was the part of the race in which Oliver felt most challenged and she said "completing the half-mile swim and coming out of the water was one of the highlights of the race for me. At that point I felt totally confident that I would finish!"

At the end of the day, Oliver, Langeois, and Woods each finished their first triathlon.

Oliver said, "While raising a family, working and being consumed by all of the things life throws at us, this was an opportunity to do something for myself and accomplish a new goal. The camaraderie between her friends and the other participants was quite profound and a big part of the race."

She plans to do another triathlon later this year in Connecticut, and hopes all five women will be able to complete the Danskin race next year.

Information and pictures of this year’s races can be found on the Danskin Web site.

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