The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 1, 1993 Page: 21 of 24
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SPORTS
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1993 21
TRIATHLONS
The ultimate athletic challenge: a test of strength, skill and endurance
by Torrey Folk
A 2.4-mile swim ... a 112-mile
bike race and ... a 26.2-
/■Vi mile run. In a mere 10
hours 42 minutes and 53
seconds of intense physical activity,
Mark Jenkins, a physician at Health
Services and a 1983 Will Rice alum-
nus, completed the IronManTriathlon.
"It's like living an entire life in less
than a 24-hour period. It sends your
self-confidence through the roof,"
Jenkins said. "I think it really changes
you for life."
Jenkins is one of several athletes at
Rice who frequently participates in
what is considered by many to be the
most physically challenging of races
— the triathlon.
Jenkins, who was on the Rice swim
team, began participating in shorter
distance triathlons in 1987. In August
1992, he competed in his first IronMan
Triathlon in Canada
"It's like living an entire
life in less than a 24-hour
period. It sends your self-
confidence through the
roof."
Mark Jenkins
IronMan triathlete
"I finished. That should be
everyone's goal for their first one," he
said. "When you cross the finishing
line there is nothing to describe it It's
a really emotional experience."
There aresixtrademark"IronMan"
Triathlons in the world: Austria,
Canada, Germany, Japan, New
Zealand and Hawaii (the Champion-
ships).
Jenkins finished 340th out of 1000
participants in 1992 and returned to
Canada to finish 155th out of 1200
participants in August 1993. He im-
proved his time by 29 minutes.
This year, Jenkins missed qualify-
ing for the World Championship in
Hawaii by seven seconds.
"When I initially got started, I
thought these (IronMan Triathlons)
were insane," Jenkins said. "But if you
set it as agoal, and you like triathlons,
there's no reason you can't do it"
he Ironman Triathlon is
not the only way to com-
pete. The "Interna-
tional Distance" (or
"Olympic Distance") Triathlon, not
quite as grueling as the IronMan, is
the "most popular. It consists of a 1-
kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bike and
a 10-kilometer run.
The people that triathlons appeal
to tend to be the compulsive people...
people that exercise a lot and grind at
it," said Kris Wingenroth, triathlete
and Head Coach of the Rice swim
team "It'sawayoflife. IVe seen people
lose their jobs because they train so
much."
Wingenroth began competing in
triathlons 15 years ago, when she first
came to Rice. Political science profes-
sor Bob Stein and chemistry profes-
sor George Busby encouraged her to
race.
"We're all swimmers, and I had
met them at the pool," said
Wingenroth. "They were doing
[triathlons], so they suckered me into
it"
The three of them had swimming
backgrounds, so they diversified into
running and biking. For the majority
of triathletes, the cross-training or
variation in exercising is the most
appealing.
Brandeis Wright, a senior on the
Rice swim team, has competed in sev-
eral triathlons since her freshman year.
With the encouragement of her
older brother, Wright participated in
her first triathlon a month after recov-
ering from a severe case of mono-
nucleosis. After that she competed in
the Danskin Triathlon, a popular
triathlon for women only.
"It was a wonderful experience
because you see all these women who
are so athletic," Wright said. "It's so
inspirationaL"
Wright noted that a highlight of
the Danskin triathlon was beating
super-model Kim Alexis.
Training for a triathlon is really
hard, but you don't get bored because
there are three activities — whereas
swimming all the time can get bor-
ing," said Wright
he most difficult aspect
^■v of a triathlon varies from
M | \ competitor to competi-
tor. Unlike W]ngenroth
and Wright the majority of athletes
lackarigorousswimming background
and thus find swimming to be the
most difficult part of a triathlon.
"(During the IronMan,) I got el-
bowed and kicked in the face—it c?n
be the scariest part" Jenkins said.
"I can out-swim people, but they
can out-bike me," Wingenroth said.
"For most people, the swim is the
most challenging part"
"For the beginning, be sure you're
comfortable (competing) at those dis-
tances," Jenkins said. "Also, working
on the transitions really helps."
Both Wright and Wingenroth em
phasize the importance of being able
to switch activities, the true challenge
of a triathlon.
"You do have to get used to getting
off the bike and then going for a run,"
Wingenroth said.
For the IronMan Triathlon Jenkins
began training ten months prior to the
"The people that triathlons
appeal to tend to be the
compulsive people... I've
seen people lose their jobs
because they train so
much."
Kris Wingenroth
triathlete,
Head Coach of Rice Swim Team
race, and then intensified his work-
outs in the last two months. Within the
training period, Jenkins had the expo
rience of running a marathon, riding
the Century Ride (a 100-mile cycling
race) and swimming a 10-kilometer
Baylor College of Medicine
is seeking work-study students to fill clerical and laboratory
helper positions. Interested candidates should apply in
person Tuesday - Friday or send resume to:
Baylor College of Medicine
Texas Medical Center
One Baylor Plaza, Room T101
Houston, Texas 77030
(713) 798-4357
Mark Jenkins pounds the 1993 Canada IronMan
The swim....
The bike...
The run.
race.
"A lot of people make the error of
not pacing themselves. If you don't
pace yourself, you're going to end up
walking the marathon," said Jenkins.
"You're kind of living on the edge.
You want to push yourself, but if you
overdo it it's all over."
In an effort to further accomodate
triathletes, sponsors have increased
the number of shorter triathlons.
The shorter triathlons are becom-
ing more popular because more people
can do them," Wingenroth said. "I'm
an endurance person, so I prefer the
International Distance Triathlons."
From 1985 to 1991, the Rice swim
team sponsored a fund-raising mini-
triathlon on campus. Wingenroth
hopes to sponsor another one next
year.
"We got a lot of kids entering it
because it's so short," she said.
The race is approximately a 300-
yard swim, four-mile bike ride and a
short run around campus. Because
she uses the swim team as volunteers,
Wingenroth says the event is rela-
tively inexpensive.
Larger triathalons can be very ex-
pensive to sponsor, however, and thus,
are becoming more infrequent
"It's costly to put on a triathalon
because of the insurance liability —
you're racing in three different places,"
Wingenroth said.
There is a Houston Triathlon Club
which meets Friday afternoon at Star
Pizza restaurant In addition to pursu-
ing his own goal of competing in the
Hawaii Triathlon Championships,
Jenkins is interested in initiating a
triathlon club for Rice students.
Texas A&M University and South-
west Texas University already have
such clubs.
"I'd like to see an informal meeting
at the end of October to find out the
number of people interested," he said.
"I'd like to function as a coach and
share my knowledge with others."
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 1, 1993, newspaper, October 1, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245849/m1/21/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.