Twinlab-Full Throttle Endurance Racing: Our Tri-umphant Summer!

It’s been an eventful and exciting summer for Twinlab-Full Throttle Endurance Racing. We’ve had a lot of first place and top three finishes in some key races, which has really amped us up as we prepare for our next big challenge, the USA Team Triathlon Championships in Oklahoma City on September 19th and 20th.

The season’s tone was set when Captain Jesse Du Bey crushed the St. Croix Ironman 70.3 Triathlon on May 3rd to qualify for Hawaii’s famous Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona on October 10.

The team’s season opener was the Nautica South Beach Triathlon on April 5th. This was a race that will be remembered as our day of total domination. Jesse Du Bey came in as the overall winner, with Rick Krupa 2nd and Bill Kelly 4th overall. Allison Lind won her division, and Jessica Mullin and Heidi Burkhart came in 1st and 2nd in their division, respectively. Newcomer Charlie Howe grabbed 2nd place in his division, and Mike Rice placed 3rd in his division. Sadly, division favorites Andrew Kalley and I BOTH got flat tires on the bike course, but we saw this as a small tradeoff for the success that everyone else had that day.

Our success at the Mighty Montauk Triathlon, June 13th, really set the pace for the team’s performance this summer. Bill Kelly won 1st place, with Andrew Kalley hot on his heels and coming in 2nd. And only a few months into her first season with the team, Allison Lind came in with an amazing finish, taking 1st place overall for the women. Several other team members came in 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their division, making it a truly a memorable day for Twinlab-Full Throttle Endurance Racing!

Our next big race was the Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes Triathlon in New Jersey on June 20th, where team Jesse Du Bey, Doug Clark and Captain William Kelly finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th overall, respectively. Clark and Kelly also came in first in their age groups, while Toni Weeks took 4th place in her age group.

We kept the momentum going at the Nautica New York City Triathlon on July 26th, which was truly a landmark day for Twinlab-Full Throttle Endurance Racing. Though the weather on race day was incredibly hot and humid, we were determined to power through and make this hometown race OUR race, and we did just that. (Fortunately, the torrential downpours held out until after the race!) Once again Doug Clark and Jesse Du Bey were neck at neck on the leader board, taking 2nd place and 3rd place overall, respectively. We also had several podium placings in various divisions, including Heidi Burkhart who finished 1st in her division, as well as John Heppolette, Charles Howe, Jessica Mullin and myself, who all came in 2nd in our divisions. But the most important part of that day came when we defended our NYC team title. It was incredibly gratifying for our team to win first place in the race’s Tri-Club Challenge for the 2nd year in a row!

While our short-course athletes were racing hard in New York City, Toni Weeks lead a group consisting of both the NYC National Team and the Pittsburgh Regional Team at the Ford Ironman Lake Placid. Bobby Standish and Matt Mauclair both had a stellar day, as did Paula Jones Bennett.

We’ve also had some athletes racing in other races, such the Timberman Triathlon Festival in New Hampshire, August 21st-23rd. Joe Marinucci, Chris Coffin, Bryan Touhey and Maria Mahn all finished in the top 3 for their divisions in the sprint triathlon. Other mentionables include Dave Nottoli, Jose Yandun, Melanie Wolff, Tom Slon, Ron Steiger and Wyeth Hunnable, who all competed in the long course triathlon. The Litchfield Hills Triathlon had some podiums as well; Karen Phillips, Anna Hillegrass, Mark Guay, Don Kilpatrick all finished in the top 3 for their divisions, and first timer Dave Pustylnik had a strong finish as well.

With everyone racing so well this season, we felt like we were ready and in prime condition to take on the individual USA National Championships in Alabama on August 22nd. As always, Doug Clark and Bill Kelly were on top of their game; Doug successfully defended his first in division title, and Bill’s strong finish qualified him for the world championships in Kona, Hawaii. Newcomer Greg Usry also had a fantastic day with his best race ever, which qualified him to join Doug and Bill in Kona. For the women, Heidi Burkhart and Jessica Mullin nabbed 1st and 2nd place in their divisions. We are very proud of everyone who competed at the Nationals!

After a successful summer, we have our sights set on defending our Team National Champions title. We’re training hard and we stay hungry to win!