Triathlon returns for 25th year

It's a race that brings together Kirksville residents, Truman students and people from across the country to compete in a challenge that combines the sports of swimming, biking and running.

Thousand Hills State Park will host the 25th Annual NEMO Triathlon Sunday, Sept 13. The triathlon is marked by its unique ability to provide inspiration for Kirksville.

Janet Gooch, communication disorders department chair, has been participating in the triathlon since 2002 and said she has a soft spot for the competition because it brings the whole town together.

"It's a hometown event, it's close and we know the people that put it on, and we have a certain allegiance because it's right here in Kirksville," Gooch said. "It's the first triathlon that I ever did."

The race is divided into three sections: swimming a distance of .74 miles, biking for 18 miles and running five miles. Gooch said that swimming is her least favorite part because she panics with the many people kicking and thrashing in the water around her. Despite setbacks that can occur while in the water, Gooch said the turnout for the triathlon is great. Each year brings a familar face, including an older woman who swims, rides and runs in the race.

"The first time she did it, she had an old rickety Schwinn bike with a basket on the front, and she did it, she did it the whole way - it was great," Gooch said of the an elderly woman who competed last year,

Gooch said competitors don't need a fancy bike or sports equipment to compete in the triathlon. She thinks it's a great opportunity for beginners and people who would like to complete a life goal.

Dan Martin, director of the NEMO triathlon, was the original mastermind behind the event and has encouraged the Kirksville community to compete in the race for 25 years. Martin said that in the early 1980s, he decided to develop an athletic event in town and bring a marathon to Kirksville.

Eventually Martin discarded the marathon notion for a race that introduced the concept of cross training.

Martin said that he wanted to do something different in Kirksville and there was a suggestion to have a marathon. Martin decided that there was not a market for that kind of race in town, and he wanted an event that included swimming, biking and running.

"I lived here, and what we were trying to do was promote an active healthy lifestyle, whether it was with the Heart Association or any other races for charities, 5K, 5 - mile and 7 - mile running event," Martin said. "In the middle '80s time there was just kind of the beginning of cross training and multi - sports."

Martin said more than 200 volunteers turn up to the event on race day, and many times, the volunteers eventually become participants in the triathlon.

"The people who come around and help us, they end up liking it a lot," Martin said. "Usually next year they think about participating, so it's kind of infectious like that. I think everybody sees themselves, 'I can swim a little, and I am decent on the bike, and I thought about running a bit.' It becomes one of those life challenges, 'I want to do that before I die' type of thing."

When Martin first started organizing the triathlon he did not know it was going to grow as large as it is today. He said many people who competed in the race as Truman students graduated, had children and returned to swim, bike and run with their children.

Exercise Science professor Jana Arabas is also a returning competitor in the triathlon. Arabas said she enjoys competing in the race every year because of the familiarity it offers.

"So many times we do triathlons where you don't know anybody," Arabas said. "We [Gooch and Arabas] usually travel, the two of us, and then you don't know anybody else doing it, but in Kirksville you know a lot of people doing it."