SANTA BARBARA TRIATHLON: Moms gear up to give it a 'tri
8/26/05
By
MARK PATTON
NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER
Athletes' mothers leave sidelines to train for 24th
annual race
 Soccer
Moms are getting tired of the sidelines. A new breed of
mothers has chosen to get into the game.
They're called Triathlon Moms.
More than 300 of them have joined two local training groups
-- Momentum4Life and Moms in Motion -- and are ready to
go for this weekend's 24th annual Santa Barbara Triathlon.
Both Saturday's long-course race and Sunday's sprint triathlon
will be held at East Beach, with about 1,600 triathletes
entered to participate.
"I don't know how many years I've sat on the pool deck,
watching my kids compete," said Dina Wilson, who will race
in her first Santa Barbara Triathlon on Sunday. "I think
it's kind of nice that they'll now get to know what it's
like to watch me."
Wilson, like many of this weekend's female triathletes,
is the mother of accomplished athletes. Her son Tyler swims
at USC, while her daughter Haley is a top freshman recruit
for Pepperdine's swim team. Younger daughters Sadie, 15,
and Amanda, 13, are also budding aquatic stars.
"Haley swam on the winning relay team at last year's triathlon,
and Tyler is taking her place on that team this year," Dina
said. "Amanda is going to do the sprint course -- but she's
entered the co-ed race, not the women's.
"She didn't want to race against me, which is just as
well. I wouldn't want to see how badly she beats me in the
water."
Linda Moriarty -- whose son, Kellen, has been recruited
to play football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
-- had been an avid spectator ever since husband Larry proposed
marriage during his rookie season with the NFL's Houston
Oilers.
She became a soccer mom after signing Kellen up with AYSO
at age 5. Daughters Jessica, Amanda and Madison have all
followed suit, and Mom even joined a city league soccer
team eight years ago.
But Moriarty had long resisted overtures from Dawn Schroeder
to join her Momentum4Life group.
"There was no way I was getting into that ocean -- I had
this fear of it," she said. "But three years ago, I decided
to go watch the women do it. And the competitive person
that I am, and seeing how much fun and camaraderie they
were all having, I decided to go to a meeting and check
it out.
 "I
don't think I could've done it by myself. But to have a
group of women going into the water at the same time, with
most of them also being fearful, gave me the courage to
join them."
She took 12th out of 50 women in her age group (40 to
44) last year in just her second time out.
Ann Blanton's son, Andrew Maxwell -- a star on the University
of Colorado's national champion triathlon team, was fourth
overall in the long course of last year's Santa Barbara
race. The next day, with his encouragement, Mom gave the
short course a try for the first time.
"When I finally got to the run, I was able to see all
these little messages that he'd written for me in chalk
along the route," she pointed out. "It was pretty sweet.
"Both my daughter (Caitlin) and I are the most noncompetitive
people around, but to see how proud Gary and Andrew were
gave me the best feeling in the world."
A few weeks later, on her birthday, Blantan's husband
gave her a gift certificate: It was a membership to train
with Momentum4Life.
"He runs marathons, and he's told me how much he loves to
exercise with other people and run with a group," Blanton
said. "And now I know how right he is -- it was so much
more fun this year to do this with other people."
Triathlons have long been a family affair for Kristen
Parrish's clan. Daughter Lindsay won the 14-and-under division
in last year's sprint-course race. Husband Bill was fourth
in his age division.
"We like to get outside and do things together," Parrish
said. "It's kind of what we do as a family."
Her stepchildren -- Chris, Kyle and Katie -- have all
made their marks in aquatics, as has her son, Curtis Williamson.
Lindsay is following the same path, having won two gold
medals in swimming at this summer's Southern California
Junior Olympics. She was also invited to the junior national
team water polo tryouts in Long Island, N.Y.
But now it's Mom's turn.
"When I go out and do the swim workouts, swim out to the
buoys, it doesn't feel all that great," Parrish conceded.
"But when it's a race situation, and they blow the horn,
I just can't wait to get into the water."
She has spent a lot of time with Dina Wilson on pool decks,
watching their children swim. She finally help coax her
friend into the water for the Santa Barbara Triathlon.
"I kept telling her, 'C'mon Dina, you can do this!' "
Parrish said.
Parrish will do the long course on Saturday, and then
she will root her friend on during Sunday's sprint triathlon.
"We've been friends forever -- we've kind of lived these
parallel lives," Wilson said. "We started bringing our own
stuff -- our bikes or whatever -- to our children's meets.
"The kids have these two-hour warmups, and that's when
we work out."
The group workouts have be critical for Moriarty.
"They get trainers out there to teach you proper technique,
and run drills to help you get faster," she said.
"I've been telling myself that I just want to enjoy myself
this weekend," she added. "Just do it. Finish it. But on
race day, I just don't know.
"I think my competitive juices are going to start flowing."
e-mail: mpatton@newspress.com
EVENTS
Start, finish and transition areas are all located at
Cabrillo Bathhouse, East Beach.
SATURDAY
5:30 a.m.: Transition area opens
7 a.m.: Long course starts
SUNDAY
7 a.m.: East Beach Grill Sprint Triathlon starts
7:45-8 a.m.: Gold's Gym Women-Only Sprint Triathlon
starts
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTO
Linda Moriarty's athletic family is now backing her
for the Santa Barbara Triathlon. Clockwise from top left
is husband Larry, son Kellen, 18, and daughters Jessica,
15, Madison, 8, and Amanda, 11.
COURTESY PHOTO
Andrew Maxwell and his mom, Ann Blanton, at last year's
triathlon.
Gary and Andrew Maxwell with Ann Blanton in Colorado.
To see how proud Gary and Andrew were gave me the best
feeling in the world.
Ann Blanton, talking about her family after her first
triathlon last year
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