Arctic Warriors sweat through indoor triathlon

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeremy Larlee
  • JBER PAO
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Arctic Warriors flocked to the Elmendorf Fitness Center Jan. 21, to participate in an indoor triathlon.

The 36 competitors ran on a treadmill, rode a stationary bike and swam laps in the pool for 20 minutes for each activity in an effort to rack up the longest distance travelled over a full hour of physical activity.

Tech. Sgt. Matthew Heitman, 703rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron placed first in the men's division with a distance of 11.77 miles. Airman 1st Class Chris Cooper, 3rd Equipment Maintenance Squadron, placed second with a distance of 11.37 miles.
In the women's division; military dependents Susan Casey placed first with a distance of 9.72 miles and Cindy Worrell placed second with a distance of 9.56 miles.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Krista Kotz, NCO in charge of operations at the fitness center, was heavily involved in planning and conducting the event. She said with the extreme winter climate here, some of the traditional triathlon rules had to be tweaked.

"Being up in Alaska at this time of year you are not really able to do this outside," she said. "It is nice to be able to have the equipment and resources to do it inside. We had to change some things like having the swimming portion at the end instead of the beginning of the event."

Tech. Sgt. Jeromie Sandall, 381st Intelligence Squadron, said some of the tweaks made him skeptical when he first heard about the event. The reverse order of the events and the fact the running was done on a treadmill were his biggest concerns. He said he ended up really enjoying himself.

"It was a good experience," said Sandall, who trains for triathlons in his spare time. "I would definitely do this again next year. The fitness center staff and volunteers did a great job putting this together."

Kotz said the event was a success because of the efforts of numerous people.
"It is such a big event that all the fitness staff had to pitch in," she said. "We also had a lot of volunteers which helped a lot."

Senior Airman Rodd Simms, 673rd Security Forces Squadron, volunteered for the event and he said he was glad to pitch in.

"I spend a lot of time in the gym and when I saw the flyer for the event, I thought that it sounded pretty interesting," he said. "I figured these guys do a lot of augmentee work for security forces, so I thought I could return the favor today during this event."
After the event, Sandall admitted that he was drained, even though he said he usually trains longer than an hour in his triathlon preparations.

"My fellow competitors kept me going strong," he said. "You look over and see the person next to you doing great and it makes you want to push yourself even harder."
Kotz said she enjoyed seeing the spirit of competition during the event.

"We are glad that people came out to participate and have fun," she said. "We really enjoy hosting events like this. It is great watching people succeed at their fitness goals."