With the Bear Lake Brawl now only two weeks out, we reached out to local pros Skye Moench and Nicholas Chase to get the scoop on the pro race component of this traditionally local event. How did the pro field & prize $$ come about and who are some of the names on the start list??
Whether pro or 1st-timer, if you haven't already signed up we encourage you to join the socially distanced party!
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How did the pro field + prize purse come together for Bear Lake?
Skye: Full credit goes to Nick Chase for getting the ball rolling. The PTO (Professional Triathletes Organization) has come out and sponsored a couple of pro races in Europe, so Nick reached out to the people who run the business side of the PTO to see if we could get the Bear Lake Brawl a prize purse from the PTO.
Nick reached out to me about this idea as well, so I also started talking with my contacts within the PTO, and it all went very quickly!
The PTO said they would be happy to sponsor a prize purse at Bear Lake if we could get a big enough field (about 15-20 pros minimum), so the next step was getting on a call with Joe Coles, the Bear Lake Brawl race director, to see if he would be willing to host a pro field, and Joe was very willing and helpful. Nick and I have been working together to gather a solid pro field since, so we are looking forward to the event!
Nick: Skye hit the nail on the head. I sensed an opportunity, having already participated in a few Utah races over the last month. I had high hopes we could race as long as the race director was willing to host us.
Bear Lake is close enough to a few dozen athletes whom I personally know are hungry to race and after my Canadian pals organized a pro event in Ontario, I knew the PTO would have our back! I am so thankful Skye jumped on board as we have proven to be a very effective team.
What pros are on the start list and is it finalized?
Our start list is currently growing daily, however we are really hoping to get more professional female athletes committed! The men's field and women's field will certainly dominate any previous Bear Lake Brawl course records, with names like Ben Kanute, Jocelyn McCauley, Chris Leiferman, Skye Moench, Sam Long, Brittany Higgins, Justin Metzler, Matt Hanson, Jennifer Lentzke, Rachel Olson myself and a few others.
The start list is definitely not finalized and we are confident a few more will toe the line. Currently we have 10 male and 5 female athletes confirmed but we are expecting at least 5 additional males and 5 additional females. We have a firm cut-off date for pro registration by 14 Sept. Will be publishing a full start list to the public in short-time.
Pulling the most up-to-date list, here's what we found (pros will be racing the Half, with anyone and everyone welcome to join them like any 70.3):
Why should people come out to support the Bear Lake Brawl, both pros and age groupers?
Holly Benner: Macungie, PA
Nicholas Chase: St. George, UT
Justin Daerr: Boulder, CO
Robbie Deckard: Clark, CO
Matt Hanson: Storm Lake, IA
Brittany Higgins: Clearwater, FL
Ben Kanute: Phoenix, AZ
Chris Leiferman: Longmont, CO
Jennifer Lentzke: Park City, UT
Sam Long: Boulder, CO
Andre Lopes: Boulder, CO
Ernie Mantell: Salt Lake City, UT
Jocelyn McCauley: Cincinnati, OH
Justin Metzler: Boulder, CO
Skye Moench: Salt Lake City, UT
Rachel Olson: Boulder, CO
Jesse Vondracek: Tucson, AZ
Bradley Weiss: Boulder, CO
Why should people come out to support the Bear Lake Brawl, both pros and age groupers?
Skye: People should come out to support because this is an opportunity to do what we love and to support the local scene, which is probably where most of us started in triathlon. The reality is that we have no idea what 2021 will actually look like as far as racing goes - we may only have smaller, local opportunities, like the Bear Lake Brawl, for racing next year.
Supporting and keeping the local races alive and well is important if we want to continue in our sport in the near future.
Nick: This is a win win! The location is stunning, the weather will be very mild and we have a proven course and race director who knows what he is doing! Also, triathlon is surviving now more than ever BECAUSE of grassroots events.
The pre race/ post race vibes will be different since we can’t have big gatherings but we can still get together and race in some regard. I agree with Skye, this may be something we do more often until events containing thousands of athletes can safely proceed.
As you peer into your crystal ball, when will Ironman races be back on a consistent basis?
Skye: My crystal ball is broken, but if I’m being really honest, I don’t think IM racing will be normal again by 2021. Maybe a few bigger races in 2021 in the USA, but less frequent. Maybe more racing happening outside the U.S., but it’s impossible to predict. I hope we can see things get back to “normal” in 2022.
Also, when we get back to racing, I think normal won’t be what we are used to. Joe is a good example of figuring out how we can safely put on races, so I think we will need to adapt to some new normals in the racing world. With that said, I would love to be wrong and have things ”normal” again as soon as possible!
Nick: Hopefully as soon as they can afford to put on races! I don’t think it’s a secret that IRONMAN is likely bleeding funds like many big corporations. I think business models are currently strained and we have become too reliant on IRONMAN to push our sport along.
This is an opportunity to put athletes in charge, support local races and until IRONMAN can consistently put on races, we find new ways to safely race. We will likely see less races and more regional championships since international travel is still testy.
Anything else you'd like to share?
Skye: A massive thank you to the PTO and Joe Coles for helping us pros create an opportunity to race. For many of us, this will be the first opportunity to race this year, and we are all very grateful for the opportunity.
Nick: We as professional athletes are incredibly fortunate the PTO has taken over so much of our future in sport. Not only would many pro athletes have thousands of dollars less in their bank accounts, our future would look dull. Now, the PTO has their shit together and puts athletes first rather than margins and shareholders.
Additionally, my sponsors have been incredible, going above and beyond, paying out non-traditional bonuses and funding smaller projects I’ve thought up. If you care about our sport, take care of companies who put energy back INTO our sport and do anything you can do to support your local races because now more than ever, this is a pure labor of love!
Also huge kudos to the IRONMAN VR series and staff who make these VERY fun and exciting events happen. This hasn’t been easy on IRONMAN but their pivot into virtual racing is smart and I’m happy they allowed pro’s an outlet to race!
FOUR distances to choose from: Full (140.6), Half (70.3), Olympic and Sprint!
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