Now in its ninth year, the Ramblin’ Rose Women’s Triathlon family continues to grow each year. In addition to welcoming new triathletes to the Ramblin’ Rose family, we also welcome the husbands, sons, fathers, brothers and other family and friends who come out to support their soon-to-be triathlete on race day. The signs, shirts and cheers of an athlete’s support crew help define the magical moment of a Ramblin’ Rose woman becoming a triathlete. Sarah Coppola, Maggie Wendel and Erin Costa – the awesome photographers of Tamara Lackey Photography – continue to capture amazing images of our new triathletes. Many of their inspiring images can be seen in this issue along with the inspirational stories of the women who stepped into our event-day photo booth.
We also feature in this issue the story of Diane Falls, who became a Ramblin’ Rose triathlete this year, despite her continuing battle with multiple sclerosis. Diane and her “Put Your Big Girl Panties On & Just Tri It” relay teammate finished Ramblin’ Rose triathlon in Huntersville with an incredible time and an incredible story to share.
Sadly, we lost one of our first Ramblin’ Rose triathletes this year. Emmenita Virginia Covington, whom we all knew as “Em,” lost her battle with cancer Sept. 14. Em participated in the first Ramblin’ Rose Women’s Triathlon held in Charlotte in 2007. We were originally inspired by her story of weight loss and journey to our finish line, but continued to be inspired by her love and encouragement of other women in her role as one of the founding board members of Tri It For Life. Em was 45 years old and worked at McClintock Middle School for nine years as one of the school’s two counselors. She is survived by her wife, Nichole Graham, and their three children, Shanice Jade Littlejohn, Christina Noelle Graham and Christopher Randy Graham Jr., all of Charlotte. We miss you, Em!
In addition to the amazing stories, we share some practical tips in this issue. With the collective years of triathlon racing and production experience under the belts of our staff, we could probably have written these motivational tips ourselves. But instead we asked our participants to share their own motivational advice on why YOU should do a Ramblin’ Rose triathlon this year because YOU CAN DO THIS! We also provide some tips on getting the three most important pieces of gear for your first race – goggles, a bike and running shoes.
Inside-Out Sports’ running manager in Cary, Chase Williams, provides in-depth advice on one pair of sneakers that may be the right choice for you this year. Williams reviews the Saucony Guide 7, an everyday trainer that works well for everyday running. The Guide 7 is an excellent shoe choice for people running up to 60 miles a week. We also offer lots of good advice for new runners in our Sustainability of You section. Between our articles on learning how to shorten your stride and building stronger knees, you’re sure to be a healthier runner in 2014.
In addition to these tips, we feature our other monthly columns on food, training, recovery and injury prevention.
— Joe Nuss
Inspire. Perform. Endure.
