On June 24th, athletes represented Paragon Training at the Ironman Buffalo Springs 70.3. At this year’s race, Paragon Head Coach, Mark Saroni, looked to defend his title as the former champion. On the Saturday before the race, the athletes got the chance to view a panel of past champions and local legends, including Mark, where they answered the burning questions of the crowd about the race including proper hydration, mid-race mantras, and predicted race times.
Representing Paragon was a slew of Buffalo Spring veterans, first time 70.3 racers, and even a handful of relay teams. The weather for the race was expected to be one of the biggest obstacles for the racers with high winds and even higher temperatures on the forecast. Despite the less than ideal conditions, the Paragon team embraced the pain and excelled in the race, a number of them still recovering from Ironman Boulder just two weeks prior.
Race morning began with an early 3:45 a.m. wake up call for the team as they geared up and headed towards the lake. By 6:45 a.m., the race had started with the swim that many had described as choppy with waves of athletes flailing their arms and legs in an effort to get away from one another. After the swim, the racers climbed out of transition and onto the bike where they faced unforgiving head and crosswinds going in one direction, and blessed with a tailwind in the other direction, all the while traversing up and down technical hills. With the 56-mile bike finished, athletes then had to endure a grueling 13.1 mile run up and down hills in the blistering heat with temperatures reaching into the 100s. While these conditions may discourage other athletes, a Paragon athlete knows that when pain begins to set in to ask themselves, “Am I suffering enough?”, to which the answer is not quite yet.
Paragon would like to congratulate all the athletes that competed in the race. Buffalo Springs is a personal favorite of Paragon as it is an honest and humbling race for all athletes.
On July 1st, the third Splash and Dash of the summer took place at the JCC. The kids raced in cool temperatures and were awarded even cooler finisher medals. Kathleen O’Shea, who, along with Coach Mark, was featured on SA Life to promote the race in the fight against childhood obesity, presented the awards.
Sunday, June 24: Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake
Mark Saroni: 4:22:54- 1st in Male 25 to 29; 2nd overall
Jerett Gordon: 5:45:05- 9th in Male 30 to 34
Ildar Mannapov: 6:15:49-12th in Male 25 to 29
Colin Campbell: 6:39:47- 5th in Male 18 to 24
Beatriz Salvat: 8:24:18-21st in Female 45-49
Team Triple Threat: 5:42:28
Team Mannapov: 8:27:57
Team 2 Buoys and a Gull: 6:48:09
Make sure to send your pictures from training and racing to: racing@paragontraining.org so we can showcase all the rad stuff you guys do.
San Antonio Triathlon Team - San Antonio Triathlon Coach