Three months ago tonight, Austin Triathlon Club held its kickoff happy hour at the Ginger Man. Since that night, we have been working hard to build a community triathlon club that we hope will serve Austin for years to come. Thank you for getting involved in this all-volunteer effort, and thank you for supporting this club. Whether you're a member, a sponsor, or a facebook fan, we're excited to be working with you to serve the Austin community!

We have so much to be proud of and so much to be excited about. Here are few of the highlights from our first three months:

• Austin Triathlon Club is building a welcoming and inclusive community of triathletes. Since our launch, Austin Triathlon Club has welcomed 73 new members, with more joining every week. Our members range from beginners training for their first triathlon to experienced Ironman athletes to professional triathletes. Some have coaches. Some are part of teams. Some train solo. Some are retired from triathlon. Together, we're a community of triathletes across the Austin area who have come together to support each other and this amazing city.

 

• We are working out, having fun, and getting in shape. Club members have been organizing informal weekly workouts across the area, whether it's at Brushy Creek, Town Lake, or anywhere in between. Starting in January, the Club started hosting official rides and runs on a monthly basis. Starting next month, we will be hosting monthly swims, too!

 

• We are learning and supporting each other. In January, Austin Triathlon Club teamed up with the great folks at Austin Tri Cyclist for a beginner bike clinic. In February, we're teaming up with RunLab for a run biomechanics clinic. In March, we're teaming up with Bicycle Sports Shop for a transition clinic. We have also been supporting the super helpful and educational community clinics being done at Bicycle World.


• We are paying it forward. Austin Tri Club has 14 triathletes being mentored by experienced triathletes. We have a wonderful group of first-timers training for the Rookie Triathlon and other races coming up in 2018. We can't wait to cheer them on!

 

• We are crushing the off season. We have 25 triathletes competing for Austin Triathlon Club in the USAT National Challenge Competition. These Club members have logged thousands of swim, bike, and run miles this off season. These athletes are in great shape to tackle the 2018 race season! Can't wait to see what our 2018 NCC team will look like!

 

• We have incredible supporting partners. Austin Triathlon Club is extremely lucky to have so many wonderful supporting partners who wanted to get involved right from the beginning. Our club partners include local businesses: Austin Massage Company, Castle Hill Fitness, Chapter Fitness, City Limit Cycles, Dynamic Sports Medicine, Restore Cryotherapy, Revolution Mobile Bike Repair, RunLab, and Stewart Mickler Designs, plus national vendors Infinit Nutrition,  Orca, Power Meter City, Road ID, Rudy Project, Running Warehouse, TrainingPeaks, TriBike Transport, Xterra Wetsuits, and xx2i Optics.

     

• We are planning for the future.  Austin Triathlon Club recently welcomed three new board members, Leslie Andrews Booker, Jennifer Standley, and Dena Childs. Together, we are listening to club members and community stakeholders to plan for 2018 and beyond. On the horizon are club kits, triathlete panels, community bricknics, and a variety of initiatives to accomplish our mission of making triathlon accessible to everyone in Austin.

Thank you to everyone who has pitched in so far. The Club is not possible without your support, enthusiasm, and willingness to give back to the Austin tri community. We hope to see you at the next club happy hour on Saturday, February 24th, at Flour and Vine!

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Austin Triathlon Club is a 100% volunteer, member-run club launched in October 2017. Austin Tri Club aims to improve the physical fitness and mental well-being of all members of the Austin community through the promotion and encouragement of the sport of triathlon. Click here to read more about our mission and values. ​

When Club President Daniel first proposed starting Austin Triathlon Club the first thing that came into my head was NCC... I love NCC! 

NCC is the USAT National Challenge Competition: a triathlon club team competition where club members log swim, bike and run miles to collect points for their team. Triathlon clubs across the country compete to become NCC champions. Throughout the competition athletes can log miles in any discipline, but prizes are given for teams logging the most swim miles in December, bike miles in January, and run miles in February.

I did my first NCC in the 2013-2014 off-season and while I was a little sluggish in swim month and bike month (DC is cold!), when run month came I decided it was mine for the taking. In my previous on-season I had done an Ironman and an ultra marathon, so my legs were capable of doing a lot of miles. And when I saw that I could help DC Tri win the competition, and that I had a teammate on my heels racking up points at the same rate as I was, that was motivation to not miss a day. 

In my 2014 season, I was supposed to be not taking it and just racing for fun, but even without trying very hard I got a PR in practically every distance - marathon, half marathon, 70.3, Olympic... The friendly competition of NCC had been enough to get out there and build the base for my best season ever and led me to meet some really great people - including husband Club President Daniel, who chased me around the pool as he tried to figure out how to ask me out.

Since then, every year I get excited about NCC - even though I'm not in the same shape I was that first NCC year, it's great motivation to keep me training and not give in to the winter. In 2017, I'm excited about the prospect of entering an Austin Triathlon Club team. With the amazing community of triathletes and the resources we have for winter training - not least the weather - I'm convinced that Austin can be up there competing with DC Tri, Salt Lake, and San Diego.

The best part of NCC is that it doesn't matter how fast you run the miles or swim the laps, it's the taking part (or the points) that count!

Meghann Jones
​Vice President, Austin Triathlon Club