It just so happens the starting line of the oldest continuously running triathlon in the United States is a few kilometers from the doors of our school. This race has seen Olympic gold medal athletes, World Champion athletes, three generations of family participants… and me.
In 1976 outdoorsman Payson Kennedy (founder of the Nantahala Outdoor Center), Olympic canoeist John Burton, and Georgia Tech professor Russ Callen issued a challenge to athletes to come battle the raw elements of the Great Smoky Mountains in an outdoorsman’s triathlon. To continue reading…