June 2024

IN THIS ISSUE

It is the season for North American summer long-weekends! In a three week stretch various RTS members have or will celebrate St. Jean Baptiste Day (if you were at 70.3 Tremblant that includes you! It’s a Quebec provincial holiday), Canada Day (July 1), and Independence Day (July 4).

We hope that you are making full use of the time to swim, bike, run and race!

Keep reading for a ton of exciting updates from an action-packed month for our community!

It’s been an action-packed month with T100 racing, Ironman Pro Series, some USA classics (Milkman and Escape from Alcatraz), and Lisa’s amazing efforts to help para triathlete Taylor Talbot!

In this month’s edition:

(Please note: internal links may not work on some platforms (including Gmail). Until we are able to resolve this, simply click “Read Online” in the top right corner of this email to view the online version of the newsletter in which the links should work. Thanks!)

• Feature Story: TJ is back! After a rough start to the season, Tamara has a solid day at T100 San Francisco and an exciting sprint finish to second at 70.3 Tremblant. Hear more about it HERE!

• Our Network: We want to connect! Click HERE for some easy tips on how to stay involved. NEW Don’t miss some extra NOTICE BOARD announcements HERE!

• On the Run: RTS COO, Adam Meredith is on the run having escaped from Alcatraz! Read all about it HERE!

• RTS Pro: Jackson reflects on his first T100 race, Lisa decides it’s not international travel if you don’t pack your tandem bike, and Garrick runs his best 70.3 run split post hip surgery! It’s been a jam-packed month for our pros. Click HERE for more! This is also where you’ll find a summary of RTS Pro results and upcoming races.

• RTSx: Bottles of milk instead of champagne on the podium?! Learn more about Wisconsin’s Milkman Triathlon and RTSx’s dominant performances HERE! This is also where you’ll find a summary of RTSx results and upcoming races.

• On the Pod: What’s new on the Real Triathlon Podcast and Real Triathlon Video Podcast? Click HERE!

• Partners and Discounts: Don’t miss the sponsor links and discount codes at the very end of this email to save money on triathlon products used by our pros. Click HERE!

FEATURE STORY

TJ Back on the Podium

After a very rough start to the season in March and April, Tamara was back on form this month placing 10th at T100 San Francisco and 2nd in an exciting sprint finish to determine 2nd and 3rd place with Australian Ellie Salthouse at 70.3 Tremblant (behind Paula Findlay in 1st). Tamara had to make up almost 7 minutes on Ellie coming off the bike and ran 76:13 on Tremblant’s challenging run course.

Here’s what Tamara had to say about it:

It’s hard to beat the feeling of spending almost a full 21.1km of a 70.3 steadily trying to run someone down and finally catching them in the last 500m! Tremblant was a beautiful experience for me working hard to try to close the gap on Ellie then finally doing it just before turning down into the final few 100 meters of that course through the ski village. This would have been an exciting finish in any race, but at a Canadian race, doing it to make the women’s podium Canadians in first and second, the crowd support was unreal.

Read more about Tamara’s process to come back HERE!

ON THE RUN

Adam Escaped from Alcatraz

On June 9, the day after the T100 San Francisco race, RTS COO, Adam Meredith (alongside RTS AG athlete Tom Foster!) competed in the iconic Escape from Alcatraz triathlon.

Starting with a plunge from a boat into the cold and choppy waters of San Francisco Bay, the course includes a run up the notorious beach stairs and hilly rides through the city.

Here’s what Adam had to say about it:

Escape from Alcatraz was hands down one of the best race experiences I’ve ever had. The event was extremely well executed and still has that “local” feel despite being one of the most popular races on the North American circuit. The event organizers do a fantastic job of navigating all of the extra logistics that come with a “jump off the boat” start and I cannot recommend this event highly enough.

Read Adam’s full recap HERE!

PRO TIP

Always have a spare derailleur hanger and travel with it when you travel with your bike. It’s a part designed to fail first under pressure, so it can easily get bent or damaged with travel. A bent derailleur hanger will interfere with proper shifting (and a compromised hanger can even snap and whip your derailleur back at the bike, damaging carbon - it’s happened to me!). It’s a super easy fix if you have a spare, and you will look like a bike travel pro.

~ Tamara

RTS PRO

T100, Ironman Pro Series, and International Travel with Tandem Bikes

Check out the results below from a busy month of pro racing!

Particular highlights included Jackson Laundry’s T100 Series debut and Lisa traveling to Europe and Canada to support para triathlete Taylor Talbot as her guide.

Read more about their experiences HERE!

Other Results:

• Tamara - 10th place T100 San Francisco, 2nd place IM 70.3 Tremblant

• Lisa - Supported Taylor Talbot to a 9th place finish at WTCS Montreal and 2nd and 3rd World Cup podiums in Spain and Italy

• Lesley - 6th IM 70.3 Boulder, 13th IM 70.3 Tremblant

• Nicole - DNF post bike at 70.3 Boulder due to continuing complications with her stingray injury - but we are so glad that we are starting to see her back at it!

• Jackson - 5th IM 70.3 Tremblant

• Nick - 19th IM 70.3 Boulder

• Garrick - 25th IM 70.3 Tremblant

Up Next:

• Nick - Challenge Roth

• Jackson - IM Lake Placid

• Tamara - T100 London

• Nicole - IM 70.3 Maine

• Lisa - IM 70.3 Maine

• Lesley - IM Lake Placid (TBD)

• Garrick - IM Vitoria-Gasteiz

• Marc - TBD

RTSx

RTSx Dominant at Wisconsin’s Milkman Triathlon

RTSx’s Rachel Mensch came back from a rough start to the year (having broken a bone in her crash at our Cozumel camp) to win the historic Milkman Triathlon in Wisconsin. RTSx’s Amanda Macuiba finished 2nd, and Vant Lammers placed 2nd in the men’s race.

Milkman is one of the few remaining independently-owned 70.3’s out there and offers a prize purse to pros, increasingly rare outside of Ironman and T100.

Here’s what Rach had to say about it:

After a rough go of it at Chattanooga, it was really fun to get the win at the Milkman triathlon on June 9! I feel very lucky to have this event basically in my own backyard. It was a smaller field this year, but generally draws most of the WI-based pros as well as a lot of top amateurs from around the Midwest and is a great season preview for folks racing Ironman Wisconsin in September.

Read Rach’s full recap (with helpful course intel!) HERE!

You can also read Amanda’s recap of her strong 2nd place performance HERE!

Other Results:

• Dr Steve Rosinksi - Busy Training

• Dominika Jamnicky - Busy Training

• Batya Beard - 8th place at IM 70.3 Boulder

• Michael Gannon - 15th Armed Forces Triathlon

• Rachel Mensch - 1st place at Milkman

• Vant Lammers - 2nd place at Milkman

• Alexander Frank - Busy Training

• Amanda Macuiba - 2nd place at Milkman

• Shyanne McGregor - Busy Training

• Sam Teller - 13th at XTERRA Switzerland

Up Next:

• Dominika Jamnicky - Challenge CAP Quebec

• Ali O’Donnell - Injured :-(

• Colleen Baker - IM Wisconsin

• Flacca Guerrero - IM Cozumel

• Michael Gannon - TBD

• Rachel Mensch - IM Ecuador 70.3

• Vant Lammers - IM Ecuador 70.3

• Alexander Frank - Big Shark New Town Triathlon, St Louis

• Amanda Macuiba - TBD

• Sam Teller - XTERRA France

• Shyanne McGregor - TBD

• Batya Beard - TBD

• Dr Steve Rosinksi - IM Maine 70.3

ON THE POD

If you aren’t already listening to the Real Triathlon Podcast hosted by Jackson, Nick and Garrick (with some guest appearances by other team members) - go check it out!

Where to start? Why not hear Jackson, Nick and Garrick discuss what’s ahead in the next month with a focus on Challenge Roth, IM Lake Placid and IM Vitoria-Gasteiz!

Listen HERE!

Or watch the Real Triathlon Video Podcast on our Youtube Channel HERE!

OUR NETWORK

We want to hear your stories! (We REALLY REALLY DO!)

Please always feel welcome to reach out to us at [email protected] with information about where you will be racing and recaps of races to share with our community. And never feel shy to say hello at races! Extra cheers for anyone rocking RTS gear 🙂 

Staying Connected:

Keep track of us and our unique RTS community wherever you do what you do: Strava Club, Zwift Club, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

Any questions on Zwift/Strava/FB/AG issues please contact Adam:

[email protected]

PARTNERS AND DISCOUNTS

Zoot - Use Code RTS for 20% off

BlueSeventy - Use Code RTS25 for 25% off

Precision Fuel & Hydration - Use Code TM-RTS15 for 15% off

BiSaddle - Use Code RTS15 for 15% off

FAST TT - Use Code RACECHASE10 for 10% off

Sunwarrior - Use Code RTS2024 for 20% off

Athlete Blood Test - Use Code NicholasChase20 for 15% off

Ventum - Use Code RACECHASE20 for 20% off