Triathletes put a face on Win for KC mission statement

By COLE YOUNG

The Kansas City Star

More News

For Patti Phillips, the best part of the WIN For KC Women’s Triathlon on Saturday at Smithville Lake wasn’t the perfect weather or the fact the event maxed out on entries.

Instead, the best part for Phillips was seeing the WIN for KC group’s purpose in action.

“It gave us an opportunity to give our mission legs,” said Phillips, the director of WIN For KC. “Our mission is to empower women through sports and fitness, and I loved that we were able to really put that in action.”

The organization did just that on Saturday at the triathlon. In all, 455 women signed up for the event, which consisted of a 500-meter swim, a 10-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run. Leslie Curley of Topeka was the overall winner, finishing the race in 59 minutes, 32 seconds.

The event wasn’t limited to top tier triathletes. Of the 455 participants, 219 were competing in their first triathlon. It also featured a wide range of ages, with competitors ranging from ages 13 to 65.

And as Phillips proudly added, each of the competitors finished.

Leading up to the event, WIN for KC held several forums and training opportunities for the competitors.

“To see all those different women and the different ages, shapes and sizes cross finish line with excitement and accomplishment was wonderful,” Phillips said.

The triathlon also had a team aspect as well. For those not wanting to do a complete triathlon, participants had the opportunity to have three women each do a stage of the triathlon.

Future plans for the triathlon are still being worked out, but Phillips said she expects the event to get bigger and bigger.

“We had to cut (the entries) off,” Phillips said. “It has huge potential and room to grow. We don’t know what the max is (at Smithville,) but we are getting close to it.”

| To reach Cole Young, sports reporter for The Star, call 816-234-5912 or send e-mail to ceyoung@kcstar.com

Posted on Tue, Aug. 12, 2008 10:15 PM

Buzz Up

Comment (0)

Join the discussion

Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open, civil debate is the goal. Please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as abuse" link.