Alix Shutello is second from the left. Photo taken at the 2012 Gulf Beach Half Marathon in Milford, CT.
I was very excited when this issue ended up being full of top-notch women from the fields of Olympic and professional racing.
I made an executive decision this time, after interviewing two amazing women who compete at the top of their fields to change my definition of endurance distances racing. Why? Because Lisa Buohler (Team USA duathlete) and Sarah Haskins (Olympian and nationally ranked sprint distance triathlete) are unique in their fields.
Lisa Buohler, for example, became a professional athlete when many of us are hanging up the towel. At 40, she became an elite masters runner and last year alone, competed in over 30 races competing against some of the best athletes in the country. She is also a Boston qualifier and has competed internationally. Further, she is racing on behalf of the USA in Spain this fall, and given Olympics this summer, I felt she would be an amazing addition to this magazine.
Sarah Haskins is an Olympic distance triathlete who competed in the Bejing Olympics and who is breaking course records. At the young age of 31, Haskins has been a professional athlete for the last 8 years….and she’s not slowing down any time soon. You see, endurance sports of any kind, is really any race beyond a sprint. While many of the people in the pages of this magazine may run only one or two really long endurance races or challenges, folks who compete in dozens or more races a year, running half marathons, Iron-distance races, marathons, or sprint duathlons or triathlons are testing their endurance another way. They are competing week after week. That in and of itself requires a lot of discipline and endurance. It also requires sturdy and very focused mental training so that these athletes can continue to compete at the top of their game week after week, month after month.
So in that light, I have featured five amazing female athletes (among others), in this issue of Endurance Racing Magazine. Missy Kuck, Caroline Brosius and Michele Santilhano are the amazing endurance athletes who were featured this month as well. Kuck, like Buohler, went pro later in life. She was an amateur athlete for 15 years before going pro last year in the triathlon at the age of 35.
Brosius is an endurance kayaker who’s competed globally and who is one of the world’s best known endurance racers in her field. Having competed in numerous races she continues to do well and inspire others.
Michele Santilhano is our mega distance athlete in this issue. Having competed in a DECA IRON distance race and having swam the English Channel, she is an inspiration for anyone wanting to go really long!
And while we didn’t do a full article on her, no one can deny Cheryl Zwarkowski as the queen of distance running. This summer she ran THREE Badwater 135-milers back to back, becoming the world record holder for running over 400 miles in the desert in her age group (over 50).
Other athletes who appear in this issue include David Heckman and Marshall Ulrich who were also busy after Badwater this past July. While Cheryl continued on after she finished Badwater onto her second leg, Heckman and Ulrich took a short break and prepared for the 400-mile plus journey around Death Valley. Ulrich and his wife, Karen, blogged and showed pictures on Facebook during the trip.
David DeNeire of Ontario will be running the NYC Marathon this fall. Why? Because he’s been running like a madman. So much so that his continuous streak of over 50 races this year caught the eyes of the NYC Marathon staff and they invited him to the Big Apple to do a little filming and become one of the NYC Marathon’s Clydesdale spokespeople.
Ghislain Marechal, the French super athlete who competes in double and triple IRON races around the globe slowed down enough to share some of his travels with me. Once of his crew members wrote a tale of Marechal’s Enduroman in Europe this summer. I look forward to potentially seeing him again as he makes his way to Lake Anna, VA to compete in the Triple IRON this October.
Shawn Burke, 51, was kind enough to do an advertorial and I’ve featured him on a product he uses called ASEA. He’s garnered tons of success since starting on the product this summer.
And a big thanks to my endurance couple, Brady and Dr. Shawna Wendtlant, who allowed us to talk to them about their lives as a married couple and ultra runners.
I was also happy to receive a submission from Dr. Frank Lieberman, ultra athlete, whose article, Mental Toughness, and book, It Has Nothing To Do With Age, debut will be a great read!
Read and enjoy!
Your friendly editor,
Alix Shutello
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Note: There was purposely no July/August issue. This issue, now the September/October issue is the 4th issue this year. The November/December issue and a Special Product issue will round out 6 issues for this year. Look for announcements on the Special Product issue online at EnduranceRacingMagazine.com and EnduranceRacingMagazine.co.uk.
