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The Memorial Gordon Gray 5K - January 16

12/23/2015

 
Gordon Gray was a friend, former teammate and an icon in the Northwest triathlon community.   On September 9, 2015, Gordon was hit and killed while riding his bicycle.  He is greatly missed.

Gordon loved to run and he was very good at it!  To celebrate him, Finish Strong Events is hosting the Gordon Gray Commemorative Fun Run.   This event is a non-profit event with 100% of the proceeds being donated to a fund in his memory. The run will take place on the rolling gravel paths of the Brightwater Trails in Woodinville, WA.  

​All are invited and welcome to come run and celebrate Gordon!

Gordon's Bike and race wheels for Sale - $2000

2014 Cervelo P2 105
A couple of years ago, Gordon spent many months and likely many hours researching the purchase of a new tri bike.  After extensive test rides and field tests at Northwest Tri & Bike, Gordon bought a 2014 Cervelo P2. He took wonderful care of the bike and his wife, Jeane, is selling it.

If comes with two sets of wheels - Mavic Kysirium and Flo Race Wheels

Current value of the bike and wheels is $2700.  Jeane is asking $2000.

If you're interested in purchasing the bike or a test ride, please contact Northwest Tri & Bike.  253 638 2453. info@northwesttriandbike.com.

Read a review and details about the bike HERE.
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Gordon Gray 5k
Saturday, January 9, 2016
9:00AM
Brightwater Trails, Woodinville
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One last look at 2015....

12/23/2015

 
The end of another year at RTB - our 13th! And RTB continues to be about PEOPLE.  We've come a long way from having 7 women running around in screen printed sports bras. Now look at you!  A couple hundred women and men...in equal numbers, by the way, training and racing your hearts out all over the world.  Settled here under an afghan with my laptop and spectacles a few days before Christmas, I am frankly in awe of what's happened in the baker's dozen of years that have passed in a blink.

I remember when a few folks on the team would do an Ironman. ONE Ironman. . Now, many of you are seasoned Ironman athletes, dragging more and more teammates with you to sign up for triathlon's hardest, longest, very rewarding day.   We had 73 Ironman entries in 2015 on RTB. That's got to be a team record.  
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2004? 2005??
And many of you did two or more IM in the season - a phenomenon unheard of in the amateur ranks only a few years ago. 2016 is shaping up to have even more.  A handful of you have very real potential of landing slots at Kona next year and there will also be our army of first-timers.  We are pulling for all of you! 

IM athletes haven't cornered the market on accomplishment.  The majority of you raced short course and 70.3's in alarming numbers. And our non-triathlon entries (swim, bike, running races, etc.) numbered in the hundreds.  In total team members raced more than 1500 times.  You conquered new disciplines, set PR's, trained your hearts out.  ​
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RTB saw fun & capable additions to our coaching and administrative staff this year, who join a group of folks who we are so lucky to have. The PEOPLE who are keeping the wheels turning at RTB are a gift - thanks to all of you for a great year! In particular - Kathy Morrisson - what a treasure that one is.  We'd be lost without her. I know I would

Our sponsors are actually PEOPLE too and we're grateful for their friendship and excited to be in the multisport playground together. We're very proud of the products and services they provide and certain that they will give the best you can get in their fields.   Sponsorship isn't just business - it's friendship and we value theirs.  Zach, Kathryn, Lance, Phil, Brad, Patrick, Rich - thank you!
As is the nature of all things, the triathlon landscape in the Pacific Northwest changes.  Not many years ago triathletes had a surplus of races to choose from and perhaps because of the surplus, many new races didn't make it. Even some of our area's most established races started seeing smaller numbers and couldn't make the numbers work to sustain the event. Issaquah, Lake Sammamish, Kirkland, Escape from the Rock - these are all races that at one time had over 1000 entries and now they're gone.  That makes me sad. Like many of you, I raced all of those events and have many great memories of my own victories and struggles!!  

Here at RTB we find ourselves with 3 triathlons that remain on the calendar in 2016.  Why is that?  What keeps our events growing and thriving? There's no doubt in my mind that it's PEOPLE who make the difference. Our  athletes & spectators experience a ridiculous surplus of volunteers, staff, sponsors, etc - who generously and passionately work together and make this excellent, exciting, unforgettable experience.  It seriously overwhelms me when I peel back a layer or two and think about what's actually happening out there.   Makes me all silly and sappy....

No doubt you're taking time this holiday season to wrap your arms around the people in your lives who have cheered for you, washed your smelly laundry, found your missing glove, raised a glass to your victories, and listened patiently to your struggles.  There are times our consuming sport consumes our best energy and the people closest to us get the leftovers. Let's give them the best we've got this holiday season - and into 2016. They deserve it .  And we will continue, from the home office, to try and give our very best to you.  You deserve it too.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
​Patty

RTB Events Just got a little Cheaper

12/9/2015

 
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Thanks to the State of Washington Department of Revenue and their removal of sales tax on events in 2016,  it's 9.5% less expensive to enter Raise the Bar Events.

Raise the Bar produces 3 triathlons and 2 swim races.  Click below to find out more about them and fill out the form below to receive news as it happen.  We'll be watching for you in 2016!

    Keep me in the Loop about RTB Events

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Why I Tri? by Scott Tongue

12/2/2015

 
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Why do I do triathlons?  This is a very tough question to answer, First of all it is very hard for me to put into words something that is so much part of my life, Secondly I am not much of a story teller.  I’m not even sure why they asked me to write my story, but I will do my best.  I guess I will start from the beginning… I am the youngest of 4 kids we were always active growing up.  I played soccer and football, even tried basketball but that hoop was so high up there and I couldn’t jump, but never really excelled at anything until I started wrestling, I loved the competition, my uncles and brothers were wrestlers as well. 

​One thing you should know about my family is we do a lot of things together, they taught me a lot.  All my hard work paid off when I won the state high school wrestling tournament my senior year, after graduation I followed my brother Pat to Big Bend Community College but soon realized it was time to move on to bigger and better things, like coaching high school wrestling and getting a job. 

After a few years of not being very active some friends decided to take up running and I signed up for my first 5k race. I can’t say I was hooked at first but it was fun, the only other time I had to run was to make weight for wrestling, even my mom and dad started running and doing races with us.  At that same time my brother Pat and cousin Tony were getting into triathlons and we would go watch and support them at Ironman races, and I would get very inspired, but that whole swimming 2.4 miles part really scared me. It wasn’t long before I started doing short sprints, my first one was Beaver Lake, my dad, aunt and some cousins all did it with me, I was mainly doing it for the fun of it and the comradery, around that same time we started getting into mountain bike and cyclocross racing. Mountain biking is probably my favorite thing to do. 


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In 2011 my cousins wife and friend of mine Amy Pedeferri talked me into joining the Raise the Bar triathlon team, she says that she had to drag me down to the kickoff party and almost sign my name for me, in order to get more serious about training, In May of that same year I was involved in a very serious accident when a car hit me while I was on my riding lawnmower (long story, ask me about it when you see me around and I will tell you the whole story) which put me in Harborview intensive care for 7 days and ended up with plates in my neck and rods in my back and a totally rebuilt shoulder. During my recuperation my doctors told me to keep moving and I took that to heart and started back with cyclocross and mountain bike racing 5 months after my accident.  Swimming was a great rehab for my shoulder and was what I thought to be my weakest event but is something that I really enjoy now.  

With the training from RTB and some reassurance from others that I could do it I was able to build up my confidence and endurance to do the Chelan Half Ironman distance in 2013, I finished, barely; let’s just say I had some time to think out on the run when I was walking.  Shortly after that race I got it in my head that maybe a full Ironman was possible for me.  In 2014, I flew to Tempe AZ to volunteer at the Ironman race and pulled the trigger the next morning and signed myself up for the race, looking back that was the hardest part, just signing up, and then the real training began.  Not just the physical training but the mental as well, I started asking advice from anyone and everyone I knew who had raced this distance about what they did in their training and what I should be doing, I may have annoyed a few of them, but the best advice that I received was to get a plan and to stick with it no matter what.  

Serious physical training started in June of 2015 and on November 15 the race day was here, did that ever go by fast.  I had trained and prepared, followed my plan, stuck with it and had the time of my life on the race course, My wife, 2 daughters, mom and dad, brother, cousin and friends all there cheering me on, I finished in 12hrs 45mins, WOW I still can’t believe that I did it.  

So this brings me back to Why I Tri?  I tri because I like to push myself, I enjoy living a physical lifestyle and I like the comradery of being around good friends, family and great teammates, Oh and as much as I don’t like to admit it I do have a little competitive nature in me.  I just want to thank all the people who encouraged me, gave me advice and especially those who had to put up with me and listen to the same old stories over and over on those long training days.

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  • Home
    • New to Triathlon?
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      • Contact
      • Mission
      • History
      • Staff
    • Blog
    • Sponsors
    • Privacy Policy
  • Members Only
    • Log in
    • Team Directory >
      • Directory Guide
      • Manage your Directory Listing
    • RTB Member Login
    • Andy Potts Racing & Coaching >
      • AP Coaching Options
      • 70.3 Training Groups
      • More at AP
    • Discounts >
      • Andy Potts Benefits
      • Multisport & RTB Lite Members' Sponsor Benefits
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      • Swim Member Sponsor Benefits
      • Swim Members' Event & Training Discounts
    • Forum
    • Team Calendar
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    • About the Team
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    • Andy Potts & RTB
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    • Andy Potts Racing & Coaching >
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        • Compare Plans
      • 70.3 Race Groups
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    • Swim >
      • Winter Weather Swims
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      • Swim Workout Library
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    • Run >
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    • Bike and Run Safety
  • Events
    • Volunteer Here!
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