In April at the Los Locos Duathlon, members of Memphis Thunder Racing dawned the new orange and blue apparel that would fill multisport race courses across the region, as well as many parts of the country this past season. With well over 300 individual multisport event finishes, Memphis Thunder Racing truly had an incredible 2012.
Thunder’s roster stayed fairly steady with a small increase to just over 160 active members. Staying true to the motto of “Triathlon for All Ages, All Levels”, Thunder athletes filled the front, middle and back of nearly 50 different triathlons and duathlons, as well as countless other running, swimming and cycling events. As always, Thunder gear could also be seen along side race courses while members volunteered and helped at many events throughout the region.
Memphis Thunder welcomed on our youngest athlete on the team at just 15, Seth Rider. Member David Mitchell, at age 66, fills in as the oldest member, and has been routinely cleaning up in the 65+ category.
Many members of the team had breakout years with more members than ever stepping onto their respective age group podiums. In the process, we watched many members across the spectrum finish their first multisport event, set new personalbests, or move up to longer distance races. Members Chris Bowers, Craig Conley, Wendy Fejfar, Jonathan Gerzetich,Martin Jones, Justin Keeton, Freddie Nalos and Tom Wilson all celebrated in becoming first-time Ironman finishers. Additionally, about a dozen members of MTR finished their very first multisport event in 2012!
Thunder also had some very high end performances with three members, Lesley Brainard, Walt Rider and Sandy Meneley, competing at the Ironman World Championship, and Mark Newman and Jeff Fejfar competing in the ITU Age Group World Championships. Both Sandy and Mark took fourth in their respective age groups at these prestigious events! Other honors included two Age Group Duathlon National Championship titles for Walt, and an Age Group Sprint National Championship title for Jeff.
All of this participation and individual successes helped Memphis Thunder Racing secure back the USA Triathlon Southeast Region Club Series Championship for both the Large Club Participation category and the High Performance category!
Through the love of training and racing, new friendships have formed, old friendships have grown, and all the members of Memphis Thunder Racing continue to pursue healthy, active lifestyles into the future. Can’t wait to see what 2013 will bring!
Much of what the club does is possible through the support of our team sponsors: Marx-Bensdorf Realty, Bike World, Swanky’s Taco Shop, Lendermon Sports Medicine, Bluff City Sports, and Results Physiotherapy. Memphis Thunder Racing is also excited to have brought on three new sponsors this fall for the 2013 season: Mid-South Multisport Endurance Coaching, BioMechaniks, and Siskind-Susser Immigration Lawyers. The entire team cannot thank these sponsors enough for their dedication to our team.