LAKE STEVENS — Josh Fountain chose triathlons because, well, he didn’t want to choose.
A swimmer since he was five, Fountain later started running track and cross country, and loved running nearly as much as swimming. So as he got older, rather than focus on one of the two, he jumped on a bike and started competing in triathlons.
On Sunday, the Lake Stevens High School graduate and University of Washington junior will be one of roughly 1,400 participants in the Lake Stevens Ironman 70.3 Triathlon.
“I really love swimming, then in middle school I started doing track and cross country,” Fountain explained. “I didn’t want to have to pick between them so I just added the bike into the equation.”
While Fountain doesn’t have expectations of winning the event, the 20-year-old does hope to have a strong showing in the 20-24. At last year’s Lake Stevens Triathlon, his time of 4 hours, 37 minutes, 40 seconds was more than 40 minutes better than his time the previous year.
The Lake Stevens Ironman is one of 28 qualifiers worldwide for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, Fla., and is the only qualifier in the northwest. In a 70.3 triathlon, athletes swim, bike and run half the distance of an Ironman Triathlon, meaning particpants start with a 1.2-mile swim, then bike 56 miles before running a half marathon (13.1 miles).
This weekend’s race has grown rapidly in its early stages according to race director Bill Burke. After having just 370 athletes two years ago, the race attracted over 1,000 last year, and is expecting a field of about 1,400 Sunday.
While Fountain enjoys racing in his home town, the Ironman 70.3 is a longer race than he prefers. Fountain says he hopes to someday complete a full Ironman — “I like to push my body and see how fast and far I can go,” he explains — but for now enjoys competing in Olympic-length triathlons (1.5 kilometer swim, 40 K bike, 10 K run).
Fountain, who is the president of the UW Triathlon Club, competed last month World Championships in Vancouver, B.C. in the 20-24 age group. He hopes to continue improving, and maybe someday compete at a higher level, but more than anything, Fountain wants to keep enjoying the sport for as long as possible.
“I just want to keep having fun with it, and if I keep having fun I figure I’ll keep dropping time,” he said. “Sure, the ultimate goal would be the Olympics, but as long as I’m having fun I’m fine.”
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