Local women prepare for triathlon

KC Nordquist had a fairly active youth: swimming lessons, high school weight lifting and more swimming in college. To her, it was a way to relax and stretch.

After college, she spent the next 15 years sitting — whether at her job in the university bookstore, in a car to drive around the nation, or talking with buyers. It caused the weight to add up.

At 50, as a wife and stay-at-home mother of two in Shoreline, she found herself working harder than ever to bring her weight down and reach the ultimate goal: completing this year’s Danskin Women’s Triathlon.

“I don’t care where I finish as long as I finish,” she said. “So, unless I break a leg or become deathly ill the day before the race, I’ll do it.”

The Danskin Women’s Triathlon Series is the longest-running multi-sport series in the world. In its 19th year, the event has eight stops around the U.S., coming to Seattle on Aug. 16 and 17 with a group of about 5,000 women of all shapes, ages and sizes.

The motivation behind the course? Simply put: winning is finishing.

“I’m overweight, but I feel fine,” Nordquist said. “It’s an athletic sport that I can do, regardless of how I look on the outside and it’s a wonderful feeling.”

Another local participant, Lynnwood’s Sue St. Hilaire, was overcome with emotion when she watched her friend, Laura Galbreath, run the Danskin last year.

“I just went with her last year as a support person,” St. Hilaire said. “I went to take pictures. I was just so overwhelmed by the amount of participation — I wished it was me out there.”

A 45-year-old mother of three, St. Hilaire was scared to death when she signed up for this year’s triathlon, which includes a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike ride and five-kilometer run.

“Really, I was scared to death,” she said. “All I could think of was ‘where do I start?’”

Since signing up, she’s put herself through an intense 12-week program, including yoga, running circuits and intervals, and biking endurance.

Nordquist was determined to sign up for the Danskin, saying that as a child in Los Angeles, she watched the famous Iron Man Triathlon on television. After checking the Danskin Web site every day during February for the sign-up sheet, she got in and the thought of doing a triathlon hit her.

“When I finally signed up, I felt like I was going to throw up,” she laughed. “I started freaking out, I thought ‘I’m actually going to do this!’”

Nordquist committed herself to doing something every day. Whether it was swimming in open water, lifting weights at a health club or just walking around her neighborhood, she made the commitment.

Things have certainly been tough for her, though — she was sidelined for a month in June with bronchitis and a sinus infection. Paired with working as a substitute teaching assistant and being with her kids, she knew she had a lot to deal with.

“Before school got out, I thought I was really going to hit this before the kids got out,” she said. “Schedules are just weird.”

Though supportive, both KC’s and Sue’s families have had different thoughts on their participation. KC’s husband, Ed, has began to work out alongside her while Sue’s children have become her personal cheerleaders.

“I was on the treadmill one day and my six-year-old daughter came up alongside me and started screaming and cheering for me,” St. Hilaire said. “It was so energizing. That, for me, is the biggest reward.”

With the triathlon just one week away, both women continue training toward their pursuit of the finish line. Backed by their families, both Nordquist and St. Hilaire have a statement to make in completing the Danskin Triathlon — one that overcomes personal issues and continues to be a source of motivation to finish. Above all else, they say, they want to give their children someone to look up to.

“I have two kids to look after and I can’t be frumpy,” Nordquist said. “I can’t just sit and watch TV. I know what some people think, and I have to think ‘you don’t know me and you don’t know what I’m capable of doing.’ That’s why I’m doing this.”

St. Hilaire shared the same sentiment.

“I struggled with my weight my whole life,” she said. “I don’t want that for my kids, so I want them to see what I can do. Not everyone who’ll be out there can be on the cover of Shape Magazine, but any woman who could just come and watch one year can see that they can really do this.”