Texas Relays Parties 2008

Fetterman: Triathletes can get all groovy

More than 700 athletes will flock to Lake Ray Roberts for Sunday’s annual Disco Triathlon. It has become a fun event for Dallas Athletes Racing.

“Most triathlons are more serious and feel more competitive,” said Mike Horowitz, who will be racing Sunday’s Olympic distance. “This is competitive but feels more casual. Some competitors and support staff dress in disco attire, disco music is played and the overall experience is more fun and more relaxed than most triathlons.”

Dallas Athletes began in 2001 as an organization that facilitated group training. Founder Tom Ryan emphasized health and fitness, the group dynamic and the beginner/intermediate athlete.

The group grew from 25 members the first year to more than 300. In recent years, membership has fluctuated between 280 and 320.

The racing component began with a kids’ triathlon in Coppell eight years ago. Dallas Athletes Racing now produces a dozen events. Ryan hired a lifelong friend, Dan Jones, to handle race logistics. Ryan focuses on maintaining the reputation that DA events “are parties where you can get a workout.”

Ryan makes the entire race experience fun, said Candy Sheehan, who will be doing her seventh Disco Tri. He shares important information such as the rules in a lighthearted yet serious way without lecturing, she said.

All Dallas Athletes events are themed so they can be non-intimidating, especially to newcomers, Ryan said.

The disco theme is a no-brainer, he said, because everyone knows disco.

“It’s in the DNA of the country,” he said. “It conjures up this image. You’re going to have people show up in multi-colored afros and gold chains. Everyone knows the music, whether you’re in Dallas or Duluth, Minn.”

That’s why Ryan and his company are expanding the disco brand. Dallas Athletes’ inaugural Disco Bike Rally will be Oct. 8 followed Oct. 9 with a half marathon, 10K and 1-mile, all in Gainesville, Texas.

Ryan said Dallas Athletes is talking with groups in Denver and Durango, Colo., about producing disco-themed events. He said the challenge is finding communities that understand the logistics involved, such as street closures, and want to collaborate to have a health and fitness event.

Valley View, the Disco Tri venue, has been an ideal site. It’s outside the bigger cities but close to Dallas-Fort Worth. The run offers shade, the lake is clean and the roads are in good condition for the bike rides.

Could April 4x400m be more than cameo for Gay? - The Texas Relays ...

It is hardly uncommon to see short sprinters running 400-meter races early in the outdoor season as part of their endurance training.

So on the surface, there is nothing incredibly surprising about today's announcement that Tyson Gay will join Jeremy Wariner, Lionel Larry and Reggie Witherspoon on a 4x400m relay team at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays on April 9.

But if you think back to some of Gay's comments late last summer and put this appearance into that context, it could be huge.

Last August, Gay openly discussed his renewed interest in running the 4x400m relay for the U.S. team at the London Olympics in 2012. At the time, it was an eye-opening revelation since he has competed almost exclusively over 100m and 200m individually and has been a member of the ill-fated American 4x100m teams at the Beijing Games and Berlin World Championships.

Gay fancied the same opportunity before the 2008 Olympics. Should it come to fruition next year, it would would put him in position to match Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis as the only male Olympians to win four track and field gold medals in the same Games and the first to win four golds on the track. Owens and Lewis both won the long jump, in addition to the 100m, 200m and 4x100m.

"I want to make the USA 4x400m (relay) team," Gay said matter-of-factly before the 2010 Diamond League finale in Brussels. "One day I want to be part of a team with Jeremy (Wariner) and the others, that is an experience that I've never had before."

Gay went on to explain that it's not like the U.S. would be selecting a chump for the relay in picking him, pointing out that he did run a personal-best 44.89, the 16th-fastest time in the world, in a 400m race at a meet in Gainesville, Florida earlier in the season. But he also acknowledged that he wasn't exactly conditioned to the event either.

"It makes you feel dizzy in the head and miserable in the stomach, but I want to try it," Gay said. "I'm a tough guy."

As far as the 4x400m relay goes, Gay has very little experience. In fact, he has only run the event once in his career, and it didn't turn out so well. In 2008, Gay teamed with Greg Nixon, Laboris Bean and DaBryan Blanton at the Texas Relays. running in Lane 1, Gay led off the relay in 45.23 and handed off to Nixon but the relay did not finish.

Before he will be seriously considered for the Olympic relay pool in the 4x400m, Gay knows that the coaching staff will need more evidence that he is a viable candidate. Teaming with Wariner at the Texas Relays is a first step in that process, one which could potentially unlock an even bigger door on this journey.

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