WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — The pool, a stationary bike, and an indoor track—the places inside Odyssey Fitness in Wilkes-Barre that are home to the Old School Indoor Triathlon.
"It's an easy way to get people introduced," said Gregory Banks, the owner of Odyssey Fitness. "Consider doing the smaller ones and working your way up to the Wilkes-Barre one and things like that."
Whether you are a solo competitor or part of a team, this triathlon starts with a 400-meter swim. That's 20 laps in this pool, tracked by volunteers keeping your time and keeping your count.
"Everybody thinks that biking is easy. They remember biking as a 10 year old," said race coordinator Lou Ciampi. "Biking is the hardest element. That's where you build all of your fitness on the bike."
On a steady resistance level, participants bike a distance of five miles as fast as they can while being timed and cheered on by other triathlon enthusiasts.
"I'm a terrible athlete but a great coach. I'm a great cheerleader," Susan Dummar said.
Dummar participated in this event when it started in the 1990s. She's thrilled to see the event grow and include competitors of all ages.
"I'm so happy to see that. I think our youngest competitor today was 17 so far, and I know there's somebody that was 61."
Finally, it's time for a two-mile run on the indoor track inside the fitness center, another 20 laps.
"I'm not a runner," Adrienne Neary said. "Doing it with a friend helps."
If you don't have a friend to motivate you along the way, Ciampi says it involves your mental strength just as much as your physical, whether your repetitive activity is in the pool or on the track.
"Try to focus on one lap at a time. It's a lot like that when you're running laps around the track. You can't do the 17th lap before you do the third lap. So, you got to break it down into like quarters or something," Ciampi advised.
No matter the standing, these multisport athletes tell Newswatch 16 that this was really fun with great energy, a supportive community, and a personal challenge
"It was awesome," Kim Sweeney said. "I could hear people cheering my name and that kind of was what pushed me to keep going. You know, the vibe was just really awesome."
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