Photo by Patti Fahle
Paused for a moment on Hill Street recently are two local residents training for serious, international competition. Chelen Kost and Brant Fahle are long distance triathlon athletes.
Have you seen these two cycling or running around town? Suffield residents Chelen Kost and Brant Fahle had a busy summer training in Suffield and surrounding towns for triathlon competitions.
In July, both competed in Ironman Lake Placid, which is a combination of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. In addition both competed in September as part of Triathlon Team USA against top amateur athletes from around the world.
Chelen competed in the ITU World Championship Olympic distance triathlon in Cozumel, Mexico. An Olympic Distance Triathlon is a 1.5-k swim, followed by a 40-k bike ride and then a 10-k run. She qualified to compete in Cozumel after competing in the Age Group National Championship race in Milwaukee last summer. Chelen finished 11th in her age group.
Brant competed in the ITU Long Course World Championship Triathlon held in Oklahoma City. The Long Course race is a 4.5-k swim, a 120-k bike ride and a 30-k run, three times the distance of the Olympic Triathlon. Brant qualified for his race in Oklahoma last summer and finished 15th in his age group. Both have qualified to compete at the Age Group National Championship in 2017 in Omaha and the chance to earn another spot on Team USA ITU World Championship in 2018, which will be held in Australia.