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Triathlon garners $7,000 for Rando Fund
By Maj. James Thompson
Cycling team OIC
Some 212 athletes participated in the Inaugural Lindsay Brown Memorial Triathlon at the Academy Saturday.
A total of 134 individuals, and 28 teams took on the 3,200 feet of elevation change in a 750m swim, a 14.69
mile bike ride, and a 5k run.
All saw Michael Hagen scream to the first-place finish in 1:09:35 and Deborah Janssen finish in 1:25:48, both
setting course records. For the Academy, a record 59 cadets participated in the individual event, and 48
cadets played a part of a relay team in the event.
Gordon Haller, the first Ironman winner in Hawaii, launched every swimmer at the start, and met most at the
finish line, including handing out all awards. R.K. Williams, vice commandant of cadets and Jake Schonig,
the cadet wing commander, also presented a special LB Memorial award to the most diligent working
sophomore cadet on the LB Tri staff. The Class of 2010 gave a special "Fallen Soldiers" portrait presentation
to the parents of Lindsay Brown.
Most importantly, the event raised $7,000 for the Dennis Rando Fund, a charity that provides plane tickets to
cadets to attend funerals of family members, and for the cadet wing to attend funerals for any fallen cadets.
In a tribute to Cadet Brown, who was involved in a tragic automobile accident last December, the Falcon
Groundspeed Foundation and the Academy's Triathlon Team are proud and honored to have executed an
extremely successful event. The comments from athletes, competitors, and volunteers have been truly
humbling. Perhaps the most eloquent is as follows:
"Major Thompson,
Please accept my congratulations on an outstanding event and tribute to Lindsay Brown. I can't imagine how
this inaugural Triathlon could have been more successful. Your entire team must know how much we,
as participants, appreciate all the effort and energy it took to plan and execute this event. No small feat
considering the "Red Tape" you had to navigate through to pull off this first-time ever USAFA event.
On a personal note, we knew Lindsay when she was 3 and have been friends with Ross and Terri ever
since. During and following the Tri, we spent time with the Browns. They confessed they had some nervous
energy leading up to Saturday's event because they needed this Tri to be successful. They were thrilled ...
ecstatic actually because Lindsay would not have settled for anything less than perfection. You've energized
all the tri-athletes, USAFA & community regarding this event and I believe it has the potential
of becoming an annual event bigger than anyone ever could have envisioned a few months ago. I can't
adequately express my sincere gratitude to you and all the volunteers.
V/R
Lt. Col. Charlie Schweitzer, USAF Ret."
No event is possible without the support of our many sponsors and this event was fortunate to have several.
Criterium Bicycles, Home Depot, USAA, Chipotle, Runner's World, Acme T-Shirts, USAFA Triathlon, USA
Triathlon, BodyGlide, Central Florida Parents Club, Deep Rock Water, Blue Ribbon Trophies, and REI all made
significant, generous donations of both funds and materials in order to make the event a possibility. Clearly,
without the phenomenal support of the 10th Mission Support Group, and the 90 cadet, military, and civilian
volunteers, nothing on race day would have been possible.
The USAFA triathlon team will be hosting a Spring and Olympic triathlon event in April, as well as the 2nd
Annual LB Triathlon next September. Interested athletes and volunteers should monitor
www.falcongroundspeed.com for details and updates.
By Maj. James Thompson
Cycling team OIC
Some 212 athletes participated in the Inaugural Lindsay Brown Memorial Triathlon at the Academy Saturday.
A total of 134 individuals, and 28 teams took on the 3,200 feet of elevation change in a 750m swim, a 14.69
mile bike ride, and a 5k run.
All saw Michael Hagen scream to the first-place finish in 1:09:35 and Deborah Janssen finish in 1:25:48, both
setting course records. For the Academy, a record 59 cadets participated in the individual event, and 48
cadets played a part of a relay team in the event.
Gordon Haller, the first Ironman winner in Hawaii, launched every swimmer at the start, and met most at the
finish line, including handing out all awards. R.K. Williams, vice commandant of cadets and Jake Schonig,
the cadet wing commander, also presented a special LB Memorial award to the most diligent working
sophomore cadet on the LB Tri staff. The Class of 2010 gave a special "Fallen Soldiers" portrait presentation
to the parents of Lindsay Brown.
Most importantly, the event raised $7,000 for the Dennis Rando Fund, a charity that provides plane tickets to
cadets to attend funerals of family members, and for the cadet wing to attend funerals for any fallen cadets.
In a tribute to Cadet Brown, who was involved in a tragic automobile accident last December, the Falcon
Groundspeed Foundation and the Academy's Triathlon Team are proud and honored to have executed an
extremely successful event. The comments from athletes, competitors, and volunteers have been truly
humbling. Perhaps the most eloquent is as follows:
"Major Thompson,
Please accept my congratulations on an outstanding event and tribute to Lindsay Brown. I can't imagine how
this inaugural Triathlon could have been more successful. Your entire team must know how much we,
as participants, appreciate all the effort and energy it took to plan and execute this event. No small feat
considering the "Red Tape" you had to navigate through to pull off this first-time ever USAFA event.
On a personal note, we knew Lindsay when she was 3 and have been friends with Ross and Terri ever
since. During and following the Tri, we spent time with the Browns. They confessed they had some nervous
energy leading up to Saturday's event because they needed this Tri to be successful. They were thrilled ...
ecstatic actually because Lindsay would not have settled for anything less than perfection. You've energized
all the tri-athletes, USAFA & community regarding this event and I believe it has the potential
of becoming an annual event bigger than anyone ever could have envisioned a few months ago. I can't
adequately express my sincere gratitude to you and all the volunteers.
V/R
Lt. Col. Charlie Schweitzer, USAF Ret."
No event is possible without the support of our many sponsors and this event was fortunate to have several.
Criterium Bicycles, Home Depot, USAA, Chipotle, Runner's World, Acme T-Shirts, USAFA Triathlon, USA
Triathlon, BodyGlide, Central Florida Parents Club, Deep Rock Water, Blue Ribbon Trophies, and REI all made
significant, generous donations of both funds and materials in order to make the event a possibility. Clearly,
without the phenomenal support of the 10th Mission Support Group, and the 90 cadet, military, and civilian
volunteers, nothing on race day would have been possible.
The USAFA triathlon team will be hosting a Spring and Olympic triathlon event in April, as well as the 2nd
Annual LB Triathlon next September. Interested athletes and volunteers should monitor
www.falcongroundspeed.com for details and updates.
