UPDATES:

  Holloman has some kind of maneuvers going on or whatever the equivalent is called in the Air Force. So, the Raptor is moving to a week later than scheduled. It will be on Sunday, April 18. All other particulars are the same.

First some major and minor announcements. The MVTC Triathlon scheduled for March 28 has been cancelled. You will all remember that Don Shepan suffered major health problems last year which necessitated the cancellation of the race in 2009. He & Genia are still not feeling  up to the stress of orgainising a major race. We wish the Shepans all the best and thank them for all their years of work and dedication. In recognition of their past service and the heath challenges of last year, the Series recognised Don & Genia at the recent awards ceremony with a special tribute to express our thanks.

 

Some minor changes to the scedule involve a weekend swap between the Polar Bell and Jingle Bell triathlons. The Polar Bear will now be on Saturday, December 4. The Jingle Bell will be on Sunday, December 12. Remember that thises races will count for the 2011 season.

 

The awards ceremonies for 2009 have come and gone. The first was a semi-formal dinner held in El Paso on January 16. As noted before, this was an extraordinary bringing together of two generations of triathletes. The guest of honor was our sportsmanship award winner, Diane Proud. One of the great multi-sport athletes in the entire country, she originated from El Paso and was here for the beginnings of the Southwest Challenge Series way back in the inaugural year of 1991. Diane was much loved by all those athletes of that era. She was recently diagnosed with ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Her old friends flew in from all over the country. We also had a nice showing of 2009 award winners. These were presented with a great deal of humour and the recipients proved to be not only great athletes, but great sports, as well. It was a poignant and delightful meeting of young and old who had in common the love of our sport.

 

Another less formal presentation was made after the White Sands Duathlon on February 13. Our thanks to the White Sands staff for allowing us the venue for our celebration.

 

The 2010 season is now well on it's way. John LeRoy, our pointskeeper, is already up to date and has the results for the first three races tabulated. Access the page on our website. As always, please check your points often and notify John or myself immediately if you suspect any errors. Sean Connery, our webmaster, has the schedules up and is about to be even busier with some new features we hope to have up soon. Hopefully, we can get some pics up of the awards dinner, as well.

 

Next up is the Sully Super Sprint on March 21 in Alpine, Texas. This is one of my favorites and pound for pound one of the most challenging races on the circuit. The run, particularly, is a real "chase the rabbit" thing. Over hill and dale, through the valley, around the tree, and under the branches. Toughest 5K I've ever encountered. The town itself is also a delight. Reeks with wild west flavor. Great race to bring the family and make a two day holiday out of it.

 

I'll have more to report shortly, but have already taken too much time out of my training schedule!

 

See ya'll at the races!

                           

The anticipation can end! The schedule is for 2010 is here! More races than ever. By my count 37 races with the possibilty of doing 33 as four of them are on the same day.The Buffalo Springs offerings from the Greers still give the athletes a choice beteen the Toughie and the Shortie for Buffman and Squeaky  (Dog House Sprint) and the BSLT Ironman 70.3 (Tri-Raider Sprint). In the other two instances, the respective races are so geographically distant there shouln't be any reasonable conflict. Sadly we lost Ransom Canyon, but welcome back the Defined Fitness folks from Rio Rancho with both a duathlon and triathlon. Mark Mico's Spring Fling race is also an addition this year.  El Paso's Labor Day weekend race has been updated with a new location and an official USAT race director. Some of the dates have changed, but you'll recognize your old favorites returning.
 
 Printable 2010 Southwest Challenge Series Race Schedule
 

Most exciting to me is that I feel that my long time ambition of sanctioning an ample number of quality races in each of the three sectors of the Southwest Challenge territoryare now available. All athletes should have a fair chance now at being competive for year-end honors.

 

The scoring and rules for 2010 will remain the same, except the qualifying number of races for eligibilty for post-season honors will be raised to five. We will still take your best eight scores with a quarter point awarded for each race after eight. This opens the competiton to both the studs and the blue collar folks who like to race as many as possible. Every one has a chance.

 

There is in the works for next year a Championship race open only to the year-end podium finishers with no age group classifications so that the top three men and women in all the Southwest can be determined. There were a lot of requests for such a race, and while not yet official, we're getting close to making it happen.

 

Stay tuned for the Awards presentation. The Saturday of the White Sands President's Day Duathlon is looking prime right now. For those interested, there may be some evening festivities in addition for those who want to partake and enjoy a little extra fanfare.

 

This should be an exciting year, as we here at the Southwest Challenge Series have several ideas. innovations, and projects working to make 2010 a real year to remember.

 

Thank all your Race Directors at every chance and stay tuned to this website for new announcements regarding the Awards.

 

Best of luck to everyone.

Merry Christmasand Happy New Year!

 

1st Southwest Challenge Series Awards Presentations for the 2009 season completed 

  
There will also be a presentation of awards immediately following the White Sands President's Day Duathlon on February 13 which is the first race of the calendar year. Remember that registration for this race closes January 29 for mail-ins, and February 5 for fax and e-mail. If you're unable to attend that race, we will have the awards at each succeeding race this spring available for pick-up. 
Click here for a complete list of this year's award winners

 

This years Sportsmanship Award went to Diane Proud.  Diane was an El Paso native in the nineties and one of the original regional Greats of our sport. Dianne raced in the innagual SouthWest Challenge Series and all during the early years of triathlon.  A truly gifted athlete with a personality that was a gift to others she was both the envy of and inspiration to her competitors. Diane moved to Dallas with her husband and family in the late nineties, so is unknown to many Series competitors today. She went on to become a regular member of countless Team USA squads in both duathlon and triathlon, and was a regular on the All-American rolls for many years. Returning often to El Paso over the years, she joined in many of our training sessions and has remained a favorite amongst all the Old Southwest Challenge Series original core athletes. 
 

This past year Diane was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. She continues to be an inspiration with her courage in this last great challenge. Needless to say her travel abilities were the the prime consideration in choosing a time and place for our ceremony.  Click here for link to recent article in Dallas Newspaper about Dianne's ongoings http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/dfetterman/stories/121209dnspofetterman.3b24b75.html

 

Cheers,

Mark Balsiger

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Also, we have this update from John LeRoy concerning our friend and long-time fellow competitor, Ken O'Connor who was diagnosed this past winter with prostrate cancer. Your prayers and good wishes are requested.

 

Many of you have asked about Ken O'Conner, one of our more experience competitors (in the 70+ age group), since you haven't seen him at the races since last winter. Ken has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and has been undergoing radiation treatments. He has been having to make daily drives from Grants to Albuquerque but has recently completed the last treatments. I am anxiously awaiting word from Ken as to the status of the cancer and whether additional treatments will be necessary. I am hopeful that he will be back competing in the fall races; there is a huge vacancy at the races without him. You can send Ken your regards at oconnor@7cities.net

That leaves us with eight races to go in the 2009 season. Still time to rack up plenty of points to capture a podium spot in your respective age group. If you liked the awards last year, we have even bigger expectations for this year.

 
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This is a call for everyone's prayers in response to some very sad news regarding one of our band. Dianne Proud is one of the original athletes from the days of the inception of the Southwest Challenge Series. At that time, she was an El Paso native. One of the finest athletes to ever come out of our area, she was a perenial Series age group winner, and went on to become a familiar face on many TEAM USA groups in countless world championships. She is a repeat All-American over the years, and one of this area's most beloved personalities, especially amongst those early athletes.

This week Dianne received her tragic diagnosis of ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. She is the second of our number in recent years to come down with this horrible and debilitating  condition. We all remember John Stermer, who after a two year battle left us in 2006.

This is a call for everyone's prayers in response to some very sad news regarding one of our band. Dianne Proud is one of the original athletes from the days of the inception of the Southwest Challenge Series. At that time, she was an El Paso native. One of the finest athletes to ever come out of our area, she was a perenial Series age group winner, and went on to become a familiar face on many TEAM USA groups in countless world championships. She is a repeat All-American over the years, and one of this area's most beloved personalities, especially amongst those early athletes.

Dianne moved from El Paso several years ago, but has always kept her El Paso connections current and vibrant most recently celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary where she was married in Soccorro, TX.  . She has communicated an optimism and fighting spirit that we, in the realm of triathlon, are all too familiar with, and hence,she is becoming an inspiration to us all.  Dianne currently works at the Cooper Aerobics fitness center in Dallas, TX.  Read more about Dianne on the Copper Clinic Website.

This disease seems to prey on the athletic. Indeed, it bears the name of one of the most famous baseball players to ever step up to the plate. It has been featured in recent Kona Ironman races as afflicted athletes have had friends competing in their name and on their behalf.

We, here at the Southwest Challenge Series, rally around Dianne in this time when she is searching for sources of strength from all quarters, and on her and her family's behalf, we ask the prayers and support of you all.
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Attached is the list of award winners for each age group for 2008 Season.

 

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