Who are we and how did we evolved into Ironhead
Race productions.
When I retired to San Angelo after 24 years in the
Air Force, I went to work part time for the YMCA,
while attending Angelo State University. Ester
was working as an accountant in a local detail shop.
During the winter my training partner and good friend,
Marty Hedman talked about putting on our own event.
In December we laid the plans and in 1988, we produced
the first Annual YMCA Wool Capital Triathlon. 3 years
later, the La Quinta asked us if they could promote a
local biathlon. As this was a YMCA event, I restructured
it into a 5 km run-30 km bike- 5km run and so Strutter's
Duathlon was born. During this time, Ester went to work
for GTE (now called Verizon) Directories. In 1993, GTE
closed it's Directory offices and moved them to Irving.
Ester and I moved but I continue to this day to produce
the San Angelo events.
Our first opportunity to produce a multi-sport event in
Dallas came in October 1993. While in transit from San
Angelo, USA Triathlon advised me that the planned ITU
Duathlon World Championships to be held in France were
off and the risk was great that there would be no World
Championships. Working with Neil and Linda Nash, Rick
Frie, Jeff Salmon & Jim Hoyt, we put on the 1993 ITU
Duathlon World Championships with less 3 months lead time.
The event attracted over 600 athletes from 21 Nations. I
was recognized by Triathlete magazine as race Director of
the Year. The next year this event was an ITU World Cup,
where Lauren Maule won her first event as a Professional
Triathlete. And Metroplex Du-2-Du was born and now (2002)
is in it's
10th year. Metroplex Sprint came next, when the producers
of the old Tri-Cities Triathlon/Duathlon decided not to
produce the event any longer. That was 1995. In 1996 we
held the first Metroplex Sprint Triathlon. In 1998 the new
USTS was launched and Dallas was asked to be a part of it.
We produced the first and only USTS Dallas event. While the
event itself was a success, we were not comfortable with the
USTS management. 2 years later the series would be no more.
However, in 1999, we renamed the race "Ironhead Dallas
" and in 2000 moved from it's original May date to
September to better take advantage of the long summer season
in Texas. We moved Du-2-Du to April. In 1999 the City of
Denison asked us to produce a race for them and in October we
produced the Denison Dash, now one the biggest and most
popular pool swim races in North Texas. In 2001, we added the
Rockwall Triathlon and in 2002 we are privileged to partner
with the Cain Center in Athens to produce the only women's
triathlon in North Texas.
Our first Kids triathlon came in 1997. Working with the Adult
Education section of North Lake College, we produced the
Metroplex Kids Tri. One of the most popular kids events, this
race is in it's 6th year and has raised over $2,000.00 in
scholarship funds for deserving athletes at North Lake College.
In 2001 we added an adult event, the Strokes & Strides Aquathon,
a swim run event. Finally in 2001 working with Premiere Event
Management and AARP we held the second of 6 AARP sprint races at
North Lake. For 2002 this race continues as one of 15 AARP events,
nation wide.
Ironhead Race Productions now produces 13 events across north and
west Texas. We host nearly 4000 athletes annually, maintain a series
rankings system-The Ironhead MULTISPORT Series (IMS) and our events
have been repeatedly honored for their fairness, organization
and safety. In 13 years, Ironhead Race productions has produced 1
World Championship, 1 national Championship, 10 Regional Championships,
and Strutter's has been an ITU Duathlon World Qualifier every year since
1991.
|
