By Jean DePlacido
correspondent
—
Those long runs during indoor track season at Ipswich High in years past are now paying off for Adrienne Greenough.
Competing at the 2010 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships at Immenstadt, Germany, earlier this month, Greenough captured the bronze medal in the 20-24 women's age category.
"When I passed a girl from New Zealand with two kilometers to go, I had a feeling she was in third place," said Greenough, who took part as a member of Team USA. "Two girls from Portugal and Brazil were ahead of me, and I knew I had to go fast to stay ahead of the one I just passed.
"It was a great feeling running in the Alps. I felt strong at the end and kept pushing, but at the same time I couldn't stop looking around at the unbelievable scenery."
Greenough was one of 58 members of the U.S. team who participated, and almost all of them had done an Ironman (triathlon) before. Many of them told her that this course was particularly challenging.
Greenough's overall time was 9:52.15. She was the only US team member not in the elite category to win a medal. Defending champion Timothy O'Donnell captured the men's elite silver medal.
The four kilometer (2.4 mile) swim was followed by a grueling 130 K (81-mile) bike ride and finished with a 30 kilometer (18 ¬ mile) run.
"I'm so glad I went out for track in high school, because the run is always the last event and I love to go by people who are exhausted at that point," said Greenough, a 2005 Ipswich High graduate who is getting her Ph.D. at Duke University in cancer genetics research. "When I was in high school I played field hockey, indoor track and then tennis in the spring. Back then my focus was on tennis; I played club (tennis) as well. Now, it's the track background that's really helping me.
"We swam in a lake in the middle of the Alps, then had a very difficult bike ride up 6,500 feet. It was almost like climbing Mt. Washington on a bike. We went straight up and then straight down the other side of the mountain and through farm country with cows in the road. The people lined up along the side of the course, and when they saw somebody with a USA uniform they would cheer us on. I don't think they knew much English, but they spotted that uniform and really supported us. That was one of the nicest parts."
After taking a gym class that offered the fundamentals of the sport in her junior year at Duke, Greenough has been hooked ever since.
"I liked the idea of combining the three separate events right away," said Greenough, who makes her home away from home in Durham, N.C. "We have a triathlon team at Duke, started by a couple of national champions. Now there are over 40 members; we practice every day. Having others working with me to get ready for events is a huge help."
Without a swimming background, that part of a triathlon can be challenging, said Greenough. Same goes for the biking, especially when you have to contend with wind or rain.
But after getting through those two events, the running is actually fun for her. "I always seem to be able to gain ground there," she said.
This was Greenough's first trip abroad for the triathlon, but it won't be her last. In fact, she was somewhat of a celebrity among her American teammates for winning the bronze.
Last September, she won her age group at a half Ironman in Oklahoma City that was a qualifier and a 2009 long course US national championship. Her strong performance there earned her a spot on the USA team going to Germany for the Worlds.
In Germany there were 830 competitors from all over the world in different categories, including over 50 Americans in various age groups.
"Because I won the bronze, I automatically qualified for the nationals this year in Myrtle Beach in October," said Greenough. "That should be a nice, flat course.
"The coolest thing about triathlons is seeing people in their 30s, 40s and 50s out there. They say you perform best as you get older so that gives me something to look forward to.
"It's a treat to go different places and meet interesting people," Greenough added. "I find after working long hours in the lab, it's a wonderful stress release to train with my teammates and something I look forward to doing."
