Congratulations Kaitlin Shiver USA
Triathlon National Champion
Local Runner Makes Good!
Kaitlin Shiver, Local Runner, Wins the USA National Triathlon
Championships
September 1, 2009: Months of hard training this summer and years of training as both a runner and a swimmer really paid off for
Satellite High School and University of Florida runner Kaitlin Shiver. Kaitlin, who was the State Cross Country Champion in 3A for 2
years and now runs for the University of Florida, has been training hard for triathlons this summer.
"I wasn't expecting to win overall," said Shiver, who attends the University of Florida on a track and cross country scholarship and is
unable to race triathlons during the school year. "I had never competed in something this big or on a national level. I had thought
that if I could get top five in the age group, I'd be happy,"
After returning to her family's Satellite Beach home this summer, Shiver upped her cycling game, building prowess under the
sometimes punishing leadership of Melbourne's 10:13 Ironman triathlete, Ed Donner, and Palm Bay's Adam Ullein, who broke five
hours at Ironman Florida 70.3 in May. However, the guys were quoted as saying, "The workouts wouldn't have been so hard if it
weren't for Kaitlin pushing the pace. She is an incredible athlete and very tough".
"I had never thought that I could average 23 miles per hour for 40K," said the 20-year-old exercise physiology major whose 1:04:33
bike split on the undulating Nationals course was more than five minutes quicker than the fastest flat 40K she rode last season.
"Training with Ed and Adam was hard at first and I was sweating tears, but it has made a tremendous difference."
The former Satellite runner completed the 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K run in 2:08:13, finishing more than two minutes ahead of
her closest competitor. This was a dominating performance, especially for a debut at the national level. Kaitlin will represent the USA
next year in Europe for the Worlds.
Way to go Kaitlin!
Copyright 2009 by Florida East Coast Runners