Dwayne Windisch played softball before he began his foray into multisport, which started with a four mile road race—the Fort Collins Turkey Trot.  He gradually increased the distances of running races he entered, and then added mountain biking to the mix to compete in the fat tire division of the Mile High Duathlon Series.  Due to his consistency, he won the fat tire division title in 2006, which spurred him to buy a triathlon bike.  Now Ironman Arizona is on his racing schedule for 2010.

Erin Crisson leads Dwayne Windisch
and Elizabeth West down a trail in
Rocky Mountain National Park

For Erin Crisson, triathlon represented a way to be active outside after she had her second child.  With no prior background in endurance events, she was bored at the gym as she tried to get back into shape after her pregnancy.  That’s when a friend convinced her to do the Greeley Triathlon.  She was hooked and went on to do the Danskin and Tri-Babes triathlons last summer as well. 

When Crisson walked into Nick and Nadia Sullivan’s triathlon store in Loveland to find out about more races, she wasn’t planning on joining their triathlon team.  She didn’t think someone so new to the sport would be ‘team material.’  But then Nick Sullivan explained to her the mission of Team 3xFast:  “to promote healthy lifestyles through the sport of triathlon” with a focus on fun and team spirit.  And Crisson realized she had found a perfect opportunity to learn more about her newfound sport.

The Sullivans opened their triathlon store in April of 2007 with a goal of sponsoring existing triathlon clubs.  “But we soon realized that there were many more triathletes than clubs,” said Nick Sullivan.  They kept fielding requests about whether the store organized group rides, runs and similar events.  As a result, they decided to create a team community to help people enjoy triathlon more.

The victorious Team 3xFast at
last year's 24 Hours of Triathlon

The team has five key requirements for members, including the expectations to volunteer at one or more events each year and to “maintain a fun, positive attitude” because “fun is what it’s really about!”

However, all this focus on fun doesn’t mean the group doesn’t get competitive.  Last year, they sent a team to the 24 Hours of Triathlon—an event in which competitors do as many loops of a short course triathlon as they can in 24 hours—and won the relay division for open teams with four or more members.  They completed 23 full triathlons—consisting of a 0.24 mile swim, 11.2 mile bike and 2.6 mile run—plus an additional swim in 23 hours 59 minutes and 1 second.

Just as rewarding as coming away with the victory was the unofficial award they received for being the loudest and most enthusiastic team.  Despite the sleep deprived atmosphere, team members who weren’t currently swimming, biking or running were often out on the course cheering on their own racer as well as competitors on other teams throughout the night and day of the 24 hour event.

Terry Chiplin in the middle flanked by
Team 3xFast members Elizabeth West,
Jeff Bucy and Dwayne Windisch

Team 3xFast plans to compete again in the next 24 Hours of Triathlon to be held in the Midwest in 2011.  And three members—Andy Maples, Lindsey Higerd and Nick Sullivan—are planning to compete in Ironman Coeur d’Alene next year.  In 2010, beyond the many regional races in Colorado they will be doing, the team will send four athletes to Ironman Arizona and twelve athletes to the USAT Club National Championship in South Carolina.

The welcoming atmosphere of the team encourages athletes with a variety of abilities.  As Crisson put it, “The average Joe can be as involved as the Ironman athletes.”  In the individual sport that is triathlon, Team 3xFast has found a way to employ Chiplin’s method of ‘sheep-dogging’ to create a true team environment.

The Colorado Triathlete
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