By Bill Plock
Of all times, during the week of the 2019 IRONMAN World Championships, Teri lost her beloved husband Chuck, after a battle with cancer.
2019 has been a tough year for Teri. She also attempted IRONMAN Boulder in June and was not able to finish. With hopes of qualifying for Kona, her summer turned upside down with the disappointing race, but much more importantly, with a turn for the worse as Chuck’s battle with melanoma cancer worsened.
Chuck and Teri met just a few years ago. The triathlon community was a big part of their lives and still is for Teri. Their love affair flourished and it’s clear in talking with Teri that despite having met Chuck later in life, he was the love of her life and vice versa. Teri finds so many parallels to life and triathlon and the sport and the community fuel her every day.
While in Kona this year, 303’s Khem Suthiwan collected some wonderful goodies from companies like IKOR, UCAN, SockGuy, Vega, Quantum and more. She even got a coveted swim cap from Clif Bar at the coffee boat. Contestants then answered a daily trivia question and those that answered were eligible to win the grand prize of products. And Teri won!
Teri, 303Triathlon and Mirinda “Rinny” Carfrae have crossed paths before.
In 2015 we had a different contest sponsored by Audi Boulder (now Audi Flatirons) and Teri won a workout session with Rinny. To win two contests, with hundreds of people eligible, seems like destiny right?
When told of winning Teri said, “A couple of friends pointed out that I had won a Kona bag. What a surprise! You see, I had DNF’d at IRONMAN Boulder this year, missing a Kona slot, then my husband’s fight against cancer took a turn for the worst in August and my motivation to train was very limited and my darling husband passed the week of Kona and I haven’t been sure if I would ever train again. Perhaps this is a sign that I am meant to use his determination and strength as motivation to keep up my Kona quest.”
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