TeamEN has 30+ athletes taking on Arizonathis weekend in the Arizona desert!  Looks to be a GREAT weather day and the team is ready to make it happen.  This is a favorite event for many of our racers and they can’t wait to light this firecracker.  Meet a few of us below.

And feel free to track us on race day.

Brian Kelly

2012 ArizonaRace Captain

My name is Brian Kelly from Minneapolis, Mn.  Arizona will be my 7th IM, and I am really looking forward to racing in the desert!  I have never even been to Arizona.  I am an empty nester with 4 grown children, and my wonderful wife, Kim,  of 32 years.  This is a nice time of life…time to train, do whatever, whenever I want.  I did IMOO in Sept. and had a fun, enjoyable day.  Hoping for the same kind of day in the desert!  Cheers!

Dusty Holcomb

My name is Dusty Holcomb and this is my second full year training EN style.  I am psyched to be racing Arizona which will be my 2nd Ironman® after racing Florida last year.  This is my 3rd season of triathlon and it amazes me how much you can learn in just a couple of years.  2.5 years ago I was 60 pounds heavier and couldn’t run more than a couple of minutes without losing my breath.  Thanks to a new lifestyle and a passion for multisport I am well on my way to becoming a “real triathlete.”  Fortunately for me I have the best support team in the world.  My wife Tonya has put up with my 4:00 AM workouts and long weekends of training.  The best part of the endurance lifestyle for me is that it is completely normal for our kids.  My daughter Maddie, who turns 4 next week, loves to ask me about my swimming, biking and running.  She can’t wait to grow up and become a “iron girl!”  Thank you to my family for helping me get to the starting line, see y’all at the finish!

Michelle Cellai

I have been with EN almost from the beginning, this is my 5th race season. I decided to make this a big year of racing because after IMAZ, I am standing down from long course racing to work on my doctorate. I am a Nurse Practitioner. This will be the first time my mom is coming to a race. My wonderful DH- Max- will be working. Already this year, I attempted St. George and I completed Vineman, as well as the local Patriot Half. This will be my first “flat” course. Wisconsin 2010 and Plymouth Iron Distance 2008 were not flat. Recent injuries have limited my training, so finishing will truly be an accomplishment.

Robin Sarner

Robin sarner.  46 yo.  Seventh iron.  Third this season.  Family physician in Tacoma, WA.  Hoping to go faster.

Julie Pfeifle

Rian Bogle

Hi! I’m Rian Bogle from Flagstaff, AZ. I’m a 41 year old computer scientist and mathematician with the US Geological Survey. I’ve been training and racing Triathlons for 2 years and joined Endurance Nation in January 2012. I’ve made huge leaps and bounds in my fitness and triathlon knowledge over the course of the past year training with the team. Arizona will be my second Ironman® race, and after having struggled through just finishing Ironman® St George in 2011, I’m looking forward to being able to execute this race properly and too my full potential. Cheering me on in Tempe will be my wife of 13 years Bridget and my 12 year old son Ian, both of whom think I am completely out of my mind to ‘enjoy’ doing these races, but get always good laugh out of seeing me in spandex and a pointy helmet!

Hi EN.  My name is Betsy Kantor Hoogenboom, and I am a 56 year old Anesthesiologist, wife and mother, living in Scottsdale, AZ.  Pictured at his birthday dinner, is my husband, Ron, a licensed clinical therapist and Scuba Dive Instructor and crossfiter; 20 year old daughter Claire, a junior at ASU, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, and President of the  ASU Club Triathlon team; and 17 year old Tom, senior in high school, Crossfitter and Bass player in a heavy metal band.  I have a wonderful family who has been supportive and patient during this journey to AZIM!  My daughter is doing a video documentary project for class following one of the local tri groups through their training, culminating in AZIM so she will be running all over the course, maybe running into me!

This is my second year in triathlon.  Previously I ran half and full marathons for 15 years, finally qualifying and running Boston this past April (with the help of Marathon nation coaching!).  I have had success in the local triathlon scene, making podium in age group several times at Olympic distance and my one 70.3® last fall.  This is my first longcourse IM.  I have enjoyed the EN program and the support of my teammates and look forward to the team gathering here in the valley for the race.  My goal is to enjoy the day,’ stay in the box’, and beat all the cutoffs.

Russ McKelvey

My name is Russ McKelvey. Arizona 2012 is my first Ironman® so my goal is just to finish before midnight with a smile on my face. Since I signed up last year, my wife and I have had a newborn, I started a new job at work, and have started to prepare for a deployment. Cailyn is now 1 month old and Bella is two years old. In the last two months I have spent three weeks in the field and traveled for three weeks so smart execution is critical for me as my training has been inconsistent. I am also racing for something larger than myself.

One of my co-workers is a Colorado National Guardsman and his 15 year old son has been fighting a very aggressive brain tumor since September 2011. His body is having trouble with the chemo and they are trying some new more targeted procedures. I am racing as Team Alex this year and trying to raise 5000 dollars for the Childhood Brain Tumor Association to fund research of new procedures like the one they are using. Please look at the fundraiser web page to learn more about Alex and what we are trying to do. The web page iswww.razoo.com/teamalex. Also, if you would like to help, please spread the word? ALEX STRONG!  Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson from Salina Kansas. 51 years old Orthopedic Surgeon. IMAZ  will be my 10th IM. After the epic challenge of finishing IM St George earlier  this year, I hope Arizona will not be quite so epic. My goal is 11:xx. Looking  forward to it!

Dottie Catlin

Fuzzy iphoto from my 5yo of my one thing, Flat Stanley Catlin. My name is Dottie Catlin, married and mom of three, ages 6, 5 & 2. Arizona will be my third IM. I love this sport and this team. I get so excited about race day. Making the trip out with me is my wife, Julie, and our best friend, Fiona. I look forward to putting my EN knowledge to the test again out in the desert this time! Flat Stanley Catlin really wants to become an Ironman, so I am hoping I can get him across that line again. See you all out there!

Marie Newton

Hi Team – my name is Marie Newton.  I’m 58 years old and live in Salt Lake City, originally from California.  Even though I’ve been interested in the sport for the past 20 years or so, I only started participating in local tri’s about 8 years ago.  Always been late to the party!  I have done 4 1/2IM’s in the past three years and found that I really enjoy that distance.  This will be my first Ironman.  My husband and biggest supporter, Steve, will be doing the race with me, it’s also his first.  He’s not an EN member, but half way through my training he saw how strong and fast I was getting and started to tag along on my training rides and runs.  Now, I have a hard time keeping up with him.  He drank the kool-aid!  It’s been a lot of fun training together for our big day.  A huge thanks to the EN team for helping me prepare for this journey.  I’m looking forward to meeting many of you in Arizona.

Ellen Charnley

I am 43, and just two years ago I was diagnosed with a complex congenital heart defect.  Doctors performed immediate open heart surgery to safe my life.  IMAZ 2012 will be my second Ironman.  My first was Arizona 2010, just 8 months after open heart surgery.  Frankly I had no intention of doing another IM,  I’d already achieved more than my wildest dreams in 2010 but a fellow cardiac athlete persuaded me otherwise and now together with 7 other cardiac athletes – we are team “IRONHEART” (all of whom have had at least one open heart surgery) and we are attempting to do something that has never been done before.   Oh and along the way, we are filming a documentary feature length film about our journey.  You can read more about HEART: Flatline to Finish line at www.flatlinetofinishline.com   Our mission is to raise awareness for heart healthy living and encourage folk to get off the couch and start moving.   We have been working with WTC for the past few months and race day will be fantastic.  We plan to capture every smile and every tear from the ground, the air and the water.  My husband, Don, is the Producer for the movie and he will be running around during race week making sure that we have everything covered.   For me this will be my last IM (my cardiologist has laid down the ultimatum!),  I intend to live every minute of it to the fullest and encourage my Endurance Nation family along the way!    Remember to smile you maybe on camera!

Amy Ferguson

Hi Team! I’m Amy Ferguson. I am 43 and I live in Alpharetta, GA with my husband Brett and two sons, Jack (12) and Wil (10). I left the corporate world in 2008 to become a stay-at-home Mom and the pay sucks but the benefits are immeasurable! I started triathlon in 2006 as means to get back into shape after having two babies 17 months apart, with absolutely no background in any of the three sports. I couldn’t swim a lap, didn’t own a bike, and could only string 4 miles together on the tread mill. I joined a local tri group and after six months of training I completed my first race, an Olympic distance. My second race was a HIM and my third was a sprint. The sprint was the hardest! I hate zone 4 🙂 Arizona will be my second IM. My first was Florida 2010, yeah, the one where it was 39 degrees at the race start. I’m excited to test my newly acquired EN Ninja skills, as I am working toward achieving a better finish time in Arizona than my first, but whatever the result, I feel so truly blessed to be able to have the opportunity to race.

Randy Pickard

Hello Everyone,  First off I want everyone to know it has been a pleasure meeting everyone and training the last year under EN. I think I am phyisically and mentally ready for this challenge but we will see come race day. I am a 45 year old father of 2 boys 21 and 25 and have been married for over 24 years to my lovely wife Michelle who hands down has been my rock during this training and preperation for the past year. Without our spouses support it would be impossible to complete or to even dream about such a time consuming event. My goal is simple yet complex, yes I have personal goals that only me and my rock solid training partners know but at the end of the day my goal is to finish Arizona the fastest I can or could that day and that will be good enough for me.

Will Hayes

Hi Team! I am Willard (Will) Hayes from Flagstaff, AZ. I am a 41 year old stay at home dad with an M.S. in Biology. I have been doing triathlons for about 1.5  years, and this is my first Ironman. I have a great, supportive wife, Heather, and two awesome kids, Maeve(9), and Powell(6). I am super excited about doing an Ironman® and meeting all the great people that have tackled this endeavor. I want to have as much fun as I can at Ironman, and I am thankful for EN giving me the resources that will make it possible!

Dan Bilingsley

My name is Dan Billingsley I am a 41 years old from Springfield, IL and I have been a triathlete for about 5 years now.  I have an awesome wife, Julie and two daughters, Chloe (11) and Sophie (7).  My family has been very supportive this entire year, and are looking to get their dad back after this race. This will be my second Ironman.  I did Wisconsin in 2010 finishing in 11:48. I have also done several HIM, including the World Championship 70.3® in Vegas last year. I am amazed in how much I learn every year.  I joined EN last year after signing up for IMAZ.  It was a long year starting with the Out Season, Short Course, Half Iron, and finally finishing the year with the Ironman® plan.  I love triathlon but looking forward to a lot of beer and down time with the family after this race.

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