Meet The Team: 2012 Florida

TeamEN is ramped and ready to make it happen in Panama Beach with 35 rock stars ready to roll!  Including the 4  double-top-secret TeamEN Ninja’s above!  The weather looks spectacular for racing and if race execution is the name, TeamEN has got game.

This is a lively bunch with HUGE mojo and lots of laughing and chatter!  Go TeamEN!

Meet a few of them below.

Kim Dubord

Kim from CT.  I live with my wife Sheri and 2 dogs, Maggie and Kona.  I’m an Assistant Brand Manager for Energizer Personal Care in my spare time.  🙂  Been doing tris since 2009 and with EN since 2010.  Started with a sprint, and I’ve been working my way up in distance ever since.  FL will be my first IM.  I’m probably one of the slowest EN athletes so  I expect to finish somewhere between 15-16.99 hours so its going to be a looonngg day for me.  Having EN support will be huge to keep me going.  (Hopefully some of you will be up late enough to see me at the finish!)  My parents will be cheering me too (and the rest of EN) at the race.  Looking forward to meeting my EN teammates!

Brian Comiskey

I am 43 yrs old and am married (Michaela) and have two boys (Dylan – 13 and Scott – 10).  This will be my 3rd time racing in PCB and my 7th Ironman.  I am targeting a 10:45 finish time this year after racing an 11:05 last year.  I have been with EN since July of 2010.  I am also looking forward to buying more custom airbrush swag on this year’s trip as not sure when I will be back in PCB again.

I am so excited for all of my friends that joined EN this year.  In Chi South, there is a total of 8-10 team members (Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, Mr. White, Mr. Orange, and The DeVAS (Deadly Viper Assassin Squad) racing Ironman® Florida.   It all started in January right before the Out Season, when I hosted a Computrainer demo/Intro to Power clinic in my pain cave so that everyone could get their learn on.  Spring comes and rolls into summer and something has changed on the open group rides.  There is clearly a new order and my EN 17-18mph peeps are now 19-20mph peeps and the 22+mph peeps are out crushing Strava KOM’s all over rural Will County.  Everyone got a “new” fast on the bike in 2012.

I am not too serious about all of this as evidenced by assumably the first Quentin Tarantino themed Florida pictures, posters, and t-shirts. Look for our support crew in the custom Reservoir Dogs shirts and Kill Bill shirts featuring the EN Chi South Faction.

Mantra on race day is same as all of 2012: line from Radiohead’s Idioteque: “Here I’m Alive. Everything All of The Time”.  Yep.

John Hamel

Hi, I’m a 42 year old divorced father of a beautiful 3 1/2 year old daughter who has endured countless long runs with me in her jogging stroller.  I live in Newport Beach, CA and Florida is my first Ironman, but I have been competing in HIM’s and other races for about 4 years.  I will be competing with a college buddy from New Orleans and couple other friends from CA, none of which are EN’ers, but they’re still (relatively) good people!!  I’ve been training with EN for 2 seasons and I improved my HIM PR by almost 25 minutes earlier this year, so I’m definitely a believer that Work Works.  Look forward to meeting everyone down in FL, enjoying the IM experience and the final result of all this work!!

Nicole Delaney

I’m 35 years old, from Ottawa, Canada, our Nation’s Capital. My fabulous husband Sean hails from England and he and our two amazing four-legged and furry kids keep me on my toes when I’m not at the office, in the pool or on the trainer.

Everyone watches Kona at some point growing up with shock and awe, but really, triathlon started for me in 2007, and I’ve fallen more in love with the sport every year since.

Looking forward to seeing the EN colors fly in Panama City Beach, and meeting the EN Florida Rock stars!

Marian DeSimone

Kate Sitler

Pat Ward

I am Pat Ward, 54 yrs. old, with two grown children. I just moved to St Clair Shores Michigan. This has been the most challenging year of my life. This will be my second Ironman® this year. I did Texas this spring with the EN team and had over a 1 hour PR. I have been a competitive athlete most of my life, fairly new to the sport of Triathlon. I ran my first mile ever in 2005. Since that time I have completed 16 marathons including qualify and running the Boston marathon. I learned how to swim in the spring of 2009 and also bought my first bike. This will be my fourth Ironman. I have also completed IMKY in 10 and St. George in 11 and Texas in 12. I joined the EN team in the fall of 11. I am excited and ready to execute my best ever IM.

Attila Matyas

Hi Team! I’m Attila Matyas, a 44 year old network engineer from Westmont, NJ.  I’m married to my wife Melissa and have two wonderful kids, Nicholas (8) and Sophia (4).  This will be my first Ironman.  I started in triathlon 3 years ago on a dare from a friend and after the first race I was hooked.  I’m extremely lucky and have a super supportive family that allows me to pursue my goals in the sport.  I’ve raced about a 15 races so far ranging from Sprint, Olympic and one HIM.  It’s been a great challenge learning how to swim and run which were both new sports for me.  I have a long way to go but love the EN philosophy and enjoy the team support.  My goal is to execute well and finish the race with a smile.

Jeff Braaten

Hi, I am a 55y/o physician from Abilene, Tx and really looking forward to this race. It will be my 8th IM and the 4th here at Florida so I should be fairly familiar with the course. I cratered at IM TX earlier this year during the run and am hoping for some redemption. I feel pretty much ready but you never know till you get to the starting line.

Doug Herr