Triathletes run, ride, swim against domestic violence
By Jeff Harvey
Contributing Reporter

If campus seemed a bit livelier on Oct. 7 than most Sunday mornings, it was most likely due to the scores of athletes who swam, biked and ran around the grounds of campus as part of the fourth annual Baptist Medical Center Excellence Triathlon.

Over 350 athletes, volunteers and spectators assembled in Kentner Stadium to open the event. The race kicked off at 8:30 a.m. with a 300-yard swim in the Reynolds Gymnasium pool.

Participants then grabbed their bicycles in the stadium and embarked on a 13.5-mile trek that took them around campus, into Winston-Salem, and back to Kentner. After re-racking their bikes, racers began a five-kilometer run around campus and on the university cross country trails. The event came to a close early Sunday afternoon as everyone involved met in the stadium for the presentation of awards.

“The race was a blast,” junior Duncan Yoder said after participating in his first triathlon. “The volunteers were great and everyone cheered on everyone else. It’s a great race environment, especially if you want to try your first triathlon.”

Athletes came from all over the Southeast and the United States to participate in the triathlon. One came from as far as San Diego. Other racers included teams of university students and faculty, community members, the Appalachian State University triathlon team and several premiere athletes from around the region. Many team captains represented the university’s health and exercise science department. Each triathlete paid a $40 entry fee that went toward event expenses and the fund for domestic violence programming.

“Despite the cold early morning temperatures, I couldn’t have asked for a better race,”

triathlon director Kristin Kidd said. “This was by far the best triathlon yet.”

Kentner Stadium served as a central location for race day. Participants took advantage of free massages and food available in the stadium. Everyone involved was treated to free Q’doba Mexican cuisine during the event. A number of local businesses donated food and a combined $8,000 as sponsors of the event.

Also in Kentner, race-goers could meet the Demon Deacon mascot and Hunter Kemper, a member of the 2000 United States Olympic triathlon team that competed in the Sydney games.

In addition to signing autographs and talking to participants during the event, Kemper also presented the awards to the race winners.

Top finishers received gold, silver and bronze medals with a purple ribbon, the universal symbol for domestic violence prevention.

The Women’s Health Center of Excellence, a branch of the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, holds the event to raise money for domestic violence awareness and prevention. The triathlon is the chief fundraiser for the center’s Fall Initiative program, which focuses on gaining attention and support for this social issue.

Community education is one of the chief goals of the center and the program. It sponsors dating violence workshops at the local YMCA and makes presentations to students and other citizens at many venues throughout the year.

Additionally, the center sponsors a program designed to assist doctors in identifying victims of domestic violence.

The medical center also sponsors a $12,000 research grant that can be used to investigate the topic of violence against women. The grant is available to students at the Reynolda and Bowman Gray campuses, and the deadline for application is in November.