Kimbrough Shifts Gears, Wins Tri Waco Triathlon

<image above> Chris Kimbrough at the bike/run transition before winning the Tri Waco Triathlon <image above>

Chris Kimbrough, 55, likes to push her body — all five foot three inches and 105 pounds of it. A top-ranked runner, she’s won the Statesman Capitol 10,000. She’s run the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim, 44 miles of rugged switchbacks, descents and ascents. Add Olympic marathon trials qualifier to her resume. And let’s not forget that she broke the women’s beer mile world record back in 2014.

But Kimbrough, a mother of six, recently shifted gears and set her sights on a triathlon — the Tri Waco Triathlon on June 29 to be exact.

“I had been doing a lot of ultra running, but kept getting injured,” said Kimbrough. “So I started training for the triathlon in late April. Basically it was an eight-week plan.”

Coached by triathlete age group ace Cindy Salazar, Kimbrough worked in some bricks, cycling for around 70 minutes followed by a five-mile run. Her weekly training included cycling around 100 miles; swimming around 5,000 yards; and 20–25 miles of running.

“I’d do longer rides of fifty miles on the weekend,” said Kimbrough, a sports massage therapist. “I tried to keep my running high quality, with a nine or 10 mile longer run on Sundays.”

Headed into the Olympic distance race (1500M Swim | 40K Bike | 10K run), Kimbrough wasn’t sure what to expect. She hadn’t raced a triathlon in 22 years. But the hiatus didn’t seem to affect her.

“We jumped off a dock into the Brazos River, two at a time,” she said. “The water was pretty warm and the 1,500-meter point-to-point swim was actually long. Maybe more like 2,000 meters. I came out of the water fifth among women.”

After a smooth swim/bike transition, she hopped on her bike to tackle the 40K course. “The bike course was three loops, with a big hill, so we hit that three times,” she said. Kimbrough passed four women on the bike route, moving into second place. A one minute run bike/run transition, then she was on her way, clicking off the miles on the 10K run.

“The run was hard,” said Kimbrough. “It was an out-and-back course into Cameron Park. And it was super hilly. I passed one woman on the run but I didn’t really know what place I was in until someone shouted that I was first woman with two miles to go!”

Closing with a 47:25 10K run, Kimbrough won the women’s race, breaking the tape in 2:33:12, good for 17th place overall.

“It was a really positive experience,” she said, adding that her next race would be the Kerrville Triathlon at the end of September. “I think I found what I want to do for a while.”

Upcoming races: Sunday, July 13, the Red, White and Blue Half Marathon at 7:00 a.m., at Marble Falls Mustang Stadium in Marble Falls. Saturday, July 19, the Popsicle Dash 5K at 7:30 a.m. at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock. Saturday, July 19, the Stars and Stripes Half Marathon 5K/10K at 6:30 a.m. at the Stars and Stripes Drive-In Theatre in New Braunfels.