1,200 to 1,400 entrants, selling out months
in advance. Now, this event has become a
major fundraiser for the YMCA. Y director
Dick Jones says the triathlon raises money
for countywide community outreach. Dick
has also become a triathlete largely because
of the good energy radiating from all
involved in such a great event.
Triathlons have experienced unprecedented
growth during the past decade with
more than 132,000 members in 2010 as
well as 325,000 one-day memberships in
the United States Triathlon Association.
In a handful of senses, 13-year-old Thomas Heffron knows what
it’s like to lead the pack. He is the oldest of four, with two brothers
and a sister, a standout student at Roland-Grise Middle School,
and an exceptional athlete. Thomas is, in short, a walking trifecta.
So it should come as no surprise that Thomas is an avid participant
in local triathlons, the three-part race that challenges participants’
endurance and agility in water, on feet and on wheels. A rising eighthgrader,
Thomas is also the youngest participant in several recent local
triathlons, effectively staking claim as an athletic wunderkind.
Thomas’ still-budding career as a triathlete stems from a carefree
curiosity that has ultimately solidified itself through his love of
— and seemingly innate ability for — speed sports. He swims yearround
for the Waves of Wilmington and has been running for as
long as he can remember, tracing his thirst for velocity to his posttoddler
soccer days.
“Last year, some of my friends told me they’d done youth triathlons,
so I figured I’d start to train for one,” he says casually, failing
to mention that of the friends who spurred his interest, he was the
youngest and also among the fastest. His humility hardly seems
contrived.
Thomas finished the Wilmington YMCA Triathlon last September
in 1:41:03. Ten months of extensive training enabled him to shave
six minutes off his time in July’s Kure Beach Triathlon, finishing only
17 minutes behind his 39-year-old father, Chris Heffron, an avid triathlete and his foremost
training partner.
The younger Heffron’s passion appears contagious. Next month, his two younger brothers
will join him in the 2011 Wilmington YMCA Triathlon, participating in the race as a relay
team. Patrick, 11, and Fisher, almost 10, will run and bike; Thomas will swim the Wrightsville
Beach leg. And though he’ll only participate in a third of the race, Thomas Heffron will offer
guidance, support and seasoned wisdom to his younger siblings, in short, leading the pack.
—Nash Jenkins
swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile
run. In some of the following years, the
then-popular Olympic distance of a halfmile
swim, 26-mile bike, and a 10-mile
run was the distance to be counted on to
draw the necessary number of participants
to make the event successful. Currently
and for the last number of years, the event
added the popular sprint distance with a
quarter-mile swim, 12-mile bike ride and a
3.1-mile run.
The triathlon has flourished since its
humble beginnings, attracting as many as
34
WBM september 2011
North Carolina is third in the country only
behind Florida and California in actual
number of triathlons hosted. Currently
there are 12 triathlons within an hour’s
drive of Wilmington, with seven held in
New Hanover County.
With the first and longest-running East
Coast triathlon having its roots right here
in Wrightsville Beach, local triathletes can
rest assured that the event is here to stay.
So, grab a PowerBar; get some last-minute
training; and I’ll see you on the starting
line!
Leader
of the
pack
Thomas Heffron shares his passion for speed
sports with his brothers Patrick and Fisher
— all of whom will be competing in this year’s
Wilmington YMCA Triathlon.
Thomas
Fisher
Patrick
Allison Potter
Thomas
Hefron,