Our
Story
In February 2009, four
friends got together to discuss forming a new
triathlon club. The founding members Wayne Morris,
Andrea Faller, Jamie Gulden and Kristy Breslaw never
dreamed Boca Raton Triathletes would grow so fast, so
quickly. With the countless hours of hard work along
with the help and support of many friends/triathletes,
the club exploded in its 1st year of existence. We
capped off the 2009 season by winning Tri-Nation's
"Most Active Club." By the end of the 2010 season, the
club had close to 200 active members and 100's of
"fans" on Facebook. Along with new board members, we
have many other members who stepped into positions of
committee chairmen that help keep the club growing and
moving forward. As we begin the 2012 season, we look
forward to making Boca Raton Triathletes bigger and
better than ever. We thank everyone who helped us get
up and running and look forward to all the 2012 season
has in store!
Why
Rats?
Listed on early maps as
"Boca Ratones," many people assume the name is simply
translated to "Rat's Mouth". The Spanish word boca (or
mouth) was often used to describe an inlet, while
raton (literally mouse) was used by Spanish sailors to
describe rocks that gnawed at a ship's cable, or as a
term for a cowardly thief. The name Boca Ratones
originally appeared on eighteenth century maps
associated with an inlet in the Biscayne Bay area of
Miami. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the
term was mistakenly moved north to its current
location on most maps and applied to Lake Boca Raton,
whose inlet was closed at the time. (Information from
Wikipedia).
Board
Members:
President: Eric Levy -
Eric Levy spent most of his childhood in Plainview,
New York and moved to Coral Springs, Florida in 1992.
He thrived on competition and played baseball, soccer,
hockey, lacrosse, basketball and tennis where he was a
ranked player while growing. Eric graduated in Finance
and Business Management at Florida Atlantic
University. He received an MBA from Nova Southeastern
University in 2001 and quickly began working in the
financial services industry; currently employed at UBS
Financial Services. Eric's triathlon career began in
2007 while training for his first olympic distance
race with Team in Training. He was hooked after
completing his first Multirace sprint distance race as
a warm-up for the TNT Disney Olympic event. Since
then, Eric has completed in a number of sprint,
olympic and half ironman distance races. He also
completed Ironman St. George in May 2010. His favorite
races include, St.Anthony's, Escape to Miami, Nautica
and Vineman. While not training and racing, Eric
enjoys spending time with his wife Avril and son,
Dash.
Vice President: Donnie
Pingaro -
Donnie Pingaro grew up in the Hudson Valley and
lettered in X-Country, Basketball and Tennis in High
School. In 1990 he moved to S Florida to attend the
University of Miami business school and graduate with
an MBA in 1992. His career transitioned into real
estate on Fisher Island in 1994 and is now the
broker-owner of the Island Insiders. Always a runner,
in 2000 he made the commitment to finally run a
marathon. With his love for travel he chose Stockholm
Sweden for this 1st endurance event. He ran future
marathons in Minneapolis and Disney. In June 2005 his
triathlon career was launched at Key Biscayne complete
with an utter inability to unclip going into T2 and
thus crash. Later that year the race was on to beat
his younger brother in Chicago. Mission accomplished.
Travel continued to great races such as Bermuda,
Escape from Alcatraz, Kona, Minneapolis, Portland,
Washington DC, New York and more. Focusing primarily
on olympic distance events he won the five city
Lifetime Fitness Finish5 challenge in 2008 and has
podiumed in several other sprint and olympic races.
Donnie had competed five 70.3 races starting in 2007
without any satisfying results. In summer 2010 he had
a breakthrough performance at the distance at the
Timberman 70.3 with a sub 5:10 race thanks to some
last minute nutrition tips. The 2011 race schedule set
highlighted with a first shot at St Anthony's in May
and a return to Kona 70.3 in June. Coached by Mimi
Reeves the bar is set high to attain some new sweet
PR's.
Secretary: Kristy
Breslaw -
My name is Kristy and I am one of the four founding
members of BRT. I have been competing in triathlons
with my husband Ralph since 2003 and I was addicted
from the 1st one! I progressed from my first sprint on
a mountain bike to Olympic, 70.3 and finally full
Ironman in 2009. I love training and racing but the
thing I like best about this sport is the people I
have met since I started participating. I love sharing
the experience of racing and training with others and
to me is what makes this sport and this club so
amazing. It is great to go to races both local and out
of Florida and race with other members of the club and
have people cheering for you almost anywhere you go,
just because you are wearing BRT gear. We hope you
will share our love for triathlons and the club. I am
happy to answer any e-mails regarding the club, just
contact me at info@bocaratontriathletes.com.
Treasurer: Bonnie Barr
-
I kept active in
my 20's running, doing a couple sprint
tri's, several 5K's and a marathon. I
had two beautiful girls and took about 10 years off.
In 2009, I decided to get active in the sport
again, so I joined BRT and started training and
racing. It started with a sprint
tri followed by my first Half Ironman a
couple of months later. Since then, I've done several
5K's, 7 half marathons, a full marathon, another Half
Ironman and 3 Olympic tri's. I have another half
Ironman next month then my first full Ironman in
Nov at IM Florida !!! The camaraderie of the group is
what keeps me going!
New
Member Ambassadors:
Mimi Reeves - I
am a 40-something mother of 2 - a tween and a teen. I
am a Certified Personal Trainer and Triathlon coach. I
moved to south florida in the summer of 2003, coming
from Ohio as a recreational road runner of all
distances up to 26.2. I did my first triathlon in the
fall of 2003, a sprint, on a beach cruiser! I wore a
smile from ear to ear the whole time and knew I had
found a new love. Since then, I have moved through all
the distances and found my particular passion is for
the long stuff, specifically Ironman. I am willing to
share my experience with anyone who will listen, and
feel I am continually learning and growing as an
athlete. I love the sport of triathlon and want anyone
remotely interested in it to experience what it has
given to me: the joys of health, lasting friendship,
and sense of accomplishment. I appreciate the doors it
has opened for me and am proud to call myself a Boca
Raton Triathlete! Email me at Mimi Reeves.
Joe Falcone
- My name is Joe Falcone and I have been a member of
BRT since it's inception. I asked to be a new member
ambassador because I enjoy talking and working with
people new to the sport of triathlon. The amount of
dedication, training and planning that goes into
completing a triathlon will surely generate numerous
questions and concerns. I have been racing for about 6
years and have done races from sprint to iron distance
and recently began ultra running. I have raced on many
of the local courses and I am familiar with alot of
the parks where the races are held. Contact me through
my e-mail or facebook connection for any questions,
concerns or if you would like to meet up for some
basic tips, pointers, or anything else you might need
help with in your first season of triathlon. I live in
West Boca and frequently train on A1A and also South
County Park in West Boca. Hope to see you out there
training and working towards your first triathlon!
Contact me via e-mail @ JDFalcone@hotmail.com.
Committee
Chairs:
Socials - Sue Caplan
Volunteer Coordinator - Ben Dickinson
Newsletter - Angela Hoppe
Results - Adam Slotnick
Webmaster - Larry Kagan
Travel - Donnie
Pingaro
Sponsorship - Michael Kravit
Fundraising - Fran
Nachlas
Kids Coach - Lauren
Chandler
USA
Triathlon Certificate of Membership
Ironman Sponsors
Half Ironman Sponsors
