Athletes are always striving to push their abilities to the limit, so this summer, three Bulldog athletes partook in a competition that pushes swimmers, bikers, and runners to perform at their best: a triathlon.

In July, a relay team made up of seniors Payton Bokowy, Kyle Almeida, and Cole Dillon got first place in the Half Ironman at the ChelanMan Triathlon in Washington with an overall time of 5:04:32.

Almeida discovered the event, and asked Bokowy and Dillon to participate alongside him to fulfill the other running and swimming components of the race while he did the bicycling.

A 1.2 mile swimming race kicked off the triathlon; Bokowy participated in this section and gave her teammates a lead being the fourth out of the water with a time of 28:26.

Surprisingly, before the race started, Bokowy’s wetsuit ripped, but that didn’t stop her from working her hardest, for she didn’t want to let down her team.

“I took it out fast because I wanted to get ahead of the sea of people,” Bokowy said.

Biking is the second section, pushing bicyclists with 58 miles on flat ground and hills.

“Other riders who had aero bikes sounded like TIE fighters when they passed me,” Almeida said.

Despite the noises, Almeida took on this section, finishing it in 3:03:51 and placing 21st.

Dillon carried the team through the final section of the triathlon: a 13.1 mile run.

Though Dillon was the first to finish the running section with a time of 1:31:04, he still felt as though he could have done better.

“I felt like my feet were being massaged with sandpaper and my muscles were going through meat grinders,” Dillon said.

This was Almeida’s and Dillon’s first triathlon, while Bokowy has been participating in them since she was twelve.

To prepare for competition, Almeida completed a 46-mile bike ride out to Sagle and another 40-mile bike ride a week before the race. Dillon put extra miles on his runs and ran a practice half marathon to help relieve his nerves. Bokowy didn’t do any extra training to prepare as she already trains five days a week.

All three athletes had to push themselves in order to give their teammates the best chance to finish the races as fast as they could,  and they ultimately won the competition with an impressive time of a little over five hours.