For some athletes, competing in one athletic event is quite enough. But math teacher Allison Blanchard took that one event and multiplied it by three, winning her first triathlon for her age group against twenty other competitors on Sunday, Aug. 21 with a final time of 1:12.

Like any triathlon, the one Blanchard competed in was composed of three parts: first a swim, then a bike ride, and finally a run. Blanchard raced in the shorter distances available to the competitors: a 500-meter swim, a 12-mile bike ride, and a 5K run.

This was Blanchard’s first triathlon and, for her, it started with the training.

“I kept up my usual 20 miles a week,” Blanchard said. “I started going on bike rides. I had a route from my house that I started two to three times a week. I started off just swimming laps at a pool and then I practiced once in a lake.”

To her, the most challenging aspect was the swimming.

“Starting off in the water with all of the people around you was kind of nerve-racking,” she said.

This was not her first time to enter such a physical competition.

“I’ve done five marathons and probably about 10 half-marathons but I’d never done a race before where I swam or biked,” she said.

According to Blanchard, this definitely will not be the last triathlon either.

“[My goals for next time are] just to get faster and get more confident at the swimming. I liked that it was a new challenge and I just really enjoyed doing a little bit of each sport,” she said. “I loved it.”