Sports News

Times that bind: Training time is family time for teams competing in Santa Barbara Triathlon

MARK PATTON, NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER
August 17, 2006 12:00 AM

Family time had always been important to Bob and JudyAnn Dutcher. But it became downright precious when two deadly illnesses entered their home.

They fought for their health by becoming triathletes -- and are now bringing their kids along for the battle.

"To have a boy and be able to do something physical like this with him -- it just doesn't get any better than that," Bob Dutcher said after he and JudyAnn completed a long bike ride with their 10-year-old son, Andrew.

The Dutchers are among the growing number of families that are training together for the Santa Barbara Triathlon, which is set for the weekend of Aug. 26-27. The trend prompted Momentum 4 Life, which started out as a women's training group, to create a coed team three years ago.

• • •

JudyAnn Dutcher was sick of sickness after she caught meningitis from her newborn son Brandon in 1998. The illness was dragging through its second week when she noticed a newspaper advertisement about the triathlon.

"It was really, really scary how sick she was," Bob said. "And then for her to say in a very weak voice, 'I want to do a triathlon' -- and actually go out and do it -- was absolutely amazing."

The fact that JudyAnn didn't know how to swim didn't stop her, either. She took some lessons with the Moms in Motion training group and dog-paddled her way through the start of her first short-course triathlon in 1999.

"Two years after that, I learned how to breathe on both sides, and the year after that, I swam my first mile," she said. "It's really been a steady progression for me."

Bob began tackling triathlons in 2003 -- a year after undergoing surgery for bladder cancer -- when JudyAnn directed him toward Momentum's coed group.

"He'd always been a great runner, he'd always done half-marathons, and I wanted this to be a comeback sort of thing for him," she said.

Andrew was making noise about joining the fun even before that.

"When he was about 5, he asked me, 'Do boys do triathlons?' " JudyAnn said. "I told him, 'Yes, boys do triathlons.' "

He competed in the Santa Barbara Kids Triathlon, taking third in his age division, but wasn't satisfied. He does Scouting with his parents -- Bob is the Scoutmaster and JudyAnn is the den mother of Cub Scout Pack 36 -- so why not triathlons, too? "The kids triathlon was too short," Andrew said.

And so he joined his parents' training group this summer.

JudyAnn has noticed how much he has matured through the sessions with the team's physical trainers -- Pete Engle, Eric Schmitz and Robert Wilcher. "We had told him that he has to be an adult when he goes out for his training," JudyAnn said.

Bob has entered the triathlon's long-course race while Judyann will compete in the parent-child sprint race with Andrew.

"A big reason why I wanted to do this with him, and focus on him, was that my mother passed away in October," Judyann said. "Because of that, I knew I couldn't possibly focus enough on my own goals this year -- I couldn't possibly think about how to improve -- but I could be there for him. I could help him, and encourage him.

"This year, it's all about him."

• • •

e-mail: mpatton@newspress.com