The birth of the MOJO Tri-Club began during a long run on a Saturday morning in the winter of 2009. Maureen Heintz had heard that Art Gonthier, one of her marathon training partners that winter, had done a few triathlons. Maureen had put the idea out there that Art and Kelly Earhart, another of her training partners, should form a Tri club with the store. She later learned that Art had set a goal to compete in an Ironman the following year when he turned 50. Arrmed with that knowledge, her persistence resulted in Art, Steve Eroskey, James Williams and a few others hosting an information meeting. It turned out that there were about 20 people who attended the first meeting and the club was born.
That spring, you might say we jumped in with both feet, or got our feet wet, at the Fit to Fight triathlon at the Corwin Nixon Park in Mason. We set up the big red MOJO tent, sold our first official fluorescent green and yellows Tri-Club T-shirts to the first 15 members and started to make a name for ourselves. That summer, we competed at most of the local HFP hosted races with an average club participation between 10-20 members. The smell of the barbeque and family supporters were a big hit with the local triathlon community. Our goal was to form a club where anyone who had an interest in the sport of Triathlon, from beginners to experienced, could feel welcome, make some friends and find some training partners.
The following year we began to host training events and seminars to expand our skills and knowledge. These included the common things like how to change a flat tire, how to clean your bike, how to set up a transition area, how to put on and take off a wet suit and how to grab a water bottle from a table or volunteer. Two of us completed our first half Ironman with Russ Dieterich setting the stage. The following spring, Phil Cadman completed Ironman Coeur d Alene while Art completed IM Louisville in the heat of the summer. We now had a real critical mass of over 50 members and Paul Heintz decided it was time to get on board. He led the development of our first club kit with the design skills of Kelly Earhart. That kit was soon recognized at all the local races and many within 200 miles. You could always count on other team members, spectators and other competitors shouting out, “Go MOJO”.
Since then, our membership has grown to over 500 and our members have gone on to compete in the world age group championships, USA age group competitions and we are even hosting our very own MOJO triathlon at the VOA park in West Chester. And this year, we will have our first member going to Kona to compete in the Ironman World Championships. We regularly sponsor swim clinics, weekly group rides, open water swims, and family fun events like the cardboard regatta to an occasional night at a local brew pub.
