Is it the perfectly manicured green grass beneath the toes of swimmers before plunging into the Tennessee River? Or could it be downstream where competitors race to their meticulously organized bikes for the riding portion through our mountains? Or it could be the quick run through the city, showing athletes the best of downtown, all converging back onto the green for the finish?
For 64-year-old Steve Rogers, former Chattanooga Track Club treasurer and president, the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon is all of these things, plus a yearly reminder of family, tradition and a life-changing decision. “When I was 35 years old, I had three daughters and I was 210 pounds. I was drinking too much, eating too much red meat and I had to do something,” Rogers says. “So I found running. I had to turn my life around.” After running with his brother Richard for a few years and “getting pretty good at it” the pair decided to try out the Bencor Riverbend Triathlon, the event that eventually evolved into the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon. It was the event that helped Steve Rogers fall in love with the triathlon.
“I used my daughter’s pink bike for it. It was my first, I had no idea what I needed or what to do. All I’m saying is it took a real man to ride that bike, with all those people,” Rogers laughs. “At that time, 400 people jumped in at the Chickamauga Dam together for this crazy race, and we swam so close together. We had some fun times with that race, my brother and me, and we keep it going.”
And when he finished that first triathlon, Rogers went to pick his daughter up from school with all of the indelible ink marks from the race. “They probably thought I was a thug, but it was funny to me; it made a memory.”
Since that first race, Rogers has competed in all versions of the triathlon over the years, and though less competitive for him now, the race serves as a special day for him and his family. As a “pretty good runner” who travels for races and triathlons year-round, Rogers keeps coming back to the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon because of the history. “I remember in the ’90s, if we had 400 people, it was a banner year for us. I take my hat off to the organizers now; they are seriously doing things we could have never done,” Rogers says. “It’s amazing to see the race as it is today.”