KID POWER: Born to run, swim, bike

Boulder City boy is youngest to complete triathlon race

Austin Lelles, 13, hoists his bicycle beside the pool at his family's 102 Seneca Lane residence. A few weeks ago, Lelles became the youngest person in U.S. history to complete an Ironman Triathlon. Photos by Vic Valbuena Bareng/View. Austin Lelles holds the medals he won at the Big Foot Full Iron Triathlon Aug. 9 in Harrison Mills, British Columbia. Advertisement

Move over, eight-time Beijing Olympics gold medal winner Michael Phelps, here comes Boulder City's Austin Lelles.

Less than a month ago, at the age of 13 years and 5 months, Austin became the youngest person ever to complete an Ironman Triathlon, and in so doing, set a world record for his age group.

That's a 2.4-mile swim, 26.2-mile run and 112-mile bike ride -- a total of 140.6 miles of events -- completed by the teenager in 13 hours, 38 minutes and 33 seconds. And that's without taking a break.

According to a laudatory letter sent to Austin from World Endurance Sport, which put on the My First Triathlon Bigfoot Full Iron in Harrison Mills, British Columbia, Canada, about 40 miles east of Vancouver, Aug. 9, "Your age of 13 at the time of the event establishes a course world record for the Male 11-14 division."

"When it was over, I couldn't walk right," said the Garrett Middle School student, who took up training for triathlon competitions four years ago. "I was happy when I finished."

His proud mom, Carol Lelles, who works at the Boulder Dam Credit Union and serves on the city's Parks and Recreation Committee, said he completed the triathlon quicker than anyone had expected, even his coach, Marc Baker of Go Faster! Training Inc. in Las Vegas, whom Austin met at an event in June 2007.

"His goal was 14 hours, but his coach said he'd do it in 13 hours and 45 minutes," Carol Lelles said. "Austin was pretty happy when he came in at 13 hours and 38 minutes."

Before arriving in Harrison Mills, Carol Lelles said, Austin had goals of 48 minutes for the swim, 51/2 hours for the run and seven hours for the biking, plus his transition times. The teenager's performance more than met each of the goals set by his coach.

"He came in first in the swimming competition at 48 minutes," Carol Lelles said, adding, "and when he won that, it was just crazy."

While the time of 13:38:33 set a record for the 11-14 age group, Austin said he believes his time could have been even faster.

"He stopped and helped a rider make a change with their tire," Carol Lelles said.

"She had a broken valve stem," Austin explained. "It took about five minutes to help her."

Competing in an Ironman competition takes desire, drive and months of preparation. It also helps to get advice and support from someone with experience, which is where his coach comes in.

"His coach ... came out and moved in with us in June and July so he could train him full time," Austin's mom said. "He told him what to work on, when to run, and when to swim and how far."

Austin had a grueling weekly regimen that got him in top shape for his date with destiny.

On Mondays, Austin would run seven miles, bike another 36 miles and then work out with the Heatwave swim team.

"On Tuesday, we'd do special work and drills, and right after that go to the lake and swim in the open water," Austin said of his conditioning program with his coach. "That was fun."

Wednesdays included pool swimming and long bike rides.

Thursdays included runs of 20 miles and an hour's worth of bike riding.

Friday it was back to dry land swimming and a half-hour run.

Saturdays were off days, while Sundays meant long bike rides of 80 miles or more that sometimes would start at the base of Kyle Canyon north of Las Vegas, then up the canyon and over the road connecting Kyle and Lee canyons and back down.

"About two to three weeks before the Ironman, we went to Lake Tahoe and (biked) all the way around the lake, which was about 80 miles. And then after that, we ran 10 miles," Austin said of his alpine-like training at an elevation more than 6,000 feet.

With all the activity he does, it's no wonder Austin gets a good night's sleep, as his mom will attest to.

Nutrition and diet also are important to this up-and-coming triathlete who stands 5 feet, 3 inches and tips the scales at barely 90 pounds.

"We had to watch his calorie intake, which was about 4,500 calories a day before the event," his mom said. "That's when you can eat as much as you can, but not anymore. Now he's back down to about 1,000 calories a day."

On the day of the race, Austin ate Ritz crackers, Nutri-Grain bars, bananas and an endurance product made by a Montana nutrition company.

"Pasta, ravioli and a lot of bananas," Carol Lelles said, listing some of her son's training table favorites. "Lots of pasta, lots of salmon for the (omega-3) oil and lots of pizza. And, yes, some corn dogs once in a while. Remember, he's 13."

Whatever he's been doing, it has worked and worked well. Austin's list of accomplishments is staggering.

From August 2006 to June 2008, Austin won first place in his age category nine out of nine times while competing in shorter versions of triathlons.

Locally, last year, Austin, at the ripe old age of 12, won first place in Boulder City's Pumpkinman Triathlon, an Olympic-length event, in the men's 19 and younger category.

He plans to compete again in this year's Pumpkinman scheduled for Oct. 18.

After that, Austin has his sights set on the 2012 Olympics in London.

The Olympic Triathlon event comes in at one-fourth the distances -- a .93-mile swim, a 6.2-mile run and 24.9-mile bike ride -- of the Ironman Triathlon.

On Aug. 19, a German triathlete won the Olympic gold medal with a time of 1:48:53.28.

Austin's time in his latest Olympic-length triathlon event, the Los Angeles Tri Championship Series No. 2 in June, was 2:37:58, which means he'd have to trim more than 49 minutes off his fastest pace to match this year's winning time in Beijing.

When he returned from Canada, a special gift was waiting for Austin at home.

"His grandmother bought him an Ironman T-shirt, but he wasn't allowed to wear it until he completed the triathlon; it's a tradition," Carol Lelles said. "When he came home he was happy to get it off the bulletin board."

What's interesting about Austin's competition is that all his equipment, from his biking helmet down to his running shoes, are not his.

"Everything is borrowed: his bike, his helmet, his shoes, the bike components, everything," his mom said. "He needs his own bike and equipment. He needs a steady sponsor."

For the Ironman contest last month, he had 18 sponsors, which included The Coffee Cup, which paid his entry fee; the Canyon Trail RV Park; Events Unlimited; and Raymond Construction, which pitched in a large share of the $3,000 needed to go to Canada. A bake sale and the showing of a "Batman" movie also helped out.