About two dozen Huntsville-area athletes are enjoying a trip to the beach this weekend, but it’s not for toes in the sand, cold brews and shrimps. They’re Team Rocket Tri Club members competing in the Ironman Florida slugfest Saturday at Panama City Beach.
The athletes are members of the Team Rocket Tri Club. The club one of the top three teams this weekend based on members in the Ironman field. All have competed in the club’s local events this year or other Ironman events in the region.
Ironman Florida is consistently picked by athletes as the best or among the best IM events. It is the longest consecutively running Ironman event in North America, and was voted No. 1 in 2024 by competitors. This weekend the field will swim 2.4 miles in the Gulf of Mexico, bike 111.9 miles and run 26.2 miles. Just a little day of fun at the beach.
“I am very proud of this one,” said Team Rocket Tri Club president Ruth Marie Oliver. “Tayana (Castelli) has been the driving force behind this group of athletes. We have seen a lot of positive things develop within the club because of it.”
The Enforcer
Castelli is the energetic arm-twister behind the 21 club athletes in PCB this weekend.
“I like to say I “recruited” everyone, but the truth is, I just threw the idea out there and was relentlessly obnoxious about it,” Castelli said. “Maybe I used some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu persuasion moves. But really, this amazing group didn’t need much convincing. I just teased them with a good time, and they were in!”
Members competing include Al Kemmet, Alex Tomlinson, Ann Mix, Billy Smart, Bryan McPherson, Charles Elliott, Cynthia Mitchell, Daniel Buchanan, Dennis Mix, Evan Moore, Jimmy Scoggins, Jodi Bump, Kim Hanson, Matt Fletcher, Paul Carlson, Paulo Cardoso, Ran Crump, Scott Todd, Sidney Hoyt, Tim Smith, Oliver and Castelli.
They are from Huntsville, Madison, Athens and elsewhere in North Alabama. Several are members of the Huntsville Track Club and Spring City Cycling Club, as well. Hanson is race director for the upcoming Huntsville Half Marathon on Nov. 8. Todd is race director for the Dizzy Fifties 50K at Monte Sano State Park on Nov. 15. Some will compete in or volunteer at the Rocket City Marathon weekend in December. Castelli and Mitchell grabbed podium spots in the summer Wet Dog Tri in Decatur.
Crossover Support
There’s a lot of crossover support among the run-bike-swim communities here. It’s one thing that makes Oliver happy, and especially this weekend with the club showing up big in PCB.
“We are a small community based team,” she said. “We are not selling anything other than community, and I am very proud of that.”
Triathletes have numerous events to choose from throughout the country, with Ironman, Ironman 70.3 or other popular events on the schedule. Duathlons, too, with the run-bike-ride combo. This weekend’s Florida event is attractive for myriad reasons, among them the weather and few tourists at the beach this time of year.
“It was late enough in the season to give me more time to train and build volume,” Castelli said. ” I love the beach, so that’s an easy win. I’d heard great things about IM Florida being a solid course for first-timers, and friends who did it recommended it. And logistically, it’s closer to home, so it made everything simpler.”
