Triathlete on course to keep her streak* alive

VIRGINIA BEACH

Sandman Triathlon director Betty Virok says only two people have competed in all 26 races. Her friend Pam Whitley begs to differ.

"It's an honorary thing," says Whitley, who has raced in 25 of 26 Sandmans. "I had a pretty good excuse."

Blame it on her first child Logan, who recently turned 17. He was born one week before the 10th Sandman.

"Some excuse, huh?" asks Whitley, who will compete in the 27th Sandman on Sunday at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

At the awards for the 10th event, Whitley was on hand when then-Mayor Meyera Oberndorf acknowledged Sam Brown of Virginia Beach and Helen Hagan-Ritz of Madison as the only participants who had participated in every Sandman.

"They honored me as well," said Whitley, now 54. "I had just had my son and actually had him in tow. He was the culprit."

Whitley said she and Virok often kid around about Whitley's achievement. Virok, Whitley says, jokingly "refuses" to acknowledge the honorary status.

Brown and Hagan-Ritz are the only racers to compete in every Sandman. Both are entered again this year.

"It's pretty amazing, actually," Whitley said. "There are a lot of people who have done it plenty of times. But for those two to be in every one, and for me to have only missed one, is something special.

"It's a testament to how much fun people have at this event."

The Sandman isn't an Ironman-length event, which Whitley says makes it more appealing to a broader group of competitors. Racers in the Sandman do a 1-kilometer swim, a 14-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run.

Of the three events, swimming is the one that shakes Whitley's nerves - even though she was a lifeguard and taught swimming in college.

"Very few triathletes are competitive swimmers, so most don't keep up with swimming until it's time to really start training," said Whitley, an upper New York native who moved to Virginia Beach in 1979. "I don't keep up with it. So there is a little more angst."

Running is Whitley's strongest of the three race portions. Because her husband, Kim, is into cycling, she gets plenty of riding pointers from him.

Whitley, who also has a

13-year-old daughter, Kirsten, used to compete in other triathlons, but now she does only the Sandman. She and her husband also have competed in canoeing triathlons - where she would run, Kim would bike and together they would canoe.

"As a family, we like anything outdoors," said Whitley, a cheerleader in high school who got into skiing and hiking in college. "We do family vacations where we camp. We try to go skiing once a year, at least."

Whitley, who works as a medical technologist in the American Red Cross research department, also plays piano.

Mornings are spent either getting in her 20 to 25 miles of weekly biking, or running on the Boardwalk. Sometimes she runs from her Shadowlawn neighborhood to Wareing's Gym to work out, then runs home.

She recently took up playing the bells at her church.

"It's such a beautiful sound," she says. "I'm really enjoying it."

And she's excited about her once-a-year ritual, where she's part of an elite trio.

"It's kind of ingrained in me," she says. "It's a fun event and I really enjoy the people. Some of them you only see once a year.

"I sometimes wonder how long I'll keep doing it."

Then Whitley laughs, thinking of her conversations with the race director.

"I mean, I have to keep doing it, since I've done every one."

Lee Tolliver, (757) 222-5844, lee.tolliver@pilotonline.com