2 Seymour natives preparing for ultimate triathlons

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Two of the fastest Olympic distance triathletes in the nation, for their age groups, reside in Seymour.

Sporting their purple jerseys, Greg Reasoner and Nathan Otte recently made a trip to Omaha, Nebraska, to take on the 2016 Age Group Olympic Distance National Championships.

The top-10 percent of athletes in each separate age group competed at nationals.

A total of 2,048 athletes made it across the finish line in this year’s race.

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The event featured a 1,500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike ride and 10-kilometer run.

Reasoner and Otte train together in Seymour and have traveled to many triathlons in the past.

“I think it’s really cool to have someone else there doing the same thing and representing Seymour,” Reasoner said. “We both had our Seymour MultiSport shirts on. People recognized our shirts and asked us about our team. We both just went out there to have fun.”

Otte qualified for nationals by winning his 30 to 34 age group at the Columbus Foundation For Youth Triathalon last year while Reasoner placed first overall in the Bonkers Triathlon in Bloomington last May.

For Reasoner, the Bonkers Triathalon was the first time he had won a triathlon.

Reasoner said he has competed in more than 50 triathlons over 15 years.

“It was very surprising — I didn’t expect to win it,” Reasoner said. “I was hoping to just win my age group. It just happened to work out that way.

“I’ve qualified before (for age group nationals), but wasn’t able to go in 2012. It just worked out with my summer plans this year. It was pretty neat, there were a lot of fast people. I finished toward the bottom of my age group which is what I expected which such strong completion.”

Reasoner finished with a time of 2:51:06.42 at nationals, which was 116th of 130 in the 45 to 49 age group and 1,261 overall.

“The course was fair,” Reasoner said. “There were a couple hills in the bike course that kept it even. The running course was flat and we got to run around the warning track at TD Ameritrade Park where the College World Series is played. That was a really cool part of the event.”

It was the second time Otte went to the event. He traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 2013 for the age group national championships.

“The isolated venue, it was all like-minded people,” Otte said. “It’s a cool setup. Leanda Cave, who has won the Ironman championships, was there and gave a presentation. It’s just a really neat event wherever they host it.”

While he has completed a handful of triathlons, Otte still considers himself new to the scene.

“In 2011 I signed up for my first triathlon. It was an Ironman in Louisville,” Otte said. “I actually got cold feet and decided I needed to go out and do (a triathlon) before the Ironman, so I signed up for a race in Columbus. That was my first introduction. I did my first marathon in 2009 and in 2010 a friend asked me if I would be interested in an Ironman.”

The start of the race in the water didn’t go as planned for Otte.

“The start is a mass start for the age group,” Otte said. “It’s in a small, confined area. I got kicked in the stomach at the start, so I had to backstroke a little bit and catch my breath. I was already in the back of the field before the race started.”

Otte finished 80th of 90 in his age group of and 774th overall in 2:37:30.71.

While there are still a few triathlons left on the calendar, both are eyeing another full Ironman in 2017.

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