‘Really fun atmosphere’
The idea grew out of a casual conversation among friends.
Marla Emde and Robin DeRuwe, both triathlon enthusiasts, decided the Greater Spokane area needed a women-only race similar to a sprint-distance triathlon series sponsored by Danskin that makes a regular stop in Seattle, designed to welcome first-timers and veteran racers alike.
“The closest thing was the Danskin – and Danskin has been great because they’ve really paved the way for many of us in that respect,” Emde said. “But we just really felt there was a need here.”
This was no idle chat.
Emde trains triathletes and promotes events through Emde Sports, the company she runs with her husband, Michael. DeRuwe runs Fitness Fanatics and teaches athletes. Together they turned the idea into the Valley Girl Triathlon, which makes its third run at Liberty Lake Sunday.
Emde and her husband promote the event. DeRuwe signed on as a sponsor.
The women-only Valley Girl, a one-third mile swim in Liberty Lake and a 12-mile bike ride followed by a three-mile run, has been embraced both by athletes and by its community.
“For a sprint-distance triathlon, there isn’t another women-only event within a four- or five-hour drive,” Emde said. “That distance, for someone trying it for the first time, having it in their own backyard so they don’t have to make that kind of trip, was the biggest help.”
The demand for a women’s-only race was there from the beginning. More than 300 women signed up for the first running. Last year the race reached its 500-entrant capacity just before the starting gun fired.
“This year we sold out the third week of March,” Emde said. “We were surprised that it sold out that quickly.”
As sporting events go, the Valley Girl is different from your average triathlon. Competitive passion takes a step back in favor of an air of open-armed support.
The start of an open triathlon, with the entire field dashing into the water for the swim, can be a dangerous place. A racer is apt to get run over or kicked in the frenzy. At the Valley Girl, racers are likely to excuse themselves on the way past and encourage each other along the way.
“It’s just a warm, fuzzy kind of feeling down there,” Emde said. “There’s a very nice attitude, a lot of camaraderie, out there. You’ve got a lot of different women who have different abilities. There are elite women out there, and you have a lot of first-timers, and they’re all cheering for each other. It’s just a really fun atmosphere.”
At most open events, the prevailing attitude is to prove you’re faster than the next guy. At events like the Valley Girl, the attitude is about proving something to yourself.
“It’s probably more typical with women,” Emde said. “Women just tend to do it because it’s a personal goal. I think sometimes the competitive nature isn’t the big impetus. It’s just about having fun and doing it with friends or family. We’ve got a couple teams out there that have three generations doing it together: grandmother, daughter and granddaughter.”
The shorter distance makes this event approachable. The full-size Ironman triathons, for example, are a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.
“For many of these women, it’s their first time,” Emde said. “They haven’t done something like this for quite some time. They’ve just had children or something like that, and they’re just starting to get out and do things again. This is a perfect format for them. It’s a very doable distance, and it’s fun. It doesn’t matter who’s out there.”
It helps that the Liberty Lake community has fully embraced the event – lining up to encourage racers along the course.
“We treat them well, and the Liberty Lake community in general has been wonderful,” Emde said. “The community has just been open-armed and very helpful and supportive, and I think that reflects in the event.”
The event expanded last year, adding the Valley Kids Triathlon on Saturday.
“We have kids who did the Valley Kids last year moving up to do the Valley Girl this year,” Emde said. “It’s a nice progression.”
The Emdes, who live in North Spokane, promote a series of local events. In addition to the Valley Girl and Valley Kids triathlons, they sponsor the three-race Spring Thaw Duathlon series in Nine Mile Falls, the Inland Northwest Cyclocross Series and the Washington State Cyclocross Championships and co-promote the Group Health Kids Bike Fest Series.
“We started out training athletes and just kind of moved over to promoting,” Marla Emde said. “In part, we did it because we needed events for our athletes to compete in.”
But of all the events they promote, there’s nothing like the starting line of the Valley Girl.
“To be at the starting line and watching all these women helping each other and encouraging each other is very inspiring,” she said. “It’s an incredible atmosphere.”