Tri Beginner‘s Luck

Three weeks after writing a half-Ironman goal on his bathroom mirror, Scott Stanley got a cancer diagnosis. Forty-six days after colon surgery, he was at the starting line of a 10K.

What do you do when life hits hardest at the exact moment you decide to go bigger? For Scott Stanley, the answer was simple, if not easy: you keep showing up. A retired Air Force veteran, endurance athlete, and now a master's student in biblical studies, Scott's triathlon journey is inseparable from the losses that shaped it. He lost his late wife at 27 to a rare form of leukemia and his mother to cancer just three years later. When his own diagnosis came in 2014, he did not spiral. He channeled. And in July 2015, just two weeks before his 45th birthday, he crossed the finish line of his first Ironman 70.3 in Muncie, Indiana.

Scott also opens up about nearly four years of sobriety, the ministry school it made possible, and why he believes bringing a race mentality to your personal life might be the most important finish line of all. His advice for triathlon beginners is refreshingly unfiltered: sign up for something that scares you and trust that getting to the starting line is already the win.

This is not a polished story about someone who had it all figured out. It is an honest one about a man who kept going because the alternative was not living.

Join the Tri Beginner's Luck Community: Enjoyed this episode? The best way to support the show is to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Follow us on Instagram: @TriBeginnersLuck. Connect on Facebook: Tri Beginner's Luck Page. Questions or Feedback? We want to hear your story! Send your questions to [email protected], and we may feature them on a future episode.

Let's tri this!

A first triathlon. A breakup. A lifelong love story with endurance sports that nobody saw coming.

Before triathlon became one of the biggest endurance sports in the world, Leslie Knibb was standing on a start line in Chicago in 1990 just trying something new. She ended up finishing near the top of the race, beating the boyfriend who introduced her to the sport, and unknowingly starting a triathlon journey that would stretch across more than three decades.

In this special Mother's Day episode of Tri Beginner's Luck, Leslie reflects on the many versions of herself she has been through in triathlon: beginner, competitor, mother, coach, mentor, Ironman finisher and community builder. From racing through the Northeast triathlon scene to stepping away during motherhood and later returning to complete Ironman Lake Placid, Leslie shares what it looks like to evolve with the sport instead of walking away from it.

The conversation also explores the heart of triathlon culture and why so many people stay connected to it for life. Leslie opens up about coaching beginners, helping grow youth participation through USA Triathlon, supporting first-time athletes with the DC Tri Club, and watching her daughter Taylor Knibb rise to the highest levels of the sport.

Whether you are a triathlon beginner, training for your first sprint, or chasing your next Ironman 70.3, this episode is a reminder that the beginner mindset never leaves us. Sometimes the biggest win is simply staying connected to what lights you up.

 

Join the Tri Beginner's Luck Community: Enjoyed this episode? The best way to support the show is to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! Follow us on Instagram: @TriBeginnersLuck. Connect on Facebook: Tri Beginner's Luck Page. Questions or feedback? Send your questions to [email protected], and we may feature them on a future episode.

Let's tri this!

Hilary Topper didn't run until she was 48. She didn't know how to turn on a treadmill. Five years later, she signed up for her first triathlon in Florida without realizing there were races in her home state of New York.

Hilary is the voice behind The Triathlete's Diary, a certified USA Triathlon coach, and author of Unlocking the Triathlon: The Beginner's Guide to Competing in a Triathlon. She proudly calls herself a non-athletic triathlete and has built her coaching philosophy around meeting athletes exactly where they are. Her mantra is simple: consistency over intensity, community over competition, and showing up over being the fastest.

We talk about starting triathlon after 50, the power of finding your people when family doesn't understand, and why DNFs and DNSs don't define you. Hilary shares what it was like to train for a half Ironman five times and get injured every single time, why she keeps proving things to herself, and how the triathlon community became her family after losing her sister.

This conversation is for anyone who's ever felt like they don't look the part, started late, or wondered if they belong in this sport.

Join the Tri Beginner's Luck Community: Enjoyed this episode? The best way to support the show is to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Follow us on Instagram: @TriBeginnersLuck
Connect on Facebook: Tri Beginner's Luck Page
Questions or Feedback? We want to hear your story! Send your questions to [email protected], and we may feature them on a future episode.

Learn more about Hilary: Website: https://www.atriathletesdiary.com/  and Book: Unlocking the Triathlon: The Beginner's Guide to Competing in a Triathlon

Let's Tri this!

What does it mean to be a triathlete? For Liz Kollar, Director of Constituent Engagement at USA Triathlon, the answer is simple: you're a triathlete the moment you cross any finish line, whether it takes you an hour or sixteen.

 

Liz didn't start small. Her first race was a 70.3 at Buffalo Springs Lake, unprepared and miserable in the Texas heat. She crossed the finish line swearing she'd never do it again. Then she accidentally qualified for Ironman Florida at Panama City, thinking she'd won a trip to Central America. Three months later, she stood on a cold beach in November 2001, just weeks after 9/11, sobbing through the national anthem before completing her first full distance race. She was hooked.

 

Over 13 Ironman races and countless shorter distances, Liz became a two-time Kona qualifier, LA Tri Club community builder, and now a grassroots race director in the mountains of Colorado. But her proudest work might be the least flashy: answering the phone at USA Triathlon, walking nervous first-timers through their fears, and reminding them that the sport isn't about going long. It's about showing up, finding your people, and maybe grabbing brunch afterward.

 

This conversation is for anyone who thinks they need to do an Ironman to belong, anyone intimidated by the governing body acronyms, and anyone who just wants to understand what USA Triathlon actually does besides collect membership fees. Spoiler: it's a lot more than insurance.

 

Join the Tri Beginner's Luck Community: Enjoyed this episode? The best way to support the show is to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!
Follow us on Instagram: @TriBeginnersLuck
Connect on Facebook: Tri Beginner's Luck Page

Questions or Feedback? We want to hear your story! Send your questions to [email protected], and we may feature them on a future episode.

Let's Tri this!

What happens when you’re ready to quit the sport you once loved? And what if the answer isn’t more training, but more community?

Juan Pablo, known as "the People's Principal" in Plainfield, New Jersey, brings raw honesty to this conversation. He talks about the letter his family sent confronting him about buying bikes with rent money. He shares how cycling became his medicine after serving in the Navy and dealing with PTSD. And he explains the difference between a superhero and a villain in a way that will stop you in your tracks.

This episode covers the cost of triathlon, the balance between sport and family, why most endurance athletes are processing trauma, and what it means to train so others don't have to suffer the way you did. Juan Pablo completed sprint triathlons, XTERRA races, and two half Ironmans before injuries and financial realities brought him back to cycling full time. Now he races criteriums, hosts a Memorial Day weekend race around his school, and works with Coach David Lipscomb's CIS Collective to rebuild his foundation from the ground up.

Whether you're a beginner wondering if you can afford this sport or a veteran athlete struggling to find balance, this conversation will meet you where you are.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

Join the Tri Beginner's Luck Community: Enjoyed this episode? The best way to support the show is to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Follow us on Instagram: @TriBeginnersLuck

Connect on Facebook: Tri Beginner's Luck Page

Questions or Feedback? We want to hear your story! Send your questions to [email protected], and we may feature them on a future episode.

Let's tri this!