KONA, Hawaii — New York native Katie Clayton, who summers in Lincolnville, recently finished as one of the best in her age group at the Ironman World Championship, in Hawaii.

The 23-year-old has spent summers in Lincolnville since birth. Her father, Bruce, grew up in Rockport and is a 1985 graduate of Camden-Rockport High School.

After moving to Sleepy Hollow, New York, he and his wife, Julie, continued to spend summers at their camp on Coleman Pond, where Katie participated in some valuable triathlon training for a few weeks in August ahead of her participating in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, which took place Oct. 12. 

At the mid-October competition, she placed 14th in her division (18-24 year old females), 305th among all women and 1,534th overall. 

Her time training in Lincolnville was crucial as she moved to California in September to begin pursing a doctorate degree at Stanford University.  

“Thankfully, Lincolnville is a triathlete’s paradise,” she said. “I would usually start my day with a bike ride or run in the broader Lincolnville area.” 

Clayton enjoyed biking up Slab City Road to Greenacre Road, Lincolnville Road, and Back Belmont Road, and back. 

“There aren’t very many cars, the pavement is smooth, and it’s just hilly enough to keep things interesting,” she said. 

For runs, she favored a loop around Coleman Pond, down to Lincolnville Beach and back, or circle around Beauchamp Point and back to Bay View Street, in Camden. 

Following her bike or run training, she usually took a long swim in the waters of Coleman Pond or made another bike or run in the afternoon. Occasionally, she visited the Waldo County YMCA in Belfast or the Penobscot Bay YMCA in Rockport for a pool swim or a strength workout. 

“The training in Maine was great because I did a lot of it by myself, and it’s important to know how to tackle long training sessions independently because Ironman is ultimately a solo event,” she commented. “I trained for Ironman Lake Placid in Hanover, New Hampshire, with several teammates and friends, and while I really enjoyed having company, the solo training in Maine allowed me to take in the beautiful surroundings, focus on my effort and breathing, and mentally lock in to my workouts.” 

At her New York high school, Clayton was a cross country runner and joined the club triathlon team at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she was a valedictorian in 2018 and majored in government and French. 

Though she joined the club, she had no intentions of competing in a triathlon; rather, she saw the club as a way to stay fit and cross train. 

“I had never been on a road bike before and could ‘stay afloat’ in the water but couldn’t swim freestyle, so the thought of swimming, biking, and running in the same event was not very attractive,” she said. 

Her disinterest in being a triathlon athlete abated and the athletic endeavor soon came to be a major aspect of her life. 

“I stuck with the club throughout my freshman year and soon grew to enjoy it, though, and I competed in my first sprint-distance triathlon in the spring,” she said.

After the first triathlon, she was hooked and continued to improve. 

Ultimately, she did her first longer distance triathlon and competed at the 2017 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships in Omaha, Nebraska. She finished 469th overall, 77th overall for females and seventh within her division (females 20-24 years old). 

Being a triathlon athlete comes with its rewards and its challenges. 

Among the positives, Clayton said, is possessing a fitness level that allows her to experience a variety of outdoor endurance activities. 

Without dedicating specific training, Clayton has competed in the Odyssey SwimRun event on Casco Bay Islands race off the coast of Portland, hiked and ran the Presidential Traverse and the Pemigewasset Loop in the White Mountains, hiked 54 miles on the Appalachian Trail in one day, and biked 600 miles along the California coast in five days. 

She even got engaged on top of New Hampshire’s Mount Jefferson in the middle of an 11-mile hike. 

“Spending time outside with others is my favorite thing to do, and I love that the fitness I’ve gained from triathlon training has allowed me to do pretty much whatever outdoor endurance activity I’m in the mood for,” she said. 

On the flip side, triathlon training is not always compatible with social activities. 

“I usually have long workouts on the weekends that begin in the early morning, which makes it difficult to have late nights out or travel spontaneously,” she said. “That said, many of my friends are triathletes, so I don’t mind going to bed early on a Friday night if I know that they will all be doing the same thing and will be meeting me in the morning to head out for a five-hour bike ride. I also like to plan big trips during my off season so I can fully enjoy them without feeling pressured to follow a specific workout plan.” 

Clayton, like many athletes, sets goals and work towards them.

This year, a large goal of hers was to compete in her first Ironman distance event, which she accomplished in July when she finished first her division (18-24 year old females), 15th for all women and 170th overall at the Ironman triathlon in Lake Placid, New York. 

Throughout the year, however, she worked with her coach to set smaller goals on a daily or weekly basis, such as holding certain paces during runs, swimming five times in a week, or completing five repeats on a tough hill on bicycle. 

She noted she derives satisfaction from achieving her goals and maintaining goals assists in staying motivated.

“Triathlon is fun for me because the high volume of training creates a lot of opportunities to set both big and small goals,” she said. “Keeping the goal of each workout, as well as the larger goal of my training arc, in mind, keeps me motivated even when the workouts are challenging.” 

Though pursuing a doctorate degree and competing in triathlons require tremendous efforts and work, Clayton noted the two are not completely at odds with the other. 

“I find that I am actually most productive when I’m busy with heavy training and academic work, because when I have a really tight schedule and a lot to do, I rarely procrastinate or waste time,” she said. “It’s true that there are sometimes simply not enough hours in the day to get everything done that I want to (both training-wise and academically), and when that happens, I have to be strategic about my priorities, but I can usually fit in almost all of the key training sessions and my academics if plan well in advance.” 

Clayton, additionally, benefits from Stanford University’s climate, which she described as being conducive to year-round outdoor training. 

Courtesy her academia and triathlon passions, Clayton has been able to carry lessons from her athletic endeavors into her doctorate pursuits. 

Her coach, Jim Anderson, will occasionally remind her to put her head down and pedal, referring to the aerodynamic position she should be in when on a triathlon bicycle. 

“In other words, I shouldn’t worry too much about what is happening around me or what other people are doing, but instead should channel my energy into the task at hand, give it my best effort, and do what I need to do to succeed,” she said. “I think the same is true for academia: Hard work usually translates into desirable results, so if I want to succeed, I should just (figuratively) put my head down and pedal.” 

Reach George Harvey and the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.