By Glen Miller
El Reno Tribune
Sydney Haggins started her career as an endurance athlete a long time ago on a beach far, far away.
However, the El Reno doctor’s success in the sport of triathlons came to a head last week by qualifying for the 2021 IronMan 70.3 World Championships.
During the IronMan 70.3 qualifying event in Lubbock, Texas, the Okarche resident posted a career-best time of six hours, 19 minutes and 18 seconds.
“It was enough to qualify me for the world championships in Utah in September, which will be a great experience, but I won’t be at all competitive in that field,” Haggins said.
Haggins has competed in triathlons for nearly two decades, but the Lubbock race was just her fifth in that distance. Better known as a half iron, contestants have an open water swim of 1.2 miles, followed by a 56-mile bike ride before completing the trifecta with a 13.1-mile run – which is the distance of a half marathon.
“This was the first of this distance in seven years and I beat my best time which was eight years ago,” Haggins said, who practices family medicine at SSM Health El Reno.
The 39-year-old Haggins posted a time of 48:45 for the swim, followed by a 2:52:42 for the bike stage. Her 2:29:41 for the run would lead to her overall finish of 711th out of 1,104 contestants. She was the 145th fastest female and was 29th out of 57 contestants in the 40 to 44-year-old age group.
“It was a pretty tough field,” Haggins said.
While she admits she pushed through some mental roadblocks during the race, her biggest inspiration were the four people waiting nearby the transition area and the finish line – her family.
Husband of 10 years and training partner, Ryan served as her crew chief, while her daughter, Julia, 5, and sons, Elliott, 3, and Lawrence, 1, were her cheering section.
Triathlons are nothing new to the Haggins family, with Ryan having competed in four half iron distances as well as two full-length IronMan races, which is a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike stage and a full 26.2-mile marathon.
Julia recently competed in her first youth triathlon and Elliott will do his first by the end of the summer, Sydney Haggins said.
“It’s all just about doing what we enjoy and living a healthier lifestyle together as a family. I think it’s important for kids to see their parents having fun and chasing goals.”
Haggins says she draws inspiration from all her family, but both she and Ryan agree the kids getting involved has been special.
“The fact that they are so enthusiastic about watching us and wanting to participate as well, is far more important than our results. It’s so cool to see how excited they get to cheer for everyone at the finish lines and begging for their chance to try,” Sydney Haggins said.
Lubbock was her first IronMan event since having all three children. Her training has lasted over several months and was aided somewhat by the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the downturn in the energy section.
Ryan, who has a degree in petroleum engineering, was laid off from his career with a national chain. He opted to go back to school online and earn a master’s in business administration from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, a move which freed up more time for his wife to train.
“We have to switch up the kid duty. We tried before to train for a full or a half at the same time and it’s too much to coordinate,” Sydney Haggins said.
The couple still finds time to train together, like a 90-degree June afternoon bike ride from El Reno to Calumet along Route 66. While securing a spot in Worlds may alter plans, the Haggins will give the dual training another shot. Sydney is slated to do the Waco, Texas, full-distance IronMan in October and Ryan the half-distance a day later.
“We are competitive with each other but there is no race to see who does the most events or who has the better times. We are both extremely competitive but we don’t compete against each other. We push and cheer each other on,” Sydney Haggins said.
So who is the better on race day?
“There is no contest, he is faster than me. We are even on the swim, but when it comes to the bike and the run, he gets me each time,” Sydney Haggins said.
Where her triathlon story begins
Sydney Haggins fell in love with the sport as a youth.
“I used to watch them on television when I was a young girl and said, one day I’m going to do that,” Sydney Haggins said.
It would be decades before she first got into the sport while studying to become a doctor at the Medical University of the Americas, located in Nevis, West Indies.
“There was a local race there and a triathlon club that met across the street from my house. I have always been a runner, so it was not hard for me not to dive into the swimming and biking aspect of it all when it was right there in front of me. I had to try it,” Sydney Haggins said.
The native Canadian carried her passion through college and her clinical clerkship and residency at St. Anthony’s in Oklahoma City. Her husband, whom she met before medical school via a mutual friend, became hooked in her passion while watching her compete.
“He is an easy sell on stuff like this. I did a race and he came to watch and said it looked like fun and jumped right in. He started about 11 or 12 years ago,” Haggins said.
Haggins says they benefit from having local venues to train, such as Lake El Reno and Route 66 just a few steps out her office doors.
“We have got people that come from all around Oklahoma City, Edmond and Norman to do the swims here. Having both the lake and Route 66 right here is just super. If we lived here, I would do my runs around the lake, but I do my runs in Okarche in the mornings before I come to the office,” Sydney Haggins said.
