Bob and Trish Evans amazed the runners in the Capuchin Run/Walk for the Hungry a few weeks back by racing over the 5K in 16:53 and 20:20, respectively, while juggling.
Those are fast times, even for folks who aren’t running with three balls in the air.
It was something of a prelude, though, for their next trick.
The Wisconsin natives trained most of the spring and summer to juggle through a triathlon: a swuggle, unijuggle and joggle, as they described their unique version of the multi-discipline race. True to form, they succeeded.
Bob finished the Panther Pride Triathlon in Iowa Falls, Iowa, in one hour, 48 minutes, and Trish juggled across the finish in two hours, 12 minutes. They had one advantage – the 300-meter swim was in an indoor pool – but they ran and unicycled on the city streets to complete their first triathlon as jugglers.
More importantly, they raised $3,275 to support Special Olympics.
“We were both pleased with our efforts,” Bob wrote in an email from Oconomowoc, where the couple is spending the summer.
“The adrenaline from the cheering crowd and all the excitement made it tough to juggle. I only dropped once at the beginning of the bike.
“Trish had about 10 drops (mostly during the unicycle) and said she regrets eating some caffeine-loaded energy chews before the race. The adrenaline plus the caffeine made it hard for her to balance and juggle on the unicycle.
“Our next immediate challenge is the Lake Country Half-Marathon and 5K in Oconomowoc on Sept. 1. I will be joggling the half-marathon (which will be my first half- and the longest joggling race I’ve done) and Trish will do the 5K.
“I would like to do another triathlon sometime in the future… lots of people have requested I try and Ironman while juggling, but that would be a beast to train for.
“Our next non-juggling adventure is going to be a move to South Korea where we will teach English for a year (probably starting in late September). It will be interesting to see what kind of response our juggling stunts get in a foreign country.”
Follow the Evans’ duo and their charitable joggling via this web page.
