As a reminder, we’re always looking for suggestions and recommendations on people/stories we should be featuring in our series called Running Club Franklin County.
Do you have any tips? Send us your running stories to sports@recorder.com, and they may be included in this space.
Without further adieu, here’s Volume 11 where we dive into the world of triathlons.
“Reino rules, again,” bellowed the headline in the August 5, 2019, edition of the Recorder.
For the fifth consecutive time, and race-record sixth overall, JoEllen Reino bested the field to take first place in the women’s sprint group at the 36th Greenfield Lightlife Triathlon.
The South Deerfield resident holds the Greenfield triathlon in high esteem. The event is one of a select few races that makes it into her yearly calendar. She’s even come back early from vacation just to compete there.
“I think of that race as a celebration,” began Reino, who won last year’s event by nearly five minutes. “Everybody there is cheering for everybody else. It feels like a party. I love everything about that race. The time of year, the people… so I go into it with an attitude of cheering myself and everybody else.
“Within that, I race to win, for sure,” she continued “I try to, at least. But if I don’t, that’s OK, too. I don’t put pressure on myself that way.”
Winning races is something that Reino has done her share of throughout the triathlon circuit.
She actually got her start in the sport somewhat due to her bumpy relationship with running. As a track harrier in high school in Virginia, Reino enjoyed the longer distances. A stress fracture slowed her down considerably, and she thought she’d never be able to run again without getting injured.
She got after it again in her 40s, working her way back into competitive form. Thanks to a bit of assistance from the Body Shoppe’s Liz Dolby, she mixed in exercises to help ease the strain on her body. Not long after, she was able to race again.
“It brought back something really wonderful to my life,” Reino, who moved to the area in 1989, explained of running. “It became as much a social event as it was to race.”
With running back in her arsenal, she expanded her horizons. Her husband John Reino had competed in triathlons, and despite her relative inexperience in the water, she decided to give them a try.
“I couldn’t swim one lap in the pool when I started training for triathlons,” she began. “I was terrible. So we actually went and took some lessons, learned to swim in regards to doing longer distances.
“You can’t really prepare for the crowds so it’s different than swimming on your own,” she continued. “We’d take lessons on how to be relaxed while swimming, total immersion, being efficient and relaxed in the water as opposed to hammering the swim. I had a lot of panic attacks in the water in the beginning so it was more learning how to relax.”
While she had never cycled competitively, Reino said she had been biking all her life, and the adjustment came pretty easily. With her triathlon portfolio now properly diversified, it was time to start competing.
“I loved it right from the beginning,” she offered, noting her debut event was the Whately Police Triathlon. “I did the backstroke for my first swim, actually, and I was riding a hybrid bike. But I was smiling the whole time I was doing it. For me, that was the reason to go back. I really enjoyed every moment and to this day, that’s still true.”
Those early races saw Reino navigating the waters, so to speak. She said the swim portions were always the toughest, particularly in the early years, but the competition and positive atmosphere that surrounded triathlons kept her coming back for more.
“It was kind of humorous to me in that I found humor in the whole act of coming out of the water to get ready to go bike and then run,” she said. “The first few triathlons, any picture of me, I had this giant smile because I had made it through the water. It felt really great to just be able to do that.”
As experienced triathletes know, the swim portion of any race can be unpredictable. Most races employ different waves for a staggered start, but if the body of water isn’t particularly big, all bets are off.
“I’ve gotten clubbed in the head,” she said with a laugh. “I had a race where my wave was ahead of the young guy wave, and two guys came from behind and swam right over me. Apparently that was the shortest distance? Just go right over me? It’s pandemonium.”
Reino quickly found success in triathlons, and won her first Greenfield championship in 2011. She won her second in 2015, and has successfully defended her title every year since.
“I actually enjoy hard training,” she began. “When I’m running, I enjoy being out of breath. That’s part of my training. I’d rather go for a very intense workout and train hard.”
While Greenfield is always on her triathlon calendar, so too is the Massachusetts State Triathlon, an Olympic-distance race (0.9-mile swim, 22-mile bike, 6.2-mile run) in Winchendon. She won her age division in 2019.
As for her current training regimen? With triathlons throughout the country on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, Reino said she’s still staying busy. With pools closed and open water swims also out of the question, she hasn’t been swimming, but has been alternating running and biking outside. She also mixes in quite a bit of yoga.
“I’m very grateful to be able to run,” she offered. “It’s a very balancing activity. It’s really good for the brain and the psyche. I’m just really grateful I do have something I can do that adds so much positivity to my day.”
When the races do return, Reino said she’ll be happy to get back out there. She doesn’t take any event for granted, and said she still marvels at the athletic feats accomplished by her fellow triathlon competitors.
“Still to this day, I’m impressed with anybody doing a triathlon,” she said. “You just see people of all ages, sizes, abilities, the whole spectrum. And they get out there and just impress me every single time. That’s the best part for me, the community and the happiness that finishing a triathlon brings out of people.”