Cook To Run Triathlon for Charity

PARK CITY, Utah (July 16) - In an effort to raise scholarship funds for the 49'ers Foundation and the Far West Masters Junior Scholarship Foundation, U.S. Women's Alpine Ski Team racer Stacey Cook (Mammoth, CA) will run her first triathlon on Saturday, July 19.

Helping Cook in the effort are U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Associate Physiologist Lesli Shooter, Strength and Conditioning Specialist Tschana Breslin and former Men's Alpine Manager Jenny Holden. The four will run the sprint portion of the event, which features a half-mile swim, 12-mile bike and a 5K run. Donations to the Cook's Team can be made at www.staceycook.net.

"I was a scholarship kid through the 49'ers and Far West Masters when I was a young racer," said Cook, who says the groups provide over $30,000 in scholarship funds annually. "They helped me get to the next level with ski racing, so I want to do the same for other kids."

Training for the race also fits well with her regular summer program, which has always included cycling and running. But for Cook, swimming is a new, and wet addition to the plan.

"The first few times in the pool where horrible, but I kept telling myself it would get easier. I've got a skiers bum and skiers legs, so at first I'd sink like a rock. But now that I've got the mechanics figured out, it's a great way to add to my off snow training," she said.

The spur-of-the-moment idea was born from a conversation Cook and Shooter had while in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, during a World Cup race last February. The crux of the conversation, says Cook, was based on it being a cold day in the 1956 Olympic Village and the thought of swimming in warm water sounding "very" appealing.

If all goes well, she plans on making the race an annual tradition with the goal of boosting her charitable donations each year. Also part of the campaign is the Stacey Cook/Sun Valley Ski Tools Junior Sponsorship, which includes tuning tools and wax to support several seasons of competition.

The sponsorship is open to all junior skiers with a valid USSA license competing in the J2 or J3 age group for the upcoming season. In 2008, the scholarships first year, four winners were chosen out of nearly 90 applicants. Four more winners will be announced this season with an additional winner receiving a custom painted Stacey Cook UVEX helmet.

"It's really important to me to help people I can reach - those people are young skiers," said Cook, who heads to New Zealand in early August to get back to on snow training.

To donate to Team Cook for the Scofield Triathlon and for more information on the Stacey Cook/Sun Valley Ski Tools Junior Sponsorship, go to www.staceycook.net.