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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- Yonkers native Dr. Gina Pauline is returning to the Westchester area and her visit will have a goal -- to challenge herself at the Fifth Annual Toughman triathlon in Croton-on-Hudson on Sept. 8.
"I'm excited to be coming back to the area," said Pauline, who is living in the Syracuse area. "I signed up for Toughman as I was looking for a half triathlon. I wanted to try something different out of the area and heard it was a great event."
Pauline, who grew up in Yonkers as a swimmer with the Condors Swim Club, Gotham Aqua Kings and Ardsley Swim Club, graduated Maria Regina High School and went on to swim at Binghamton University. Now an assistant professor of sport management at the David Falk School at Syracuse University, she has been doing triathlons for two years.
Pauline will join nearly 2,000 triathletes of all ages who are participating in the Toughman, ToughTeen and ToughKids divisions. The event began five years ago and has grown each fall. Toughman is a half-triathlon and includes a 1 mile Hudson River swim, 56 mile Croton-area bike race and 13.1 mile run through Westchester roadways.
Pauline said the idea of competing in triathlons was born while at Binghamton, but graduate school, career, marriage and three children postponed the pursuit. When she did make the plunge in 2010, Pauline said she was immediately "over her head," enduring a fall from her bicycle and struggling through what she called "the three hardest miles of my life" in the effort.
Like many triathletes, Pauline used that first experience as motivation and took on three triathlons that same year. She trains between 9 and 11 hours a week in the off-season and 13 to 16 hours a week in preparation for a race.
Check out the event's website for more information about the Toughman race.
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