Most triathlon camps are all about training: long bricks, long runs, and long nights with your drink of choice in hand. The Suunto Elite Team camp is a little different. Although there was still plenty of training to be done, this camp instead focuses its efforts on educating team athletes on how to be excellent brand ambassadors in their local communities.
Caleb Whittle, senior marketing manager for Suunto, stated, "We gathered all of our athletes here in beautiful St. George to train together, learn together, and ignite the contagious passion of the Suunto brand within each athletes. The main goal is to set them up for success in creating Suunto brand awareness in their own communities." We sent Slowtwitch Media House's Eric Wynn down to St. George to check in on the camp, and see exactly what the team would learn about this year.
Whittle, hard at work explaining 2020 expectations from team members.
There will be an exam at the end of class.
There was a lot to learn -- partners included Enve, Nuun, Castelli, Shimano, Roka, Kanberra Sport, and SSUP Cup.
Keith Meyer of SSUP Cup explains the benefits of his reusable cups.
Each athlete received a custom Suunto 9 Baro, which you'll probably spot at podiums nationwide.
Elyse Gallegos takes her Ventum for a spin through the stunning countryside.
You can't ask for much better surroundings for a camp.
The 120 hour continuous battery life during exercise tracking meant that the Baro 9 was more than up for the task of surviving camp without charging.
Samantha Snukis, out for a run. She came to the Suunto camp just after the Olympic Marathon Trials, where she finished in 3:00:01.
The ever-speedy Tim Hola taking stock of his run metrics.
Ryan Montgomery, pinning on a bib for the Red Mountain 50K series. Although none of the team athletes ran the 50K, there were podiums in the 30K and half marathon.
All smiles when you've got good roads, good weather, and good sunglasses.
DJ Snyder enjoying the last bits of light in the desert.