Surgeon wins Armed Forces Triathlon Championship

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- If at first you don't succeed, then try, try again.

For Capt. James Bales, a Wilford Hall Medical Center orthopedic surgeon, it was eight 'tris' before success: winning the Armed Forces Triathlon Championships.

The Air Force captain traversed the Olympic-distance course at Naval Base Ventura County, Calif., in 1:46:32 to add gold to his collection of silver medals at the multisport event June 5.

"After six silver medals, I finally pulled it off," Captain Bales said.

The win also ended the Navy's streak of seven straight years at the top, with Timothy O'Donnell winning six consecutive gold medals and Derek Oskutis taking the competition in 2009.

After exiting the swim in eighth place, Captain Bales put together the day's quickest bike split to catch the lead pack, a circumstance similar to last year.

Instead of feeling fatigued, he said, "I still felt like I was racing on relatively fresh legs," unlike the previous year.

In the run, Captain Bales outpaced his three other opponents to become the race's leader in the final leg.

"About a mile into the 10K, I had established a 20-second gap," he said. "I knew I could kind of sit back and it would be tough for them to make it up, but at that point I just kept the hammer down."

Captain Bales finished the course 1:10 faster than his closest competitor and helped the men's team to its first title since 2004.

Even before the gold, Captain Bales had something else to celebrate. His trip to the West coast was preceded by the conclusion of his five-year residency program at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

"Immediately following the graduation, I got on a plane to California and arrived at the race site around 9:30 p.m.," he said. "My wife laughed, she said 'in 24 hours you graduated from residency and won the Armed Forces Triathlon Championship.'

"And they were 1,500 miles apart," he added.

The Air Force's Kathy Rakel completed the 1500-meter swim, 40K bike ride and 10K run in 2:00.04 to win and lift the women's team atop the total point standings.

As the military's fastest triathlete, Captain Bales is now looking ahead to a season of training and racing under the World Class Athlete Program, a program designed to prepare elite athletes for the Olympic stage.

His next two years will consist of training in Colorado Springs, Colo., and racing in Pan American events to accumulate qualifying points for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Until then, the doctor shifts his focus back to gearing up for his next challenge: passing the orthopedic board exams July 8.