OCTOBER 22, 2009 ISSUE
Multisport Moose
Triathlete with Ties to Boone to Race in World Championship
Moose Herring stands by his father, Bill Herring, after winning the Watauga Lake Triathlon this September. Herring will compete for Team USA in the Half Ironman World Championships in Perth, Australia, later this month. Photo submittedMarion “Moose” Herring will compete in the 2009 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships—a half Ironman event involving a 3K swim, 80K bike ride and 20K run—in Perth, Australia, on Sunday, October 25.
Herring, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine, has a medical practice in Richmond, Va., but said his drive and training as a triathlete are both grounded in Boone, his hometown.
On Saturday, September 26, Herring won the Watauga Lake Triathlon—and this win came immediately after he recovered from a three-day illness that ended on Friday, September 25, he said.
“Boone has some great athletes and I had not expected to win that,” he said, adding that about 120 people competed in the event.
Herring’s parents, Bill and Jo Herring, moved to Boone when he was five years old, and Herring attended Hardin Park Elementary and Watauga High School, he said.
“My parents were always very athletic,” Herring said. “They encouraged us to be outside, play [and] get involved in sports. They really encouraged us to set up goals where our interests were and really strive to attain those goals. I spent my childhood chasing my older brother. The drive to compete with him gives me the drive to compete now. He was always faster.”
From age eight to high school, Herring swam regularly, and his coach Lan O’laughlin was a great inspiration for him, he said.
“He was a fantastic person and fantastic coach,” Herring said. “He was really the major coach through my middle school and high school years. I swam for Watauga County Swim Club, and as I was training in college, I got interested in riding bikes and running,” Herring said.
He started regularly practicing all three sports during his time at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., and began competing in triathlons after finishing medical school. To date, he has competed in more than 100 triathlons, Herring said.
“I’ve been doing it for 12 to 15 years, off and on,” he said.
Occasionally over the years, Herring has returned to Boone to train as well as to see his family, and this year, he brought several groups of people with him to train twice in the area, he said.
They cycled on the Parkway, swam in Watauga Lake and ran on the Moses Cone property, he added.
Last October, Herring competed in the 2008 USA Triathlon Halfmax National Championship in Las Vegas, Nev. and placed in the top 10 for his age division (40 to 45).
“They take the top 10 people in each age group and those people compete the following year, October 2009, for Team USA in the world championships,” Herring explained, adding that he expects a total of about 300 people to compete for Team USA.
“[This is] my first chance to wear a USA jersey and compete at that level,” Herring said. “I’ve spent a lot of time training [and] I think it’s a good chance to race at that level [and] test my fitness with people around the world.
“I have been truly blessed with a great supportive family, wife and kids that understand the passion of multisport and the lifetime commitment to fitness,” Herring continued. “I do believe the environment that was established by my parents is the foundation of my success as an athlete and surgeon. My mom was always there to love, support, transport, listen and do whatever it took to be an incredible mom. My Dad is an incredible role model as a doctor, dad and grandfather.”
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