Laurie Viault

Birthday: 2/11/70
Hometown: Houston, Tx
Years in triathlon: 7
Occupation: Product Marketing at Dell
Favorite Race and Why: My favorite race was Ironman Coeur D’Alene.  This is my favorite race because it was my first full length ironman and the course was absolutely beautiful.  The weather was nice and cool and the sky was cloudy all day, so I did not get overheated or sunburnt.  I tend to overheat and sunburn very easily so these conditions were ideal for me.  I had a smooth race and did not experience any problems,  The wonderful conditions, the beautiful scenery, and the fact that I was actually completing an ironman kept a smile on my face all day.

Athlete Bio
I started running for fun and to get rid of stress back in college and have been running ever since.  At that time I watched the Hawaii Ironman World Championships for the first time and was absolutely enthralled by the sport of triathlon.  I was in awe of the athletes who could complete it and finally got the courage to attempt to do my first sprint triathlon in 2002.   Within the year, I caught the bug and had my eyes set on completing a half ironman, at this point I was 33 years old and barely completed the half ironman.  This past year I have spent an enormous amount of time training for triathlons and have improved my times quite a bit!  I’m proud to say that at the age of 39 I managed to take an hour and 15 minutes off of my half ironman and went on to complete a full ironman.  I absolutely love the sport and am determined to make it to the Hawaii Ironman World Championships before I die.