Who else read about the new Happy Valley Ironman Triathlon — which starts with a swim at Bald Eagle State Park, continues with a bike ride through the rolling hills of Centre and Clinton counties and ends with a run through Penn State’s campus — and thought “I want to do that!”?
It’s exactly the kind of event that we should be known for and accentuates what’s great about athletics in central Pennsylvania. Kudos to the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and everyone who made it happen.
Growing up I played the big three (football, baseball and basketball) but I was never all that good—bottom half for sure—and I never truly loved any of them.
I started snowboarding when I was in high school and loved that. But I didn’t live in an area blessed with accessible mountains, so it was something I could only do every once in a while.
In my 20s, I assumed my athletic days were done. I went to the gym, ran on the treadmill, lifted some weights and figured that was what fitness looked like for the average person once you graduated high school.
But when I moved back to State College at 31, I was lucky to discover CrossFit Nittany (now State College Strength & Conditioning) and realized there was this entire world of athletics I’d never explored: solo sports where the only real competitor was you. And on top of that, you could continue your personal athletic career in your 30, 40s, 50s and beyond.
Then I realized State College is an ideal place to do them. We have the right geography, you can easily get to a place to train on your lunch break and there are many local experts and groups like Nittany Valley Running Club or Happy Valley Women’s Cycling (HVWC) organization here to help you.
Not sold yet?
Here’s the list for the Best Solo Sports from Ranker.com as voted by website visitors:
- Bicycling
- Running
- Swimming
- Archery
- Climbing
- Surfing
- Skiing
- Mountain Biking
- Snowboarding
- Martial Arts
If you remove surfing that list reads like a choose-your-own-adventure, action-packed Happy Valley weekend.
I also feel obligated to mention that no. 11 on the list is skateboarding, which I recently wrote about.The easiest way to support local skaters is to donate to build this free public skatepark in town!
For years, people in our community have been preparing for Happy Valley to become a destination for solo sports — people like State College resident and X Games gold medalist Jamie Bestwick, who has promoted the town’s geography and proximity to the world-class Woodward sports camp as a great place to train as a professional biker and cyclist.
And government and industry are investing in this type of sport locally with the recent additions of Harvest Fields, Climb Nittany and, possibly, that new skatepark.
So what’s going to happen when we all decide to become triathletes? Well, this town is going to pop on the radar of a lot of people, and I think we’re ready. First, more locals (like me) are going to double down on the advantages we have here. Then, I think we’ll start to become a real destination.
I know there’s a part of us that hopes this all stays a secret. I love that trailheads, bike paths and gyms are mostly uncrowded, but I hope it just pushes us to discover, not just more areas to explore, but more sports to try too.
Take for example the growing mixed martial arts scene. Over the last handful of years, at least two former Penn State wrestlers have opened local training gyms: M2 Training Center and American Top Team Happy Valley. It seems inevitable that we see more people training in MMA in the coming years.
Personally, I’d love to see more investment into our indoor swimming facilities. Between the State College YMCA and McCoy Natatorium, I feel like our community could support more.
The last argument I’ll make on this topic is that solo athletes fit the local culture here like a glove. Our town is full of independent professionals (some of them called professors) working with an individual focus and goals. We are a town built around helping each other succeed individually.
Will the Ironman finally raise the profile of Happy Valley as a premiere East Coast destination for solo sports? If not, I think we’re really close.
