Allison Poe may not own a Batmobile or a nifty costume, but the moniker “Batgirl certainly applies to her.
The 26 year old resides in London, Ontario (originally from Maysville, Kentucky), where she is a Master’s Biology student at Western University. The focus of her study, bats (thus the nickname). Allison landed a summer job with the HSBC Triathlon Series after saying she would help out with the Shore-to-Shore Relay race. Her job entails race registration, coordination of volunteers, and basically doing anything that needs to be done.
Having a strong background in team sports (she played field hockey through her undergrad in Kentucky) she easily made the transition to triathlon, and manages to squeeze in 10-14 hours of training each week. “Working at MultiSport was pretty conducive to lots of training. John and Anne trained for Ironman Canada all summer, so I would tag along with them from work on long rides and swims. Also, with grad school I can make my own schedule. When I’m doing field work, I work with bats during the night and have my days free.
A favourite workout of hers is one that her boss, John Salt, showed her. After a warm-up, you go 12-15 minutes hard on the bike, then do 8-10 minutes of hard running, and repeat 2-3 times. She finds it very challenging and it is great for race simulation.
Allison’s results this season were quite impressive. She finished among the top females at the Tupper Lake ½ Ironman, had a personal best at the Wasaga Beach ½ Marathon (1:26:43), and was the top female at the Gravenhurst Olympic Triathlon and the CFB Borden Duathlon.
For newcomers to the sport Allison offers this piece of advice. “Have fun while you are racing—why do it if it’s not fun. Expect your first race to hurt more than you anticipated, but once you get that one out of the way it’s smooth sailing. Also, being prepared (mentally and having all your stuff together) is a big one, that really cuts down on race day anxiety.
Allison plans to continue working in wildlife/biology conservation and maybe doing a PhD. Athletically, she enjoys the hard training and wants to see how good she can become, possibly even throwing in an Ironman into the mix. “I would love to do an Ironman in the future. I’ve done three ½ IM’s and enjoyed the challenge. I want to make sure I’m in the right place to dedicate the time it takes. To end the season Allison will head to Florida to compete at the Best in the U.S. race in October (an age group race consisting of 1 male and 1 female from each state).