Kelsey Myers has been a triathlete for over 15 years, and wants to make triathlon history, and make a difference. In an incredible achievement, Kelsey raced an Olympic distance triathlon in six countries in under a week: a 0.9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, and a 6.2 mile run.
We spoke with Kelsey about how OnePlan’s easy-to-use planning platform aided her in planning out the triathlon route to help set the world record for completing six triathlons across six continents in six days – from Brazil to Australia!
Discovering OnePlan
Kelsey came across OnePlan from a call when launching a race series with her business partner. They were looking to work with OnePlan to help plan out their events and learn more about OnePlan’s illustrative map service. Kelsey says, “When on the call, I thought then this could be a really great way to plan out the record attempt.”
The event plans for her Triathlon World Record Attempt were plotted all over the world – in Brazil, Portugal, Morocco, Oman, Australia and Malibu, USA. She adds: “All of the locations that I went to didn’t have races so I just went and made up the race when I got there, and raced with local triathlon clubs and cycling clubs.”
Kelsey used OnePlan’s accurate route plotting functionality. “I based the course locations on proximity to the airport, if it was a swimmable beach, and I picked cities that had hosted major triathlons before to be sure it was doable,” says Kelsey.
She had only visited Malibu before so plotting out her routes seemed like a tricky task at first, adding that “OnePlan was super helpful to be able to map out the distance exactly like an Olympic distance triathlon.”
Race Route Plotting Made Easy
Thanks to OnePlan’s user-friendly interface, Kelsey was able to start planning out her triathlon routes quickly and efficiently. “This was the first time I have ever planned something like this, I am not a race director – I haven’t done anything like that before!” Kelsey adds.
Using OnePlan, Kelsey was able to plan the most optimal routes in places she hadn’t visited yet. She adds: “It was the first time for every single country I went to, so it was really useful to map out a course that was not only the distance that I needed, but also I was able to hit on the touristy spots.”
Being able to easily modify your placed routes in OnePlan meant Kelsey was able to add to her overall experience and customise her Triathlon route.
“Because of OnePlan, I was able to pick the bike route tool and make sure that I’m travelling through the town at this part and able to see certain things. Then for the running route, I’m going to go in a different direction so that I can see a different part of the area,” she says.
Kelsey adds: “I think something a lot of people don’t realise about this record attempt was that it was just really fun! It was like the coolest way to explore a city.”
To be eligible for a world record, Kelsey collected two witness signatures at each location, took photos at the start, finish, and throughout each race, recorded her distance via GPS, and had a certified USAT race director review the evidence and provide a statement that verified the completion of each race.
Refining the chosen route
Once Kelsey had completed plotting her race routes, she was able to use OnePlan’s public maps service led by our Mapping Specialist Alice.
Kelsey says: “The illustrated map from Alice was great – being able to share that to social media, a lot of my followers just loved that.
“I think they really liked having a visual of where I was and really helped it click for people.”
Kelsey was able to customise the overall design of her illustrative map from start to finish: “I sent some pictures of other illustrations that I liked, such as the Nike women’s half marathon in San Francisco. Alice then came back and asked how detailed do you want this to be? Should it include elevation? There was so much more that she was offering to do! In the end we kept it pretty simple as it was just for social media.”
Check out Alice’s map service here!
The next world record attempt
Looking forward to the next challenge, Kelsey says: “I’m going to do this again in a year, but this time doing seven triathlons on seven continents in seven days.” And of course she’s planning to use OnePlan for her next Triathlon world record attempt: “I will be back, you guys will hear from me again soon!”
We look forward to seeing Kelsey take on the record attempt of seven triathlons on seven continents in seven days in a year’s time!
Be sure to follow Kelsey’s journey via her Instagram account: @kelseymyers4
