Runnin’ with Rani: Bree Wee says ‘goodbye’ to professional triathlon racing

Hawaii’s most decorated female professional triathlete has announced her retirement after eight years in the sport of triathlon.

Two-time IRONMAN champion, Bree Wee, who began her professional triathlon career after shattering the age-group women’s record at the 2007 Hawaii IRONMAN World Championships, wrote in a very heartfelt blog post, that the time has come to return to teaching first grade at Kahakai Elementary School on a full-time basis.

“How do I write this? Where does one even attempt beginning to write eight years of her sporting life into a single blog post? It’s not a beginning or an end, just a change.”

Since making her decision official, the 36-year old said she’s been called everything from a quitter to an inspiration. Anyone who has faithfully followed her career from the beginning will most certainly say, she is anything but a quitter.

Wee is arguably the greatest female triathlete to rise from the Aloha State, fearlessly traveling the globe to challenge the best of the best, year after year, on a world stage as grand as the Hawaii IRONMAN World Championships.

And through it all, she’s remained utterly optimistic – smiling through the highs and lows that come with a sport that is primarily judged upon results, all because she was not afraid to follow her heart and allow herself to chase a dream.

As a surfer girl from Florida, Wee moved to Kona in 2002 to teach third grade and enjoyed everything that the Big Island had to offer – a few big waves, year round sunshine, and the warm, welcoming, laid-back aloha vibe that instantly made her “ohana” to virtually everyone she met.

She took up paddling with a local canoe club and with the encouragement of her roommate also began running along Alii Drive. Little did she know, that famous stretch of pavement leading toward the Kailua Pier would later become the defining moment of her triathlon career.

Wee’s natural gift of speed and endurance in running soon transcended to swimming amongst other fast fish of the sea with Steve Borowski’s Kona Aquatics Masters swim team, and riding her bike on Queen Kaahumanu Highway. It wouldn’t be long before she found herself toeing the line at her very first triathlon – Oahu’s Na Wahine Sprint Triathlon in 2003.

Placing third overall among Hawaii’s fastest women confirmed three things: she had a natural talent and instinct for triathlon, with a little hard work she would most definitely improve, and there was no mistaking the captivating challenge of completing a swim, bike, and run all in one race. Wee was hooked.

Six months later, Wee won her first race – Lavaman Waikoloa’s Olympic Distance Triathlon – a 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K run. The sweet taste of victory further fueled her growing passion for triathlon, and she never looked back.

Known throughout the state as “The Queen of Lavaman,” Wee now has a record total of nine wins – the most by any male or female – six at Waikoloa and three at the former Lavaman Keauhou Olympic Distance event. She also holds the current women’s course record of 2 hours, 2 minutes and 47 seconds.

But it would be at her first Hawaii IRONMAN World Championship race in 2007 that Wee’s name was forever etched into the world of triathlon.

After a strong performance swimming 2.4-miles in Kailua Bay, riding 112-mile to Hawi and back, followed by a sauna infused 26.2-mile marathon, Wee once again found herself running down Alii Drive, but this time, she was on her way to eclipse Kate Major’s 2002 amateur record.

While holding her heavy 15-month old son, Kainoa, Wee crossed the finish line in a record setting time of 9:47:40, and placed an impressive 13th overall among the professional women’s field.

Having such raw talent, doors opened wide with opportunity and sponsorships, giving her the much-needed confidence to put her teaching position at Kahakai Elementary School on hold while turning pro in 2008.

Wee began a blog and immediately began attracting a virtual following as she traveled the world, posting pictures of her adventures and races, while being brutally honest by writing about her feelings on the roller coaster of events that come with the sport and in her everyday life.

Some of it not so pretty like going through a divorce, financial hardships, missing the podium and prize money, and loss of sponsors. Yet most were posts filled with gratitude and feeling humbled to be given the opportunity to chase her dreams including two IRONMAN wins – the first by any male or female from Hawaii – and thanking the people in her life that help to make her dreams happen.

Wee’s eight years in sport also gave rise to a new era in the way Hawaii women raced triathlons.

Racing an IRONMAN distance triathlon in a fashionable swimsuit became the new norm instead of odd-fitting tri-suits designed for men. Women also copied her everyday training outfits by wearing sun visors, bikini tops instead of sport bras, and running with surf shorts.

No matter what age, size, or fitness level, women looked to Wee as a role model in how to best go about training, racing, and feeling comfortable being in their own skin in a sport that is often dominated by men.

Wee’s long resume could certainly fill a book as she finished over a 100 triathlon races that includes 26-IRONMAN distance events, and owns the course record at just about every local running, Team Mango triathlon, and Peaman biathlon event in town.

By all standards, she is no quitter. Wee has unequivocally earned the respect and reputation of being Hawaii’s greatest inspiration in the sport of triathlon.

Now, as she prepares to return to life as a school teacher, Wee sat while sipping a smoothie to discuss how she came to her decision to retire, reflections and lessons learned during her years as a pro, and some sound advice she would like to pass on to her son and Hawaii’s youth.

Q: When did you decide that it was time to give up being a pro triathlete?

I raced IRONMAN Melbourne in 2015. It was the Asia Pacific Championships and was my first top ten (finish) at a championship race and I ended up getting injured in that race. After I got injured, I really wasn’t coming back from it as quickly as I thought I would and it was then I realized that I was getting older. So I knew then that I needed to either hunker down and go for it one more year or just finally be done.

I also ended up getting that triple “A” – that problem in your abdominal walls and aorta so I was in the hospital for that. Then after that, it was one thing after another. I pinched my L-5 and so I wasn’t running at all. I knew from then that something’s got to go as I think I was trying to do too much between substitute teaching, Kainoa, and training. I just literally couldn’t keep up and so it was my body telling me to stop. Basically all of 2015 was pretty bad but I wanted one more year which is why I went for it.

Then starting 2016 wasn’t any better so I knew in my mind that this is it and I was at peace with it, but I just didn’t know how to really go about it. As the races kept coming up, I kept doing them, but I was kind of losing my heart towards them – finish lines didn’t really mean so much to me anymore. I began to feel like I didn’t need any more finish lines which made me question myself; “Why am I still doing this?” But I went on to do IRONMAN Texas in May because it was already planned. On the flight back home, I knew I was done and I knew it was time.

Q: On the morning of May’s IRONMAN Texas race, what were some of your thoughts knowing it would be your last as a pro?

Part of me thought; “Just go for it and gun it and have a dream hit out last race,” but I couldn’t even do that, it was just not there. I had a descent swim and bike, but the run is all mental. So if your heart and head are not aligned then running becomes that much harder. I ran into a friend and we decided to jog together. Then we met another friend and we all started walking together. I was still in fifth place at that point, in the North American Championships, and I’m now walking. I knew I was done but happy knowing it was my last pro race.

And I knew I had to financially. You either need to work a lot to pay the bills or you need to quit working to race well. It’s really hard to do everything. I knew the job position was going to be open at Kahakai and I really wanted to have it.

Q: Many people do not understand what’s it like to be a pro living in Hawaii. Besides being so isolated from your major sponsors, what were some other hardships you encountered?

It would have been easier if I lived on the mainland for sponsorships and (financially) easier to travel to races. So definitely not having the sponsorship (opportunities) and not having the quality level of people to train with. I was at a training camp that was being held here and one of my successful pro triathlete friends told me that you are only as good as your real estate. Like, you are only as good as the people you have around you. I trained alone 90 percent of the time. I would do one club ride for my speed work, but the rest was on my own with the exception of swimming Masters which is why I always felt I had a good swim. That was my consistent group of people. But finding someone to ride 5 hours with was hard when they were all working.

Q: When you reflect back upon your years as a pro, what would you rank as some of your best and most unforgettable memories?

The people. That’s the part of racing I know I will miss. I’m not afraid to miss the finish lines or the awards or getting on podiums. But I’ve met some really cool people – people I would’ve never come to know if it weren’t for sport.

And Kainoa – even if I sometimes felt that it was a burden to drag him to some of the races, there were so many times I’d find him on the sidelines screaming and cheering which made me realize how much he loved it. And he’s so proud of me and I think I’ll miss that. He felt that sense of pride that his mommy was a “racer.”

Q: What would you say is the one lesson you’ve learned that you now can use in your everyday life?

Just really don’t quit. There were times that you think you’ve already quit and you are done but somehow it always turns around.

Q: What are you most proud of?

Besides Kainoa, probably my IRONMAN Canada win (in Whistler). It was a race that I got off the bike 8 minutes behind and my usual thing to do would be to hurry up and try and catch up. But this race I stayed within myself, stayed patient and ended up winning the race by 5 minutes.

Q: If you could sum up your entire triathlon career into one word, what would that be?

It would be a toss up between humbled and fortunate.

Q: You’ve spent most of your triathlon years as a pro than as an amateur. Do you feel it will be hard to go back to the amateur ranks?

No, I think it will be okay for me. The part that may be hard is the judgment that gets placed on me. Like if people are still going to be expecting me to have a great result or what if I run slower now. But I learned how to deal with that during my second year as a pro.

I was listening to all of these outside voices and allowed it to entertain my mind as I took it to heart that people were judging me and everyone was watching. Coach Steve knew about that and gave me the best advice. He said put yourself in a cocoon. You can see everyone, but they cannot see you and don’t even know you are there. And that stuck with me and from that moment, what people said about me never bothered me for the rest of my career because I always remembered what Coach Steve said.

Q: You have often said Kainoa is your greatest inspiration. What would you want him to learn from your experiences?

To set his own goals and not to get discouraged if they don’t happen easily, or they don’t happen right away, or even if they don’t look like they will ever happen. He actually wants to start his own restaurant business and already has a name for it. And I look at him and see now what he’s picked up from me – to just keep going and to keep trucking away even if it’s not easy.

Q: Many of Hawaii’s youth look up to you as a role model. What advice would you give to them?

That you really have to have more to life than just sport. I understand that there are people winning gold medals because they have dedicated their life to that but they are just the 1-percent. If you are absolutely not that 1-percent then you won’t have anything to fall back on, and with sport being your body, you will not last forever. You don’t want to be that 80-year old person that has no family, friends, or other passions because you gave it all for your sport. So I think you need to have more to life than just sport.

Q: What did you envision to be the final chapter of your professional racing career?

I would have love to have done Kona one more time and have that breakthrough day but, I know I’ll do it again as an amateur. There are so many sporting goals out there — like I’ve qualified for Boston (marathon) and I really want to do that. Everything started because I just wanted to run. And so I want to do more running and I’m looking forward to going back to that. I’ve wanted to run the Kona Marathon which I still never have but I’ll be doing the half marathon. Triathlon took up my whole life.

I just really want to work on being a mom and running. I think I’m going to be that mom that runs for the rest of her life.