The past six years for Catherine Hanson have not been easy as she battled with cancer twice. Now a two-time cancer survivor, Hanson uses her hardships in the past to motivate herself through races.
“The race this year meant more than any other race that I have been to,” said Hanson, the Longwood men’s and women’s cross country head coach. “Every time I raced after my treatments, I did not entirely trust my body.”
Previously having natural long and blonde hair, Hanson constantly worried about what others would think of her as she powered through cancer treatments.
“The setbacks are more mental than they are physical for me, especially as you go through treatments and you see yourself changing and start feeling the effects,” Hanson noted. “You start to see yourself as being different than who you are.”
Hanson continued to prove herself as one of the nation's top triathletes, qualifying for the U.S. National Triathlon team for the second-straight year on Sunday, Aug. 13.
The 47-year-old put on an eye-opening performance, rounding out her day with a personal-record time of 1:14:50.57, placing 5th in her age group of ages 45-49.
“I still can’t believe it,” said Hanson. “I don’t think its actually sunk in because I haven’t really had time.”
Apart from coaching both cross country teams for 11 seasons and being a single parent of three boys, Hanson also dedicates her time to teaching water aerobics at the local YMCA.
Referred to as her "second family", she credited her cross country team as well as her YMCA community for supporting her and donating money toward competition registration and travel.
“The people around me are unbelievable,” Hanson said. “The friends that I have in Farmville, the YMCA, every one of them donated money for me to go.”
The National Sprint Triathlon was made up of three sprint events: a 750-meter swim, a 20-kilometer bike and then a five-kilometer run.
Aside from her 5th place finish in her age group, she ranked 54th overall out of the nearly 460 female triathletes. Her podium finish this year garnered her an automatic qualification for next years’ triathlon.
Hanson noted her tenure with the U.S. National Triathlon Team expired annually, requiring her re-qualify in next years’ race.
According to Hanson, participants must qualify through either USA Triathlon (USAT) sanctioned events, or Regional Triathlon events, to compete in the USAT National Championships; to qualify for either, athletes mus finish within a set top percentage, based on the amount of triathletes.
Hanson qualified for this years’ competition in fall 2017.
No stranger to the world championships, Hanson participated in the 2016 competition, finishing 20th in her age group. She said she hasn't decided if she will compete at the World Triathlon Grand Final in Australia for Team USA in September 2018.
“I’m focused on my (cross country) team and their workouts right now,” said Hanson. “Tonight, I’ll celebrate with friends my accomplishment in Omaha.”
Coach Catherine Hanson at the finish line of the U.S. National Triathlon.
