Endurance Exchange Virtual Conference Begins Thursday

March 2, 2022

This year boasts the biggest lineup to date with over 130 industry-wide speakers in more than 85 sessions

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – The third annual Endurance Exchange presented by BOA Nutrition, an industry-wide conference for endurance professionals and athletes, takes place as a virtual event this Thursday, March 3, through Saturday, March 5.

All sessions will be recorded and available on-demand through May 31 for attendees who are unable to watch live. Registration will also remain open after the event, through April 30 for anyone who wishes to view recorded content.

Registration for Endurance Exchange is $175 for General Attendee All-Access and $50 for Athlete Insider Access. The Athlete Insider track includes all keynote presentations, general sessions, guided virtual morning workouts and the virtual expo, as well as select content focused on the inner workings of USA Triathlon and the age-group Team USA experience.

Coaches are eligible to earn 12 CEUs and race directors are eligible to earn 10 CEUs toward USA Triathlon coaching and race director certifications, respectively. Medical professionals are eligible to earn 4.25 Continuing Medical Education units (CMEs) approved by the American Academy of Family Physicians. Attendees must be registered under an All-Access price type to earn CEUs or CMEs.

Endurance Exchange attendees have the opportunity to purchase a discounted $35 USA Triathlon Annual Membership or renewal (extension of 12 months from current expiration date) as part of registration — a $15 discount from regular membership pricing.

China Jude and Dr. Philip Skiba round out the event’s marquee lineup of keynote speakers. Jude is Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for the Denver Broncos and Skiba is the Medical Director of Sports and Musculoskeletal Medicine for Advocate Aurora Medical Group and a consultant for the Breaking2 project.

Exploring Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with China Jude

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion landscape is often viewed as complex and difficult to access. This session will break through some of those myths by providing tools for and looking at entry points the begin or continue work in the space. Jude will discuss the different types of engagement in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as well as how you can get more involved in DEI, whether you are just getting started or wanting to grow your level of advocacy. This session will be appropriate for those just starting out in DEI to seasoned professionals. Jude’s keynote is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. PT on Friday, March 4.

Jude was hired as Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for the Denver Broncos in April 2021. In a newly created role for the organization, she works closely with football, business and community leadership on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy. She also works directly with the human resources and community development departments, focusing on recruitment, hiring processes, overall workplace environment and external outreach. In addition to leading the organization’s overall DEI strategy and representing the team as an external ambassador on social justice initiatives, Jude guides the team’s internal DEI committee as it hosts regular organization-wide programming.  Jude has more than 23 years of collegiate athletic administration and coaching experience, most recently worked as the University of Wyoming’s Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration/Senior Woman Administrator (SWA). During her three years at Wyoming, she oversaw sports medicine, sports performance and nutrition, strategic planning, gender equity and diversity and inclusion initiatives, and the volleyball and soccer programs.

She was named to the 10th annual Sports Business Journal (SBJ) Game Changers: Women in Sports Business Class of 2020 and was named the 2019 Women Leaders in College Sports Nell Jackson Administrator of the Year.

Staying at the Forefront of Sports Science: From Bench Research to Breaking2

Coaches and athletes are bombarded with health information and studies from a variety of sources, all of which purport to be authoritative — and these coaches and athletes are left to decide what is legitimate. In his keynote at Endurance Exchange, Dr. Skiba will discuss the thought process required to sort the legitimate data from the bad. A world-renowned expert in elite athletic performance whose work is used by athletes in amateur and elite sports on a regular basis, including the Olympic Games, Skiba will share in his keynote examples from his work in amateur and elite sport, applicable for both coaches and athletes. Dr. Skiba’s keynote is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. PT on Saturday, March 5.

Dr. Skiba’s extensive research program focuses on oxygen use and other determinants of athletic performance. The Medical Director of Sports and Musculoskeletal Medicine for Advocate Aurora Medical Group and director of the Advocate Human Performance and Biomechanics Laboratories, Dr. Skiba works with high school, collegiate and professional athletes, including Olympians and the world’s best marathoners. The head primary care sports physician for the University of Illinois – Chicago, Dr. Skiba served as a consultant on the Breaking2 project, a project by Nike to break the 2-hour barrier in the marathon. He appeared in the Cannes Film Festival award-winning National Geographic documentary, “Breaking 2.”

Dr. Skiba is also an Honorary Assistant Professor at the University of Exeter, and is the Associate Editor for Medicine for the European Journal of Sports Science. He serves on the medical board of USA Cycling, and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Other keynote speakers include: Lisa Bentley, 11-time IRONMAN champion, Rocky Harris, USA Triathlon CEO, Ted Metellus, race director of the TCS New York City Marathon and first-ever Black race director of an Abbott World Marathon Majors race, Bob Roll, announcer for the Tour de France, and Mark Sortino, CEO of Team MPI.

There will also be a keynote session that includes a panel of members of the elite paratriathlon national team and Tokyo 2020 Paralympians, including: Kyle Coon, Hailey Danz, Kelly Elmlinger, Chris Hammer, Andy Potts, former 2004 Olympian and guide to Kyle Coon, and Derick Williamson, current head coach of the elite paratriathlon national team.

The conference features 130-plus of the endurance sports industry’s leading coaches, event directors, medical professionals, and sports marketing and business executives — including Molly Arbogast, President and CEO of POV Sports Marketing, Michael D’hulst, Co-Founder and CEO of Super League Triathlon, Gabriela Gallegos, President and Race Director of Race El Paso and member of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors and World Triathlon Executive Board, Helene Guillaume, Founder and CEO of WILD.AI., Glen Mills, Co-Founder of GoSwim.tv, Sam Renouf CEO of Professional Triathletes Organisation, and Mike Wien, Chairman of the Global Triathlon Safety Taskforce.

Also scheduled to speak are Taylor Knibb and Kevin McDowell, members of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medal mixed relay team, and Brad Snyder and guide Greg Billington, 2020 Tokyo Paralympic gold medalists.

In addition to the formal sessions and networking events, attendees can also join guided virtual workouts each morning — including Pilates sessions led by Pilates for Sports, and daily group rides on Zwift led by a USA Triathlon Certified Coach where athletes can unlock their own USA Triathlon custom kit. These 60-minute group rides will take place daily on Zwift starting at 8 a.m. ET/5 a.m. PT and led by USA Triathlon Certified Coaches Peter Helling (March 3), Reggie Waller (March 4) and Scott Riecke (March 5).

The emcee lineup includes some of the most engaging personalities across the multisport community:

• Chad Andrews — Coach, founder of TotalCyclist, Voice of Choice
• Bob Babbitt — USA Triathlon and IRONMAN Hall of Famer; Co-Founder, Challenged Athletes Foundation
• Steve Fleck — Coach, PR Endurance Training; Leading Endurance Sports Announcer and Commentator
• Michanda Myles — Model, Creative Strategist, Entrepreneur and Endurance Sports Announcer
• Kelly O’Mara — Editor-in-Chief at Triathlete Magazine
• Jerry Schemmel — Sportscaster for University of Northern Colorado
• Karen Smyers — Hall of Fame Triathlete, IRONMAN Legend, Coach, Race Director and Motivational Speaker
• Col. Yvonne Spencer — Air Force Colonel, Founder of FastChix Triathlon Club, Team Builder and Coach

E2 Scholarship Awardees
For the third year, USA Triathlon awarded scholarships to Endurance Exchange to foster diversity, equity, inclusion and access, and to bring varied perspectives to the event, while encouraging the participation of individuals who may not otherwise have been able to attend.

The 27 scholarship recipients, the most awarded to date, feature 77% women and 63% awardees that will be attending a USA Triathlon conference for the very first time.

Media Access
Members of the media may obtain complimentary access to Endurance Exchange and request interviews with speakers by emailing Thomas Lenneberg, USA Triathlon Director of Marketing and Communications, at thomas.lenneberg@usatriathlon.org.

More information about Endurance Exchange, including the most up-to-date schedule, speaker lineup and virtual networking opportunities, can be found at enduranceexchange.com. Questions related to Endurance Exchange may be directed to info@enduranceexchange.com.

About BOA Nutrition
BOA Nutrition, Inc. is a sports nutrition, food, & dietary supplement company based in North Carolina. They develop unique products with novel ways to rapidly deliver essential nutrients so athletes of all ages and levels can optimize their performance. BOA’s objective is to provide athletes with fast-acting, concentrated, great-tasting, & convenient products to use no matter where, when, or what the sport. The company’s technology, and many other innovations from BOA, are protected by 18 provisional patents and a number of trade secrets. Follow BOA Nutrition, Inc. on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

About USA Triathlon
USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon, paratriathlon, and indoor and virtual multisport events in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 4,000 races and connects with more than 400,000 members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work at the grassroots level with athletes, coaches, and race directors – as well as the USA Triathlon Foundation – USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including World Triathlon Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. USA Triathlon is a proud member of World Triathlon and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).