Warners never wear down

While other typical families come together to relax and unwind, the Warner family comes together to race.

Ann and Patrick Warner are two members of a local family that includes Bloomsday, the Valley Girl Triathlon and the Coeur d’Alene Triathlon in their list of annual family reunions.

“This is a family that has not missed a Bloomsday,” said Ann Warner, 53. “The kids who don’t come home for holidays come home for Bloomsday.”

The Warner family has sent at least one representative to every Bloomsday since the event’s inception in 1977, and most years a group of about 16 to 18 Warners usually runs the race together. The family is also a common sight at the annual sprint distance Valley Girl Triathlon – last year, about 11 Warner women participated in the race. And the Warner men came out to cheer them on.

But this year’s Valley Girl took on special significance for the Warners.

A week before the race, Gloria Warner, Patrick’s older sister, was hit by a truck while she was riding her bike training for the Valley Girl triathlon. Gloria died instantly, and the news shook the close-knit family.

The Warner women got together to decide whether they still wanted to compete in the Valley Girl Triathlon.

“A couple of us were reluctant, just because the accident had happened so recently,” Ann said. “But the boys encouraged us to keep going. ‘Do it for Glo,’ they said.”

Despite the raw emotions, most of the women who had signed up to compete followed through, swimming, biking and running with Gloria in their hearts.

“It was a very emotional time for us,” Ann said. “Just because the Valley Girl’s always been a big thing for this family, and even though we’re all over the state, we’ll all come together for it, do the race, then have a party. So it was tough without Glo there.”

Gloria, Patrick and their father were three of the original Warner fitness buffs who got into running, and who eventually got everyone else into the habit. It was also through Gloria that Ann and Patrick first met at the Coeur d’Alene Triathlon in 1987.

That year, Gloria had asked Ann to be on her relay team with a couple of the other Warner family women. Before the triathlon, she introduced her friend to her younger brother, Patrick. Ann and Patrick hit it off, and love took care of the rest.

“Our first date was to Ironman Canada to watch my brother compete,” said Patrick, 51.

Saturday, Patrick and Ann will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first meeting by competing in the Coeur d’Alene Triathlon again. Or at least Ann will cheer from the sidelines while Patrick competes with their 14-year-old daughter, Josie. Ann’s sitting this one out because of a recent injury.

Last year, Josie won the event in her age group, although, as she’ll readily point out, she was also the only girl in her age group. Waking up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning to swim 1.5 kilometers, bike 40K and finish off with a 10K run is not something that many 14-year-olds would consider ‘fun,’ but Josie gets a kick out of it.

“You get to do three different things instead of just running,” Josie said. “It’s a lot of fun. I like to run, and I’m not too worried about my time or anything.”

Josie’s cousin, Annie Warner, a professional triathlete and the defending champion of last year’s Coeur d’Alene triathlon, will also miss the race this year because she’ll compete at a professional event in Colorado.

Annie, 27, grew up running Bloomsday with the family every year and swam competitively at Northern Arizona. After college, she started looking around for another competitive outlet.

“I was just looking for a way to stay in shape when I was done swimming,” Annie said. “I’d grown up going to triathlons with my dad and the rest of my family, and I always wanted to try one.”

The Coeur d’Alene triathlon in 2002 was Annie’s first triathlon.

“I was first out the water, I watched people pass me on the bike, and then the run was sort of survival at that point,” Annie said.

Annie worked her way up. The following year, she finished fifth overall. Since then, she’s won the event every year. Annie has made a career out of the Warner family hobby. She turned pro three years ago, and travels around the country competing in professional triathlons. She’s even hoping to make the Olympic team in 2012.

But for the rest of the Warners, the numerous marathons, triathlons and races that punctuate the local athletic calendar are prescheduled family reunions that give everyone a chance to come together, compete and have a good time catching up afterward.

“It’s just so much fun to be part of a family like that,” Ann said. “You kind of get sucked into it. After races, we get together for a barbecue, and even there we’ll already have the calendar out and be talking about what race we’re going to do next. It’s tradition.”