Anything beyond running and cycling, and Sue Davis will tell you to
go jump in a lake.
While triathlons seem to gain more notoriety in the mainstream of
sports journalism, there are plenty of multifaceted athletes, like Davis,
who prefer to create their own moisture.
"It's too cold to get in the water," said Davis, who captured her
first age-division (35-39) duathlon world championship last Saturday at
Huntersville, N.C.
Davis, who won her second national championship in the run-bike-run
endeavor earlier this year, has gone from volleyball to running marathons
to duathlons.
Unusual for a runner, Davis has increased her speed as she gets older.
On the Fourth of July this year at the Huntington Beach 5K, Davis
recorded a personal best of 17 minutes 39 seconds at age 36.
But winning her first world championship in the duathlon, finishing
second overall among women, puts an exclamation point on the Costa Mesa
resident's career after several years of training.
"I'm told that triathlons are easier than duathlons, because in
swimming you don't really use your legs as much, and in running and
biking, it's all legs," said Davis, whose 5-foot-6, 120-pound frame is
perfectly chiseled to endure the duathlon rigors.
Davis also won a duathlon national championship in the 30-34 age
division in 1997.
"I'd have to say I'm a really hard worker, because I only o7 wishf7
I was one of those gifted athletes," Davis said. "It took me six years to
win (a world championship), so it's not like I'm an overnight success. I
just work really hard and attribute (my work ethic) to my background in
club volleyball."
Davis, an original member of the Orange County Volleyball Club and a
former Corona del Mar High standout, was in the right place at the right
time when women's athletics received a boost from Title IX, the NCAA
ruling on gender equality in the 1970s.
But, after earning a volleyball scholarship to Arizona State and
playing for the Sun Devils for two years, her knees could no longer take
the wear and tear on the hard court.
Nine months after retiring from volleyball, Davis ran her first
marathon and the beginning of a second athletic career was underway.
Eventually, Davis added cycling to her workout regiment and her
longtime mentor and former teacher at CdM, Bill Leach, inspired her to
try duathlons.
Now, she's on top of the world.
"I can't tell you how lucky I was to grow up in a community where it
was totally acceptable for girls to play sports," said Davis, who was in
