A Quest To Meet Every Challenge Head On:
Director of Marketing looks to brand himself as a Triathlete and redefine his limits
Largo, FL., April 30, 2019 – Quest Vision Care Specialty Lab, Inc. well known among other things, for its proximity to one of the major epicenters for outdoor living and active lifestyles in central-western Florida has long had a culture of competition. The founder and president of Quest, Michael Walach has long been an avid tennis player, golfer, and swimmer actively making fitness and physical health a top priority. Following in Michael’s footsteps, Marketing and Communications Director, Zachary Mason took a big leap in February, signing up for the very prestigious St. Anthony’s Triathlon taking place annually during the last weekend of April in St. Petersburg, Florida. Generally considered one of North America’s iconic races, St. Anthony’s Triathlon began in 1984 as the Tampa Bay Triathlon and was part of the 10- city U.S. Triathlon Series. 36 years later, St. Anthony’s Triathlon is considered to be one of the sport’s leading events in the U.S. with thousands of professional and amateur athletes of all ages and abilities, from all around the world, competing in St. Petersburg’s historic downtown waterfront promenade.
In anticipation for this very challenging event, Mr. Mason made key adjustments in his training and conditioning schedule to better prepare him for his deb ut Triathlon on what many would consider a big stage. Specifically, he changed his gym routine to include high resistance bike rides and interval runs before core exercises in addition to adding in 3-4 evening swim sessions to improve his technique and increase cardiovascular capacity. The competition kicked off in the early morning hours of April 28, although only lasting a few short hours, and proved, according to Mason, to be “the single most intense timed event” he had ever done. Finishing the classic Olympic distance race trifecta; 1.5K swim, 40K ride, and 10K, in 2 hours 43 minutes, Mason placed 5th in the military division and 343th overall out of 1100 competitors. Ultimately, place and rankings didn’t matter, reflecting with a big smile that “it was amazing just to complete this race and have my family there to see me do it. At the finish line, my daughter jumped me and kept hugging me and giving me lots of water to drink.”
Michael Walach shared his proud sentiment saying that “Zach’s competitive spirit and drive to succeed are admirable. He always works hard to meet his goals no matter what the forum and is a great example of determination for his coworkers. I’m excited to see his growth and to be able to offer him the professional freedom to train daily. Our objective here at Quest is to support our employees as they strive to reach both their personal and professional goals. There is nothing more gratifying than to know that one of our team members is succeeding and that our business mindset played a small part in their victories.”
Although Mr. Mason is still recovering after a very physically demanding race, he has his sights set for two Olympic distance Triathlons during the summer months and two sprint distance in the fall as part of his build up to the 2020 Florida 70.3 half IRONMAN located in Haines City, Florida.