My name is Karla Vradenburgh. 

I have been a competitive triathlete for over 3 years and a competitive athlete for over 10 years.

During my first 3 years as a triathlete I have been able to compete in my first full Ironman here in Chattanooga, TN, winning my age group by 45 minutes which has qualified me to compete in The IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii October 12th of this year. My coach and I will be going and it is not a cheap trip. We are trying to raise $8,000 to help cover registration fees, flights, accommodations, and transporting our bicycles over.

Where did this all begin? 

I was born and raised in Chattanooga, TN. 5th in a line up of 8 children. All through middle school and high school I've been a competitor. Competing in soccer through 7th grade then continuing as a cross country and track runner from 8th -12th grade as well as competing in local 10k’s and Half Marathons (13.1 mi.) in the off season. 

Several of my team mates growing up were triathletes and swimming and cycling were already in my training repertoire for non impact cross training. I had always enjoyed all 3 events even though running was my “thing” at the time.

After graduating high school in 2014 I pursued experience in the work place as well as competing with my German Shepherd in the National Service Dogs of America organization. Unfortunately I had to retire my competition German Shepherd only 2 years into competing. No matter how many other dogs I attempted to train and compete with they just were not the same. Yet the drive to compete was always there.

Athletics were always in my back pocket and it wasn’t long before my curiosity for taking on a triathlon turned into the decision to actually try one out. June of 2016 my journey as a triathlete began. I competed in my first triathlon here locally at The Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon Intermediate distance. I finished 2nd in my age group! 

Late August 2016 I started working for Chattanooga’s oldest bicycle shop, Owen Cyclery. The Full Ironman was only a month away and talking to all our customers who had been preparing to take on the 144.6 mile event began to kindle my spark to take triathlons to the next level. For me, myself, to complete a full Ironman the following year.

Erik Hunt, owner of Owen Cyclery, very soon became my first of many mentors. With me being only 22 and not having done a race longer 13.1 mi., Erik suggested I take 2 years to train for the full. That way I could get the full experience in the Chattanooga Ironman 70.3 in May of ‘17 and plan to complete the Chattanooga Ironman September 2018. Many days and conversations later the plan began to form. I started training with Steve Lewis at Echelon Cycling and Performance Services to better build my cycling portion of the race and help me piece the 3 legs of the race together. November 2016 I made the investment in my first Triathlon Bike, a Cannondale Slice.  

Spring 2017 triathlete pursuits continued and I quickly realized that I was not wired to "complete" the feats I had set for myself, but rather "compete." In March I competed in the Orlando Wildman Triathlon Festival Intermediate distance and finished first female overall. In April I competed in the West Point Lake Intermediate distance also finishing first female!

May 2017 I took the competition back to my hometown by competing in the Chattanooga Ironman 70.3. I was able to win my age group which (unknown to me at the time) automatically qualified me to compete in the Ironman 70.3 World’s which was to be held in Chattanooga later that year. I missed the award ceremony, where I would have had to be present to claim my spot,  and did not realize the opportunity I’d missed until later that week. But I had to give it another shot and resolved to find another 70.3 that I could potentially qualify at and be able to claim my spot to compete on the world stage in my hometown.

2 weeks after having competed in my first Half Ironman, I proceeded to compete in the Raleigh Ironman 70.3. It was a good race, but my body was not yet fully recovered from the Chattanooga 70.3, leaving me not quite "fully charged." I finished 3rd in my age group. Still no small feat, but my age group was only allocated 1 spot for worlds which went to the 1st place finisher.

But I had to give 1 last shot, so 1 month later I competed in the Muncie Ironman 70.3 and came away with another 3rd place finish. Even though I was disappointed at having missed my chance, I knew I’d given it my best shot and it was time to start thinking about my goals for the Full Ironman the following year.

But, to my Surprise, I was contacted by Women For Tri (an organization within Ironman) informing me that through their own allocation and due to my averaged ranking in the 2017 season I had earned a spot in the Chattanooga 70.3 World Championship! Which I jumped on in an instant!

September 2017 I got to compete on a world stage at the Chattanooga 70.3 World Championship. Getting to compete with the best of the best in the city I grew up in!

Then the dream began. I started looking at the times I would need to potentially be beating to earn my way to the Ironman World Championship which is held annually in Kona, Hawaii (where Ironaman began).  I knew it would not be easy and had been told that that was a near impossible goal for my first full. But, for me, I had to give it my all. If there was even the sliver of a chance in beating the odds against me, I would find the way. I minimized my racing in 2018 to better train and focus on the bigger prize

April 2018 I took my competing to the great state of Texas! Galveston Ironman 70.3 was a wet and windy coastal tri. Probably one of the toughest races I had yet done, but was still able to win my age group which qualified me for the World Championships 70.3 that were to be held in South Africa that year. With my goals already in play for the Chattanooga Ironman, I did not take the spot for Africa. Africa would be 3 weeks before the Chattanooga Ironman, but I did not want to take chances in missing my goals for Kona.

June 2018 I came back to the tri that started it all and competed in the Chattanooga Waterfront Intermediate Triathlon, winning my age group, which also ranked me as my Age Group’s Regional Champion for 2018.

And before I knew it, it was here. The Chattanooga Ironman! A 2 year goal that quickly turned into a dream to take my self challenge to an even harder level. Due to weather conditions, Ironman had to cancel the swim due to unsafe current and debris in the river. But, they left the world allocations in place. After completing the 116 mile bike, then running the 26.2 miles below my goal times, I was able to finish in 9 hours and 48 minutes. Ranking 1st in my age group by 45 minutes. I had done it!! I had won the spot I had dreamed I could win!!

Words cannot describe my gratitude to SO many people who, whether doubting or no, were there as my support crew to carry me through!

Thank you for any contributions! Any and all thoughts and prayers are also appreciated!