For John Weed, Eppie’s Great Race – now in its 38th year – serves as a new year’s celebration. The 58-year-old kayak instructor and whitewater guide has competed in the “no-swim” triathlon 35 times. The 38th annual Eppie’s Great Race takes place Saturday along the American River Parkway and is open to athletes of all ages. Weed said almost 40 years ago, he was hit by a semi truck while on his bicycle. Before that, he had been an avid runner. He came from a family of runners and in college would run 200 miles per week. “The doctors told me I’d never walk again, let alone run,” Weed said.  That same year, the Whitewater Slalom was introduced as an Olympic sport. Weed said he watched it

Four years after she almost died from Lyme disease, Pamela O’Kane is one of three Sacramento women competing for Team USA at the World Triathlon Championships this week in Budapest, Hungary. It’s the second year in a row she’s qualified for Team USA. The 49-year-old lecturer from CSU Sacramento hopes there will be many more such adventures to come. It’s a far cry from how things looked in the spring of 2006. With her kids grown, a job she liked, and a love of athletic pursuits like running, swimming, and biking, she should have been on top of the world. Instead, she started experiencing weird symptoms her doctors couldn’t explain. She lost weight and muscle mass. She developed facial pa

 Dominic Cooke was a normal college student athlete until a car crash his senior year paralyzed him. It doesn’t stop him however, from hand cycling in a triathlon. Cooke, 30, was injured when he was 22 years old. His athletic ability and passion for helping other hurt athletes is what made him start “Team TFO” this year for the 37th annual Eppie’s Great Race. TFO — which stands for Try for Others — is a nonprofit organization Cooke created in 2005 to aid injured athletes. “I played rugby before here in Sacramento at Jesuit High School and then at UC Berkeley,” Cooke said. “I was getting a lot of phone calls from injured rugby players. We help them with their immediate medical needs.”

 For the past several years, Fleet Feet Sports at 2311 J St. has held athlete meet-and-greets at which runners, cyclists and triathletes can swap stories, meet vendors and motivate each other. Such was the agenda Thursday night when professional cyclist Kathryn Bertine met with local enthusiasts to sign copies of her book about her quest to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Her book, "As Good as Gold," details her quest to qualify and to motivate Sacramento's multisport community. Bertine was making a living as a writer and had done some freelance work for ESPN when the station offered her the opportunity of a lifetime in 2006. "(ESPN) called me up and said, 'Hey, we want you to try

Once considered a foolish notion only a generation ago, The Great Race, "the world's oldest triathlon," returns to Sacramento for its 36th campaign. Located along the American River Parkway, the annual event brings the history and allure of the original modern triathlon, now a staple in U.S. competitive summer sports. "My PR team thought it was a crazy stunt," said restaurant owner Eppie Johnson, referring to his pitch for a three-pronged race. "I was a kayaker, so I'd be in it. And I thought, 'Well, this is a quick way to both kayak and advertise the restaurant.' And the people had a great time, so it worked out well," he said. "Between the San Francisco and Sacramento communities, we h