18 IRONMANs in a Year? No Problem! Meet the Walkers and Their New Quintana Roos

As they were dropping their bikes off at the American Bicycle Group offices in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Jill and Dougin Walker figured that Chris Brown, the VP of Sales for the company that produces Litespeed, Quintana Roo and OBED bikes, was just going to be grabbing their measurements in order to dial in the fit for the new Quintana Roo VPRi bikes they had ordered the week before.

“Why don’t you guys go for a swim or something and come back in a couple of hours,” Brown said.

The Walkers were just a few days away from their third IRONMAN race in three weeks – they had completed IRONMAN Wisconsin (Jill did the 70.3 in Wisconsin, too), then travelled to Maryland and were completing their trifecta of full-distance races in Chattanooga. They didn’t know that Brown and his team had completed their bikes and were ready to fine-tune the fit. When the pair returned, they had lined the new bikes up for them. Jill teared up as Brown asked “Do you want to race on them in a couple of days?”

They did just that and, Dougin would christen his new ride in style by winning his age group.

It was all just a normal week for the Walkers.

Joining the Club

Jill and Dougin Walker are members of a very exclusive “club” – a select group of athletes who have completed every IRONMAN in the world. The other active members of “the club” are Mexico’s Luis Alvarez, American Jeff Jonas and Germany’s Holger Muller, while Canadians John Wragg and Elizabeth Model are considered legacy members of the group. (Technically Dougin is a “racing” member of the club – a broken foot kept him out of IRONMAN Leeds, so he’s got to catch up.)

This weekend the pair will be competing at IRONMAN Florida. A year ago Jill did her 100th IRONMAN race in Panama City Beach. As she returns this year she’s already at 115 IRONMAN races, while Dougin is “only” at 95.

Their journey to “the club” began in 2018 when they met Alvarez. They had all been invited to join Dave Orlowski, who had finished third at the original IRONMAN in 1978, to recreate the original IRONMAN race on Oahu. Their interest was piqued, and the following year they embarked on their own challenge – six IRONMAN races on six continents in six months.

“That’s been our lifestyle ever since,” Dougin says.

I first met the couple in 2023 at IRONMAN Cairns – this time they had “upped” the challenge to six IRONMANs on six continents in six weeks. A year later, after finishing IRONMAN Korea, they officially finished every single IRONMAN, nailing that exclusive membership.

This year the “lifestyle” has continued, with an ambitious schedule that includes 18 races. They’ve raced at: Texas, Viet Nam (Dougin would DNF there), Jacksonville, Hamburg, Thun (Switzerland), Lake Placid, Ottawa, Vichy (France), Wisconsin, Maryland, Chattanooga, Kona, California and Argentina. Still to go are: Florida, Cozumel, Chile and Oman.

The pair also have an impressive streak of Boston Marathon appearances going, too – Jill has run the event 15 years in a row, while Dougin sits at 12. They nailed their qualification for next year’s Boston during a break from their busy IRONMAN schedule in July, so the streak appears safe on that front.

And, as if that weren’t enough, both competed at the USA Triathlon National Championships – Dougin in the sprint, Olympic-distance and mixed relay, Jill in the sprint and Olympic-distance races.

Comfort Zone

So what’s the trick to doing that many IRONMAN races in a year?

“She’d tell you her trick is to stay in her comfort zone,” Dougin says. “She’s not ever really racing, just going as fast as she feels comfortable that day. I think she has supernatural recovery powers. She’s fine two days later.”

“For him, I think he has to be a little smarter,” Jill answers for Dougin. “He can’t really race all three legs – but he’ll always race the swim.”

“I’ll always race the swim, but it doesn’t take much out of you physically,” Dougin, a former collegiate swimmer, continues. “The running does. My trick is that I won’t run the whole run. I’ll do some run-walk along the way so my legs get less wear and tear. That’s really helped. I’ll also usually pick one race not to go as hard. This year, in Maryland, with three in a row, I did the bike behind Jill and then I didn’t run all out, either. Her goal is to finish. Mine is usually to stay under 12 hours, which I’ve done in probably 90% of them … I’ve found back-to-back weekends aren’t that bad for us. We seem to do better in the second race. A lot of it is mental. You have to have the mindset coming in that this is what you’re doing.”

What’s hard to fathom about the Walkers is the endless positive energy they display whenever I see them. Mention Jill’s name around an IRONMAN expo and you’ll be bombarded with stories of her delivering baked goods. Or how she found an IRONMAN rookie before an event and took them under her wing to ensure they got through the race. Or how she set a new record at her last race for dogs she stopped to pet along the run course.

“She has a lot of energy,” Dougin says (no-doubt fully aware of just how much of an understatement that is). “As long as the sun is up, Jill’s ready to go. As soon as it turns dark, she leaves.”

“We get a lot of sleep, and I think people underestimate that,” Jill continues. “It really helps your body repair. I’m a nine-to-ten-hour sleeper. Sleep is my superpower.”

As much as the two obviously have in common, they each approach the racing in very different ways. Dougin thrives on the planning and setting a new goal.

“I’d been doing triathlons for 30 years before our first crazy year in 2019, and I’d run lots of marathons,” Dougin says. “It’s a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of mental effort to keep the training up. It has to give you a lot of satisfaction, For me it’s the challenge.”

“For me, it’s the fun,” Jill continues. “I honestly have fun doing IRONMANs. I love all of them, whether I’ve done them before or it’s a new race, whether its 100 degrees or pouring rain and 55.”

And both are fully aware that being able to compete this often around the world is a privilege.

“We’re lucky we can afford it,” Dougin says.”It’s how we’ve chosen to spend our resources as a hobby.”

The New Quintana Roo Bikes

As would befit her personality, a mutual friend reached out to Jill, telling her that she “had to meet Lorraine.” That would be Lorraine Hurley, an avid IRONMAN athlete herself, who’s husband Peter Hurley was the CEO of American Bicycle Group (ABG). After Peter passed away a few years ago, Lorraine has become the chairman of the board of the company. The two met in Kona last year, and Lorraine introduced the couple to the crew working at the Quintana Roo tent. As an IRONMAN partner, QR was on hand for virtually all of the Walker’s races this year. So, when the couple decided it was time for some new bikes, QR seemed like the logical choice. It wasn’t long before they were chatting directly with Chris Brown, ABG’s VP of Sales.

“I did what I do with any athlete,” Brown says, explaining that traditionally the ABG sales crew will give enquiring athletes the option of a live chat or a call.. “I reached out to Jill and Dougin and said ‘let’s schedule a call.’ What I do with any athlete if find out the races they’re doing, the bikes they’r on, their flexibility, and so on. We’ll even get a picture of their current bike so we can get a general sense of the setup.”

“They were actually looking for two different things,” Brown continues. “Both wanted a new top-end race bike, but Dougin prefers Zipp wheels – the NSW Sawtooth with the glossier finish – and Jill really liked the DT Swiss wheel with the matte finish. Since we build bikes to order, we can accommodate every athlete. We dialled in power meters and tweaked gearing. I offered custom paint options, too … they decided to go with blues that match their other bikes. We also put their names on the bikes.”

Which brings us to that day in Chattanooga when the pair were surprised with their new rides.

“We walked into the back and Jill was crying,” Brown remembers. “They were so excited. I said, ‘we know you’re racing in two days, do you want to race them?’ Jill looked at Dougin and said ‘I think we should race them.’ Dougin said, ‘I’m game.'”

“We’d already set up their measurements because we offer a service called FitReady, which any customer can use on our website,” Brown continues. “If they give us measurements from their current bike, or from their fit, we match up the bike here before we pack and ship it.”

(The FitReady program even involves a special “Premium Pro Box” which allows QR to ship a bike with the extensions still attached – all athletes have to do when the bike arrives is put the wheels and seat post on, attach pedals and they’re off.)

Jill would take advantage of another QR policy – the 30-day return and exchange policy. Originally stocked with a 65 mm front wheel, she found herself struggling with crosswinds on the new bike, so Brown swapped the wheel set out to a shallower 45 mm version of the DT Swiss wheel.

None of which bothered Brown in the slightest.

“They’re awesome,” Brown says. “We’re thrilled to be working with them. They’re a joy, just great ambassadors and genuine people. They’ll talk to anybody and hang around. You’ll have to get some of her baked goods the next time you see her.”

While you’ll have a chance to catch up with both Jill and Dougin in Florida this weekend, because they had to pack the VPRi bikes for the upcoming trip to Chile, Cozumel and Oman, they’ll be on their old bikes this weekend, leaving their QR rides for the final three IRONMAN races of a busy year.

The bikes might be different, but the endless positive energy will certainly be on display in Panama City Beach on Saturday. Dougin will no-doubt hammer through the swim, determined to post the day’s fastest split in his age group, and will more likely than not be competitive for a podium finish. Jill will have a good time. And then it will be on to the next.

Jill Walker’s QR VPRi

Dougin Walker’s QR VPRi

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