Chasing One Hundred

As a fourth grader, BETH ANDREW ran her very first race, the Rotary Run, at Wrightsville Beach Park. 

In a full-circle moment – and many years later – the Wilmington triathlete is preparing to complete her hundredth triathlon at the same park in the YMCA Wrightsville Beach Sprint Triathlon this September.  

It’s nostalgic for Andrew. “When my dad came home from work, we would run around the neighborhood together to get out my little girl angst and energy,” she says. “We ran every day.” She paired those runs with swimming and biking all over Wilmington. 

After competing in track at Roland-Grise Middle School and Hoggard High School, Andrew stepped away, taking what she calls a “college-sized break” until her late thirties. “I got an email about a sprint triathlon in Charlotte that offered a training plan and a mentor,” she says. “And jewelry at the finish. I was in. I didn’t even own a bike or a pair of goggles.”  

That all-women’s sprint tri – with a lake swim, a hilly bike ride, and a 5K run through a park – set the tone for everything that followed. “I remember the women, all shapes, sizes, colors, and speeds, and I was amazed that we were all doing this crazy event. Crossing that finish line shifted something in me. It wasn’t just the bracelet at the end. It was about realizing I could do hard, scary things.”  

Twenty years and over nine dozen races later, Andrew says the enduring appeal of triathlon is the variety. “No race is the same, physically or mentally,” she says. “Different distances and courses demand different pacing strategies and mindsets. It’s not just about being the strongest. It’s about resilience, discipline, and learning how to keep going when things get uncomfortable.” 

From that first triathlon in Charlotte to the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii – a goal that took her ten years and thirteen races to achieve – Andrew has trained nearly every day of the week. “The physical training is hard,” she says. “Staying healthy and injury free and making sure I eat well is hard to do day in and day out. And recovery takes longer these days.”  

Just as critical is mental preparation. “I meditate and read, read, read,” she says. “A lot of books about mindset for athletes.”  

Despite the demands of the sport, endurance, technical skill, and mental strength, Andrew considers herself an everyday athlete who simply shows up. “I am not the fastest, not the one breaking records. How you show up for one thing is how you show up for everything. Triathlon teaches me how to show up on a daily basis. Even if you put in just a little every day, it adds up,” she says. 

Since 2012, Andrew has shared that philosophy through her coaching business, guiding first-time triathletes and newcomers to Ironman competitions around the world from Guam to Hawaii to the Bahamas. She also mentors other coaches as they grow their own coaching businesses. 

Andrew is a contributing author to Built to Endure: How Entrepreneurs Overcome Challenges, Stay Focused, and Build Lasting Success, a collection of real-life stories from entrepreneurs who have faced unexpected challenges yet stayed the course. She is currently working on a new book for endurance coaches focused on the often-overlooked side of the profession. A memoir is still to come about her story of endurance that shows how anything is possible, she says. 

Andrew has not been on this journey alone. Her tribe of triathlon women has been her catalyst. “Seeing their success made me believe in mine,” she says. Her biggest cheerleader is her husband, NEAL, who has been to all but one of her eighteen Ironman races. “His confidence in me is contagious,” she says.  

As she prepares for her milestone hundredth race, Beth Andrew says the number itself matters less than what it represents. “One hundred races means showing up again and again, through different seasons of life. It’s about commitment and longevity and stick-to-it-iveness,” she says.  

When she crosses the finish line, she will do what she always does – dance. “I make it a point to dance across every finish line,” she says. “Even at smaller triathlons, and even when I am exhausted, and my brain is screaming at me for what I just did, I dance it out,” she says. 

“Triathlon has given me the courage to do things I never thought I would, the tenacity to face the hard parts,” she says, “and the grace to be okay when nothing goes according to plan.” 

The YMCA Wrightsville Beach Sprint Triathlon is on September 26. 

To view more of photographer Madeline Gray’s work, go to madelinegrayphoto.com.

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