The Louis Garneau TRIFEST conference could be the greatest gathering of speakers that the industry has ever offered in one place. You will get a chance to learn from some of the legends of our sport.  With more big names potentially on the way, check back here for updates.

No triathlete has gained the recognition or success that Mark Allen has. After competing and losing in the Ironman Triathlon Championships six times, he emerged victorious in 1989, winning the most difficult one-day sporting event in the world.

It would be the first of six Ironman victories for Allen, the last coming in 1995 at age 37, making him the oldest champion ever. He has also excelled at the Olympic distance, winning the sport's inaugural World Championships in 1989 in Avignon, France, by more than a minute. He went undefeated in 10 trips to the Nice International Championships, and from 1988-1990 he put together a winning streak of 20 races.

Over the course of his racing career, which ended in 1996, he maintained a 90% average in top-three finishes. He was named Triathlete of the Year six times by Triathlete magazine, and in 1997 Outside magazine tabbed him The World's Fittest Man.

Still living the principles that enabled him to turn adversity into success, Mark was recently awarded the highest ranking any speaker ever receives from Northwestern Financial Network for a keynote address he gave to their advisors. Mark works for NBC Sports as an expert analyst each year at the Ironman and provided commentary at the Sydney Olympics for triathlon's debut at the Games.

A former Master's World Record holder in the Ironman Triathlon, as well as a World Record Holder in the Iditashoe 100-Mile Snowshoe Race, Sally has spent the last 30+ years as a professional athlete. She has competed in some of the hardest races on the planet, including numerous multi-day adventure races and the Western States 100-Mile Run (which she won).

From the time she ran the 1984 Olympic Marathon Trials using her heart rate monitor, Sally has been at the forefront of a revolution in fitness training. Never one to trust in guesswork, Sally combined her Master's degree in exercise physiology with her experience as a professional athlete and created the Heart Zones Training System.

A founder of the sport of triathlon (and a Triathlon Hall of Fame inductee), most of Sally's recent races have been performed in her role as the National Spokeswoman for the Danskin Triathlon Series. Sally has finished every Danskin Triathlon (as of 2005, sixteen years worth) dead last, as the "Final Finisher," inspiring more than 100,000 other women to make it across the finish line in front of her. The year 2004 marked her 100th last-place Danskin finish in Denver, Colorado on July the 17th.

A prolific author of more than 20 books and 300 articles on fitness and sports, a motivational keynote speaker, and (with a second Master's degree in Business Administration) an entrepreneur, Sally is committed to helping others improve their health, fitness, and finish by listening to their hearts.

Dan Empfield competed in the first Ironman held on Hawaii's Big Island, in 1981. He is the founder of Quintana Roo. This company began in 1987 on the back of an invention, the first-ever wetsuit made specifically for the swim portion of a triathlon.

Empfield's wetsuit debuted the same year as the "Scott bar," the original tri-specific handlebar. The world's best triathletes struggled with how to use this handlebar design to its best advantage, and in 1989 Empfield debuted another design, the first bike "built from the aerobars back."

The first Quintana Roo Superform had 650c wheels front and back, and an 80-degree seat angle. Nothing like it had been built before. The bike looked and seemed odd, but in its first ever trial Ray Browning exited the bike leg of the New Zealand Ironman with a 30-minute lead over Scott Tinley, and the design was here to stay.

Within a short span Tinley himself was riding a Quintana Roo, Jurgen Zack was setting bike course records all over the world on one, and Lance Armstrong won two U.S. Sprint triathlon titles on one. Spencer Smith, JulieAnne White, Wolfgang Dittrich, Scott Molina, Ryan Bolton, Liz Downing, Heather Fuhr and dozens of other world-class athletes rode on these bikes during Empfield's time at QR, and most of these athletes were positioned by him (some continue to be).

Empfield sold Quintana Roo to Saucony, Inc., in 1995, and stayed on to run Saucony's bike division—which included Quintana Roo and Merlin—for four years. He left in 1999 and founded Slowtwitch.com, which was almost immediately a prime influencer of triathlon buying habits. The site remains a popular and influential stop on the internet for multisport athletes.

Empfield has developed fit systems for triathletes that are in wide use today. He's given fit clinics and workshops all over the United States and Europe. He continues to write for, and publish, Slowtwitch.com and also writes for Triathlete Magazine, Inside Triathlon and other magazines. He’s a member of the Triathlon Hall of Fame as of 2004, the only inventor/manufacturer ever to be inducted.

The wheel may be the most revolutionary structure known to man. Depending on which history books you read, the wheel originated in Mesopotamia sometime around 3500 BC. We had to hang around until 1985, however, before someone finally got around to perfecting it. That someone was Steve Hed.

Steve began what was to become his vocation in humble fashion, working on an aero wheel in his garage at home. This quickly led to an interest in all things aerodynamic. Detailed study of the subject followed, eventually focusing on aerodynamic principles in relation to bicycle wheels. By this time, the initial interest had developed into an obsession. Many more home grown wheels followed, and then Steve paid the first of dozens of visits to a wind tunnel. His ideas began to take shape. Over the next few years, the business grew, and more expertise was introduced in the form of carbon fiber and resin specialists. Now, 20 years later, HED cycling products designs and manufactures 16 different models of composite wheels, exported worldwide and used in events from the Tour de France to the Hawaii Ironman to the pretigious North Oaks triathlon championship. Every single wheel is still handmade. Minnesota sure is a long way from Mesopotamia, but some things never change.

Melanie is a registered dietitian and PhD student with the University of Arizona Department of Nutritional Sciences. Her research and clinical nutrition work to date have focused on helping active people reach their performance and health goals through optimal nutrition. Melanie frequently speaks on this topic, conducting quarterly sports nutrition clinics for Team in Training and Peformance Footwear in Tucson, AZ, and more recently, presenting on the topic of performance nutrition at the Southwestern American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in San Diego, CA.  An endurance athlete herself (primarily marathon and 1/2 marathon distances), Melanie recently completed her first (sprint distance) triathlon and gained a healthy dose of respect for all multi-sport athletes!

Cassidy Phillips was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder associated with widespread muscle and soft tissue pain, tenderness and fatigue. One doctor told him that training at a competitive level was impossible. After intense research and education from nutritionists, chiropractors, massage therapists, holistic healers, medical doctors and orthopedics, Phillips realized that he needed empowerment. He needed to be able to take care of himself.

This forced Phillips to study the human body’s movements, biomechanics, and muscular structure resulting in the answers he was looking for. Now he’s transferring those answers to you in a practical style of therapy to be understood by anyone that needs a lifestyle change, performance enhancement or general wellness, Trigger Point Technologies, is a leader in personal therapy, acquiring fans and legions of endorsements from physicians and world-class athletes. Trigger Point Technologies is developing relationships with the top fitness and health professionals around the world in order to provide this revolutionary therapy developed by Phillips.

Most recently Phillips brought Peter Reid out of Retirement only to realize he didn't want to race anymore. This was after years of suffering with a debilitating back injury that left him unable to race or train. He saw everyone he could before working with Phillips. The result of the products and methodologies had him back running in a week where others couldn’t get him back at all.

Philips was recently in College Station at the wind tunnel with John Cobb, Joel Friel and others. He proved that by addressing the muscles in areas TPT has defined you can save up to 6 minutes on an Ironman course purely based off of aerodynamics. This doesn't include the addition wattage that you can generate after creating elasticity within the same muscles.

Andy is the newly crowned Ironman 70.3 World Champion. Before that, Andy worked his way up the triathlon circuit in both drafting and non-drafting events. On the ITU circuit, Andy attained the #3 ranking in the world and was a member of the USA Olympic team in Anthens, Greece where he led out of the water in 2004. Outside of the ITU races, Andy has more recently excelled by winning such prestigious events as California 70.3 and Escape from Alcatraz.  Andy’s strong swim background and performances make him an ideal candidate to lead swim training sessions at the TRIFEST Conference.

Andy Potts has established himself on the world stage as a fierce competitor in the sport of triathlon.  Although he became a professional triathlete in 2003, his athletic career began much earlier, as a swimmer. In 1994 he was named Captain of the USA Swimming National Junior Team. From 1995-1997 he earned his spot on the National Team and highlighted his swimming career at the 1996 Olympic trials with s 4th-place finish in the 400 IM in addition to finishing 9th in the 1500m Freestyle and 11th in the 400m Freestyle.  While swimming at University of Michigan, Andy was a 6-time NCAA All-American before joining the track team for his final year. Upon graduating, Andy retired from competition until he was convinced to start training for triathlon. He adapted to the sport quickly and in 2003 was the USA Triathlon Rookie of the Year. He became the only athlete to break into the Top 100 World Rankings as a rookie. In 2004 Andy realized his dream of becoming an Olympian by earning a spot to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where he finished 22nd.  Andy increased his presence on the podium in 2005 finishing 3rd at the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon, 2nd at US Pro Championships, and 1st at Memphis in May and the ITU Edmonton World Cup, the first World Cup victory of his young career.

Dr. Marc Strickland is a former NCAA Division I athlete, competitive road cyclist, and triathlete.  He also has many years experience as a youth sport coach. He received his doctorate in Psychology from Argosy University / Phoenix in 2005 specializing in Sport and Exercise Psychology and has a Master’s in Exercise and Sport Science specializing in Sport and Exercise Psychology. Dr. Strickland has worked with various professional, collegiate, and high school athletes to enhance their performance.  He also has published various professional articles related to performance enhancement and conducted research on Olympic excellence, imagery and chronic pain in sport.  

One of the best triathlon coaches in all of CTS, Nick’s skill in guiding athletes to their best performances is widely known. In addition to novices and age-group triathletes, he works with 2006 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Craig Alexander, who also finished second in his debut at the Ironman World Championship in Kona in 2007. In addition to coaching, Nick received extensive training in lab work during the four years he worked at our facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado; so now he also runs our physiology lab at CTS-Tucson.

Lee Zohlman is one of the brightest up and coming coaches in the multisport business .  He is the founder and owner of BodyZen, an endurance sports company that features coaching services, consulting and elite athlete management on top of producing both a book and DVD - Functional Strength Training for Multisport Athletes.  His involvement spreads to all levels of triathlon from beginner newbie to professional athlete and beyond.  Lee is able to spread his knowledge of the sport by leading coaching certification seminars for USAT and by writing for several publications nationwide.  His dedication and commitment to the multisport world was recognized by Clifbar when they named him one their Ambassadors of the Sport.