From soccer to running to triathlons

Thanks for visiting my page, my name is Batya Beard.

I was born and raised in Portland, OR and saw myself through an array of sports prior to triathlons.

As the daughter of two physical therapists, exercise was always a central part of my life. I was enrolled in gymnastics, soccer, running, and swim lessons—though after failing to pass the dolphin level, I never returned to the pool.

Both of my older sisters chose soccer as their sport, so I followed in their footsteps, even though I wasn’t very good.

I was always trying to live up to my sister’s soccer achievements but never quite got there. While she made varsity, I made JV. She made the A team, I made the B team. My mom was a triathlete, and I was always fascinated by the sport. In 2012, I completed my first triathlon with my mom by my side—it was a lot of fun! Before I knew it, my dad was convincing me prior to my junior year of high school to sign up for cross country.

I absolutely adored my time running in high school. At first, it was just a way to build up some fitness, but I quickly fell in love with the atmosphere, my teammates, and the flow of running.

I didn’t think much of myself and started out on the JV squad, but thanks to my soccer background, I was pretty fit.

By my junior year, I joined the team as we went to state.

Since I wasn’t all-in on running yet and had already tried a new sport that year, I skipped out on track during my junior year.

When senior year cross country rolled around, I realized just how much I loved running and made a last-minute decision to run in college. I felt confident it was the right choice, despite the injuries I’d picked up while figuring out how to balance volume and intensity.

I committed to DePaul University in Chicago, but after one term, I knew it wasn’t the right fit. A year later, I got the chance to walk onto the Oregon State Track and Field team.

Truly a dream come true. The opportunity to run for Oregon State. Division 1. Pac-12. I was so excited and grateful for this opportunity.

I knew I didn’t have any huge results to my name, but I was certain I had potential to attain results.

I was so new to the sport that I spent most of my college career injured, struggling to find the routine, rhythm, stability, motivation, and happiness needed for consistent, healthy running. All I really wanted was to be fast, competitive, and contribute to my team! Instead, I faced injury after injury, which culminated in bilateral femoral neck stress fractures in October 2018. Frustrated, confused, angry, and lost, I turned to the Oregon State Triathlon Club for support during cross training.

I started waking up at 5:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for early morning Tri Club swims. I found myself hanging on for dear life, sucking wheel for hours, just trying to keep up with the boys. But since I couldn’t run at the time—and my run fitness meant so much to me—I was willing to do whatever cross training was necessary for a comeback.

While I was cross-training, I began to find the happiness, balance, and health I had been desperately searching for before.

Just as I was finding my fitness and consistency, COVID hit and shut down our track season. I was heartbroken, but it also opened the door for me to dive headfirst into my cross-training activities.

A year later, when we were finally allowed to compete in spectator-free settings, I found myself setting personal bests left and right. I dropped two minutes off my 5K time, became an NCAA All-American, and set the OSU 10K school record—in my very first 10K! It was the dream season of a senior.

During my final track season at OSU in 2021, Ironman announced a new race in Salem for July of that year. Somehow, I was convinced to sign up for it. I couldn’t believe a race would cost $450, and I was actually going to pay to do it! I had never run more than 12 miles in my life, I was borrowing my mom’s bike, and I was piecing together everything else I needed for the race.

July 21st, 2021, rolled around, and I won the inaugural Salem 70.3! I couldn’t believe it—what a rush! I was completely hooked.

Soon after the race, I connected with USA Triathlon and the Olympic Development Pipeline. I decided to train for draft-legal races, receiving minimal support from USA Triathlon.

I spent about a year in the draft-legal world but was eventually cut from the program with little to no explanation, other than that I didn’t have Olympic potential. I was disappointed, especially since I had only been in the sport for a year.

From soccer to running to triathlons

Thanks for visiting my page, my name is Batya Beard.

I was born and raised in Portland, OR and saw myself through an array of sports prior to triathlons.

I decided to train (again) for a 70.3