It is tough to do a race in Tennessee or Alabama which isn't either organized by Team Magic or touched in another way by them. We wanted to know more about Team Magic and had a few words with Faye Yates, one of the owners.
ST: Faye, you are part of Team Magic together with Therese Bynum and a host of others. What exactly do you do for Team Magic?
Faye: I am 50% owner of Team Magic along with Therese Bynum. We have only one full-time employee and about ten part-time event workers. The balance of the Team Magic crew are volunteer coordinators. Therese and I serve as co-directors for all events. Behind the scenes in the office I manage the business finances, maintain the web site, and manage coordinators and volunteers for all course related areas. Therese and I pretty much split the events by state for establishing all event needs at each host site (police, permits, etc…). I handle Tennessee, my home state and Therese handles Alabama.
ST: What is your favorite non Team Magic race and why?
Faye: How about 2? My favorite grass roots triathlon is the Mach Tenn Triathlon just down the road from me in Tullahoma, Tennessee. It is small but intimate – fun local crowd. They have always had an interval start swim which I love as I feel like I am actually swimming my own race and not fighting other swimmers… and it leads to a very spread out bike course. The post race party is awesome with cornbread and black-eyed peas and plenty of Budweiser products thanks to the local sponsor. For my next favorite it is hard not to pick Ironman Florida, my only Ironman race to date – Shelley Bramblett and company do a fantastic job of managing such a large crowd over such a long distance and providing a spectacular race atmosphere.
ST: What about Team Magic races. Which won do you like best?
Faye: The Mountain Lakes Triathlon in Guntersville, Alabama – great course, great host city, just a good vibe all the way around.
ST: You have a quite impressive list of Sprint and Olympic distance races under the Team Magic umbrella. Have you considered running longer distance events?
Faye: Yes, we are looking at several options and have been for years. It is very tough to find the right course and the right venue. We take our jobs very seriously and will only do a longer distance event that really hits on all cylinders. Stay tuned, maybe coming in 2010.
ST: What is your athletic background?
Faye: I started playing club sports at the age of 8 and played very competitively in junior high and high school basketball (multi-year MVP in both.) Gave up organized sports during college and started running. Began running marathons and racing duathlons/triathlons in 1990, just after graduating college and have been hooked since.
ST: How much racing do you get to do in a season?
Faye: Ha! Not as much as I did in the 1990’s when there were MUCH fewer races from which to choose. I like to do a couple of half-marathons and maybe a marathon then get in anywhere from four to six triathlons if possible.
ST: When you are working at any of the Team Magic races, do you wish you could be out there and participate yourself?
Faye: Almost every race, really. I love racing. I love so many of our courses.
ST: How much training do you do in a week?
Faye: My plan for 2009 is to swim three times per week at 2,000 – 3,000 each visit, run 4 to 5 days a week for total mileage no more than 30 miles, bike as much as possible, with hopes of 4 to 6 days with most rides from 20 to 30 miles and one longer around 50 to 60, so around 100 to 150 miles per week.
ST: Do you follow any other sports?
Faye: Sure! I love many sports, specifically college basketball (guys and gals) and college football. Occasionally I get into our NFL Tennessee Titans, but not currently into that.
ST: Can you share with us some of your food likes and dislikes?
Faye: I like to eat healthy, meaning a balanced diet of mostly organic foods. I eat less and less meat and given a good tofu option, always my first choice. Don’t misunderstand, I love some hot brownies or cookies right out of the oven and could eat ice cream daily, even in the winter months! Love a good beer and a glass of red wine and either with a nice piece of good chocolate. I love Amy’s Organic Pizza, yummmmmmmmmy.
ST: What about music? Anything you listen to more often?
Faye: Wow, I listen to such a variety – if you could see my IPOD collection… not much country, very little of that. A mix of pop, urban, rap, folk, rock (not heavy metal.)
ST: What was the last book you read?
Faye: Three Junes by Julia Glass
ST: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Faye: Still putting on races with Team Magic.
ST: Is there anything else we should know about you?
Faye: I have an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University but retired from that career early and transitioned into race management after doing Human Resource consulting for a few years.
