Bios

Ben Deal

Age: 27
Height: 6′ 3″
Alma Mater: Columbia University
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Moose Tracks
instagram <> strava

Born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, I played a different sport every season until finding running in the 8^th grade. From then, I was never able to get away from endurance sports. After a short running career, and an even shorter rowing career, at Columbia University, I signed up for my first triathlon in 2014 and realized it was the sport that I had been training for my whole life.

Soon after finding the ‘sport’ love of my life, I found the ‘love’ love of my life, my now wife and fellow pro triathlete , Summer Deal. Married and then living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the prospect of competing at the top level of the sport became a reality. I qualified as a pro in 2018 and wasted no time integrating into the pro field, fighting into the top 10 at five 70.3 races in my rookie year. A huge nerd and a student of all things aero, I read about bikes nearly as much as I ride them.

Summer Deal

Age: 27
Height: 5′ 11″
Alma Mater: George Mason University
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Double Dunker
instagram <> strava

I found my love of running when I joined my middle school’s cross-country team in sixth grade. After a quick growth spurt (6 inches in 3 months!) between freshman and sophomore year in high school, I transitioned from distance running to pole vaulting. I vaulted at George Mason University for two years before going back to my true roots as a distance runner. I did my first triathlon while working as a nurse in order to impress a guy, who is now her husband, and fellow pro triathlete, Ben Deal. In 2019, I
qualified as a pro triathlete with a breakthrough performance at Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz.

I am a Registered Nurse with a Master of Public Health and currently work as an infection preventionist at UC Health in Colorado Springs. I also coach multi-sport athletes and enjoy training just as much as racing. With a relatively late start in the swimming and biking arena, I hope to continue making progress by breaking into the top pack of professionals.

The Van

A 1985 Dodge Van. We found this puppy off the side of the road in Orange County, Virginia just begging to be adventured in. With three speeds on the floor (+ overdrive), roll down windows, a sick ladder on the back, new custom storage, and a convertible bed/futon, what else could be desired? Okay actually the answer to that is maybe AC, working windshield wipers, and not as many oil leaks, but amazingly she got us all 1900 miles from Charlottesville, VA to Albuquerque, NM over the course of three days. A constant work-in-progress, the van has style and functionality at the expense of some peace of mind of actually arriving at our target locations, but isn’t it about the journey and not the destination anyways?