NFL players are competitive by nature, but Bills specialists Brian Moorman and Rian Lindell are tripling their pleasure this weekend as they are participating in the Fifth Annual Town of Pittsford Triathlon this Sunday to benefit Moorman's PUNT Foundation.
It's not a full Ironman triathlon, but rather a sprint triathlon that consists of a 300-yard swim, 15 miles on the bike and a 5K run. Though Moorman and Lindell are professionally trained athletes the training for football is considerably different. As a result Buffalo's kicker and punter enter the event with a bit of trepidation.
"I think it's difficult especially for somebody that doesn't run mileage because it's an endurance thing," said Moorman. "When I cross train on the bike I'm not going on 50-mile bike rides. I'm just doing intervals and maybe a 15 to 20 mile ride every so often. But that's what's included in the triathlon so it's going to be interesting overall to do the whole thing."
Moorman says he has done the swim and the bike, or the bike and the run, but he has never done all three.
"I'm just going to try it and see what to expect, we'll see what happens," he said.
The reason Moorman and Lindell have entered the town of Pittsford event is to create some more exposure for Moorman's PUNT Foundation which provides funding for pediatric cancer research as well as family-centered programs to give kids with life-threatening illnesses rewarding experiences.
A frequent visitor at Children's Hospital in Buffalo, Moorman also began visiting child cancer patients at Children's Hospital in Rochester last year.
"We're trying to reach out to all of Western New York and specifically the Rochester area hoping that we can show the Rochester area that we're serious about helping kids over there as well as in Buffalo," he said. "We hope that's what this accomplishes."
For those that are interested in participating in the event this weekend more information can be obtained at the town of Pittsford website or at Moorman's website. There is also a walk-a-thon for those who may not be interested in tackling the sprint triathlon. The PUNT Foundation will also hold a raffle. For more information on the event you can also call event contact Jessie Hollenbeck at (585) 248-6280.
As for Moorman and Lindell they're hoping to finish the course in under 90 minutes. And there will be some bragging rights riding on which one of the Bills' specialists finishes first. To this point Lindell has been a bit guarded with Moorman as to what he's capable of.
"He's keeping some pretty tight wraps on what he can do," said Moorman. "He's trying to make me think that he isn't a very good swimmer, but I've seen him swim and he swims pretty well. He did tell me what his times were running for three miles. He shot me that e-mail and I said, 'Alright it's on.'"
"On the bike I do just fine," said Lindell. "Brian told me there are some hills, but he's going to get me a nice bike. I've done the run and went out and timed the run. I did the 5K at 21:45."
Lindell says he swam a mile course in the Cayman Islands in the ocean, but he believes that the swim in the town of Pittsford event will be harder because it's in a pool.
"You're more buoyant with the salt in the ocean so that's easier I think," said Lindell. "So I'm going to get in our training pool here at One Bills Drive and get ready."
Brian's wife Amber will be participating in the Sunday walk-a-thon at the town of Pittsford event. Long snapper Ryan Neill's wife Tiffany, who is an accomplished distance runner, will be participating in the triathlon. Bills special teams coordinator Bobby April is also expected to be on hand.
