If it's Thursday night and the weather is nice, you'll probably find John Brockenbrough, 48, and his 72-year-old father, Roger, at the oval on Washington Boulevard, riding a few laps on their bikes. Then running a mile. Then getting back on the bikes and repeating the sequence.
That's how the pair, quite possibly the most fit father-son duo in Western Pennsylvania, like to train for their upcoming races, including triathlons and duathlons.
This Sunday, they will race in the Pittsburgh Triathlon at the North Shore Riverfront Park.
"It's always fun racing in your hometown," said Roger Brockenbrough, of Mt. Lebanon. "You always have a lot of people around that you know. And I like the scenery. You come flying back down on the bike into the city and see all the buildings and rivers, it's spectacular."
Both John and Roger Brockenbrough have been racing in triathlons since the 1980s.
John was the first, entering his first triathlon in 1983.
Roger's debut came two years later at the age of 51.
They've both been hooked ever since, and have even competed in several Ironman Triathlons. The bordering-on-insanity races involve swimming 2.4 miles in the ocean, biking 112 miles then running a 26.2-mile marathon, all in the toasty climate of Hawaii.
"It's a lot of fun," Roger said of racing with his son. "We have our little matches between us. He's obviously much faster, but I try to get within a certain percentage of him."
John said his father has a formula he applies to measure how well he does in comparison in each race.
Both Brockenbroughs are engineers. They are also descendants of the Confederate colonel John Brockenbrough, who led a Virginia regiment during the Civil War.
"(My father) has these factors where he'll divide my time by his time or some kind of mathematical formula," said John, of Murrysville.
Both Brockenbroughs are well-known in the Pittsburgh triathlon community, but John said his father's fame extends further than that.
"Right now he's the elder statesman of the sport," John said. "Everyone knows who he is, especially in Hawaii at the Iron Man. In his age group there aren't many competitors who can do what he does."
John Brockenbrough has raced in all 10 Pittsburgh Triathlons and has finished first or second in every one. In 2006 he was second only to former Pitt swimmer Eric Limkemann, who turned pro this year and hopes to compete in the 2012 Olympics.
"It's a good course," John said of the route that takes competitors into the Allegheny River for a 1.5K swim, onto the HOV lane of I-279 (closed to traffic) for a 40K bike and then to the banks of the Allegheny for a 10K run. "Definitely swimming under the bridges is pretty unique. The fact that every time you take a stroke you look up and see the skyline is pretty unusual. I'm not sure if I know of another race that's right in the city like that."
Sunday will also feature an adventure race, which substitutes paddling in either a canoe or kayak for the swim and shorter distances on the bike and run portions. Saturday is the Youth Elite and Junior Elite Cup triathlons.
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