It’s been so incredibly emotional reading the Facebook comments from my post as I watched the HFP Racing trucks and trailers leave the property for the final time. I wanted so badly to respond to all the comments, as so many brought back even more memories. I’ve always felt writing was my best was to express myself and as I went through historical photos the memories came flooding back…I knew I had to share my thoughts on how truly blessed Jennifer and I are to have these memories.
THE START; It was 1989 and I was a freshman at Ball State University sitting in the Exercise 101 class (my favorite class). Next to me sat a beautiful red head that seemed to be checking me out (my version of the story). I tore a section of paper out of my notebook and wrote the words “Hi, I’m Shannon. I’m the president of Health and Fitness Promotions” and passed it over to her. She quickly returned the note with her response “I’m Jennifer Butler, my friends call me JB. How can I get involved”. Little did either of us know at the time but that brief encounter would change our lives forever. I only made it one semester at Ball State as I had other plans and it all revolved around multisport racing and race promotion.
But before JB, the entire Kurek family was already doing whatever it took to get Health and Fitness Promotions (before it became HFP Racing) up and running and preparing for the first annual Mid-Ohio Heart Clinic Challenge in September of 1989. My Aunt Sandi was a massive supporter and as the Wellness Director at the local hospital was pivotal in keeping things moving along while I spent too much time training. Sandi orchestrated the securing of the title sponsor, Mid-Ohio Heart Clinic, and we were off to the races. To get geared up for triathlon we put together the Mid-Ohio Bicycle Series and my Marion, Ohio training buddies Brian Shind and Shawn Williams joined me as we were baptized by fire as first time race promoters. Also, helping was my brother and a great group of locals that included Mike Marcum, Art Hoffman and my amazing Grandpa, Carl Kurek, who served as the official lead truck for all the bike races that summer.
Shannon and his mates at the 1989 Mid-Ohio Bicycle Series 
Ohio Pro, Rip Esselstyn on his way to victory at the inaugural Mid-Ohio Heart Clinic Challenge in 1989 
Shannon’s Aunt Sandi and Mom Carol played pivotal roles in the early years of HFP
Jennifer and I would not of ever communicated again would it not of been for Jennifer’s “friend update letters” that I continued to receive over the next couple of years. Finally, we connected again in summer of 1991 as I drove through Cincinnati on my way to race in Louisville, KY. That was an awesome summer of traveling to races and getting to know “JB” as my new best friend.
Shannon and JB become best friends over the race season of 1991 
A trip to the 1991 Duathlon World Championships in Palm Springs, CA sealed the deal for JB 
Jennifer, Shannon’s Dad and Brother at the 1991 Wendy’s Triathlon
THE PEOPLE; The early years were made possible by many, many amazing people that simple showed up and helped with whatever was needed. Curt Haywood was an early training buddy that I could always count on and I can remember sharing with Curt my vision after a hard track session at the Worthington High School track. “Curt, I just want to put on races that my friends can come to, so we can all have a great time together”. It was never about a building a business but always about the experience I wanted to be able to provide to the participants. In the early years, training buddies like Adam Moyer, Don Chandler, Scott Anderson, Dave McMahon, and Tom Knopp traveled to the early series venues and trained with me all day while Jennifer, my Mom, my Aunt and Jennifer’s Mom worked packet pickup. Then around 9:00pm the night before the race we’d all get together and start to set the race venue up.
Late night photo for the HFP’s multisport family @ Hueston Woods State Park 1993
THE EARLY YEARS; I look back at these photos and almost can’t believe how things came together. We were pioneers. There was not a template out there on how to produce triathlons so each race was part of our education at the School of Hard Knocks. We made many mistakes but no one was going to outwork us or put more passion into a race than our motley crew of multisport misfits.
Adam Moyer, Marg Gorman and Shannon
post race at the 1992 Sardinia Biathlon
Shannon and longtime teammate Curt Haywood, Jr. racing at the 1992 Cincy Biathlon 
Curt Haywood, Jeff Prinze, Don Chandler and Dana Lyons at the 1994 Saturn Duathlon 
Shannon Kurek and Jennifer Butler before Shannon’s attempt at the Versa Climber World Record in 1993 
Shannon Kurek and Jon Hastings discuss their races at the 1991 Whitestar Triathlon 
Shannon and Jennifer handing out Ohio Challenge Series entry forms in 1993
THE MARRIAGE OF MY BEST FRIEND; Surrounded by the same group of family and friends that helped us at every race JB became Jennifer Kurek on April 17, 1993.
THE RACING; Of course it’s always been about the racing and thanks to some great “sponsorship” from our parents we got to travel the world in the early 90’s to race.
Shannon, Jennifer and Brother Todd walk in the 1995 Ironman Parade of Nations in Kona 
Shannon finishes the 1995 Ironman World Championships as the top Ohioan 
Shannon and Jennifer at the 1994 Duathlon World Championships in Frankfurt, Germany 
Shannon and his Team USA mates at the 1993 Duathlon World Championships in Dallas
THE BIG BREAK; In 1994 with the help of Joe Moyer of Moyer Financial Group, Larry Denny of Saturn of Columbus, the Saturn Duathlon was born. The event would feature an international field of professionals and featured a spectator friendly, never before done, multi-lap format which became the standard for the modern day ITU World Cup events. The following month the race would be featured on the cover of Triathlete Magazine.
THE STAFF; Simply put, the staff for HFP Racing has always been the best…regardless of the season, our team seemed to always come together in a very unique way. Most of our past staff remain our dear friends today. In the early years, HFP Racing continued to be supported by our family and friends but as our schedule grew so was our need for staff members that could handle the grind of long weekends, tent camping and eventually squeezing into a camper. Over the years our staff have provided us with some truly amazing adventures producing events.
Work hard, play even harder. Staff members prepare for a round of trash can lid golf 
Shannon, Amy Pauch, Daniel Smith and Jennifer discuss pre-race operations 
The crew enjoying a well deserved dinner in Sandy Hook, NJ during the Danskin Triathlon 
The staff poses for a photo on the way to Racine, WI for the Spirit of Racine Triathlon 
The staff enjoys a photo op with Gold Medalist Shelia Tormina 
Scott Erdman gave HFP 6 amazing years and always had a smile on his face 
Sandy Donald…always ready for a photo 
Always willing to go the extra mile…Lora Trevallyan cooks at the American Triple-T after lifeguarding the swim 
Josh Dwire, Rich Fowler and Shannon get ready for a series championship at Portage Lakes 
The amazing volunteer organizer of the Vermilion Harbour Triathlon – Staicey Scholtz
THE VOICE OF HFP; No other person changed HFP Racing more than Rich Fowler, the official voice of HFP Racing. His infectious personality and amazing attention to get to know the participants took us to another level. It all started when Jennifer put him to work one weekend when he was asking too many questions at packet pickup on an early race morning. Seriously, Rich was just a nervous newbie duathlete hanging around the registration tents asking way too many questions. Finally, Jennifer put a mic in his hand and told him to make some pre-race announcements… the rest as they say is history.
Rich’s jokes with Toughman Founder Richard Izzo at the 2019 American Triple-T 
Never one to shy from the camera…especially if the person behind the camera is your wife 
Rich in his Race Day Red at the 2006 Mountaineer Triathlon in Morgantown, WV 
Rich always seemed to attract the ladies…this time is was Shannon’s Aunt Sandi and Mom Carol 
Rich with Shannon’s brother Todd at the 2014 Mohican Endurance Festival 
Rich and Shannon enjoy a laugh before the start of the 2019 American Triple-T
THE ONES WE LOST; It’s never easy to say goodbye to anyone but some of our multisport family left us much too early. They will never be forgotten.
Alan Boos – The Team HFP GOAT
1974-2004
Carl Butler – Jennifer’s Father and HFP’s first timer and swim course director
1947-2016
Darryl Kollai – Hardest working teammate
1955-2008
THE KUREK KIDS; no one in the Kurek family sacrificed more for HFP Racing over the last 15 years than the Kurek kids. Henry, Maddy and Ezra missed many a birthday party, ball game and neighborhood overnights during race season and they always took it in stride. Packing up their bikes, scooters and miscellaneous toys and heading to another HFP Racing event was commonplace for our kids and rarely a compliant was heard.
Making dad proud! Henry finishes his first race at the Portage Lakes Kids Duathlon in 2010 
Ezra became a regular on the FIT Family Series kids circuit 
The Kurek Family poses for the what would later become the FIT Family Series logo 
Henry enjoying time on the lake in Vermilion 
Maddy working at the 2019 American Triple-T 
Maddy finishes her first race in 2010 at the Portage Lakes Kids Duathlon 
Ezra finishes his first duathlon at age 4 at the 2010 Portage Lakes Kids Duathlon 
The Kurek Family in 2012…they grow up so fast!
THE SURVIVOR; Along with being an amazing mother, business partner and wife, Jennifer is a cancer survivor. Under going radiation treatments in the morning and driving down to the American Triple-T to work 80+ hours without a complaint in 2010. Jennifer never missed a single event in 2010 due to her cancer treatment. In 2021 Jennifer celebrated 11 years being cancer FREE!!! WHAT A WOMAN!
Jennifer was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2010 and did not miss a single HFP Race 
Jennifer finishes her first and last triathlon in 2011 just to let Cancer know who was boss!
THE TEAM; It was always so important that HFP Racing had a strong team and each year dozens of athletes claimed their spots on the team. So many special memories come from Team HFP and the amazing athletes that make up this team to this day.
Representing Team USA was Kevin Smythe, Shannon, Curt Haywood and Don Cain at the 2017 Triathlon World Championships 
Team HFP lined up and ready to race at the Caesar Creek Ohio Duathlon 
Longtime Team HFP members Deb and Ed Wheeler from Strongsville 
Team HFP member Mitch Shrader 
John Menzies one of the longest standing Team HFP members and dear friend of the Kurek family 
Longtime Team HFP member Roy Youngmann 
From volunteer life guard, to HFP staff member to elite age group triathlete, Team HFP member Todd Ricketts 
Arthur DeVennish is an awe inspiring Team HFP member 
Mark Lemmon and Shannon finish the grueling American Birkebeiner in 1999 
Shannon with Mark Lemmon after destroying each other in the mountains of Helen, GA 
Shannon with Avery Brooks at the first ever triathlon in Sri Lanka in 2012 
Team HFP Racing 2005 
The Team HFP veterans; Randy Lehrer, Curt Haywood, Don Cain, Brian Barker, Mark Lemmon, Tom Lebuhn and Shannon 
Michael Boone, Curt Haywood, Todd Ricketts and Shannon at the 2016 USAT Nationals 
Keeping it light at the start line; Don Cain, Randy Lehrer and Shannon with Daniel Smith in the background (never one to miss a photo op) 
Mark Lemmon, Curt Haywood, Brian Barker and Shannon goofing during an epic trip to NYC to watch Bruce Springsteen 
Mark Lemmon , Shannon and Curt Haywood always ready for a workout! 
The first official men and women in black, Team HFP 1994 
Infinit Nutrition Founder, Michael Folan with Shannon at the 1995 Gulf Coast Half Ironman 
Not only did they work the races but Shannon’s Mom Carol and Aunt Sandi raced many of the same races they volunteered at.
THE THINGS WE WILL MISS THE MOST; HFP Racing will never fade from our memories and the last 32 years were an amazing journey. Of course there will be some things that we will miss more than others…here are the top 5.
Pre-Race Prayer – Shannon’s most important time of every Sunday race 
The early morning swim start 
Sunset the night before the race…red sky at night a race directors delight! 
Sunrise on race day…nothing is better than seeing the sun on race morning 
The kids! What more needs to be said. They inspired us all!
THE FUTURE…WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE KUREKS; Our kids can finally count on mom and dad not missing any more birthdays or ball games and our relatives will finally see us at a wedding between May and September. Ezra turned 15 this year and is pursuing his dream of playing in the MLB putting in workouts 7 days a week and traveling with his travel baseball team across the country. Maddy is a 3 sport athlete and a straight A student. She recently got her drivers license and can drive herself to those many year-round practices. Henry graduated from C-Tech in 2019 and is already part of the work force for nearly 2 years. He still loves sessions at the Newark Skate Park on his scooter and spending most of his paycheck on his Mazda Speed 3. Jennifer is enjoying being able to manage all the many obligations that the kids activities require and keeping up with my constant entrepreneurial spirit. I will expanding my responsibilities as operations director at M3S Sports and will be staying involved in the sport of triathlon as a participant. I can’t wait to see many of you at a race in the near future.
Thanks to everyone for blessing our lives…it was a heck of a run!
Jennifer, Maddy, Shannon, Ezra and Henry
Ezra with one of his travel baseball teammates 
Ezra using all the latest technology to recovery from his hard workouts 
Shannon and Henry doing come cart racing on a recent father-son vacation (dad won!) 
Henry getting in a scooter session on top of a concrete pavilion at a highway rest stop 
Henry contemplating his next run at the Knoxville Tennessee Skatepark 
Maddy driving hard on a layup during a Granville Aces basketball game in 2021 
No one defends harder than Maddy during her Granville Aces basketball games 
Another length of the floor layup for Maddy Kurek 
Getting some huge air as Maddy spikes the ball during a Granville Aces volleyball game 
The Kurek Family – Memorial Day 2021 
Ezra is SAFE at home at a recent Arsenal Travel Baseball game
