He could be biking across an 80-mile long route, conducting research on petrochemicals for his Ph.D. or maybe he’s even orchestrating a discussion over alternative energy.
All the while, the 23-year-old triathlete occupies his thought cloud with visions of winning the USA Triathalon Collegiate National Championship. Again.
Rudy Kahsar. (CU Independent/Michael Krumholtz)
Last April, Karl “Rudy” Kahsar took first place at what he calls his most “elusive race.” This is the race title that he chased for five straight years, dating back to his tenure as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia.
“That race has just always been the one I wanted to win,” Kahsar said. “And to be able to win it was almost (realizing) I had gotten good enough to win everything else.”
His long sought-after crown didn’t come without some huge controversy. Cal-Irvine’s Dustin McLarty, a professional triathlete, weaved in front of Kahsar’s bike on the race’s last leg. To do so, he crossed four marked lines, and edged Kahsar by less than a minute.
“It was the most terrible experience for me,” Kahsar said. “I thought I had just lost the race.”
Course officials put that sudden nightmare to bed after deciding that McLarty’s cut through traffic deserved a two-minute deduction. CU won its second straight national championship as a team and Kahsar got his individual title. Or, at least, that’s the story the record books tell.
“In my mind, he beat me on the course,” Kahsar said. “It’s still so painful that it sticks with me. It’s something that’s going to drive me all winter.”
Every day, he becomes more addicted to the sport he’s known for only five years. A relative greenness actually serves his body an advantage. For such an active and tiring hobby, triathlons can wither a man’s frame to the ground.
But, as perhaps the greatest amateur triathlete in America says, a person in this sport must own enough awareness to save their body’s worth for long-term investing.
“I see people who have talent and they’ll train as hard as they can everyday until they get sick.”
“I’m not worried about always working out. I’m more worried always about getting fast,” Kahsar said.
During the season, Kahsar trains everyday with variety. While many students spend Saturday in tired recovery from a hazy night before, this champion bikes.
He heads twenty miles northwest towards Ward, Colo., then up to Raymond, Colo. and from there he takes a stroll to Lyons, Colo. before cycling back south. Right when he returns to Boulder, he jumps off his bike and runs for half an hour. And that’s only Saturday. He exercises as if he’s some crazy love-child of Lance Armstrong, Iron Man and the Energizer Bunny.
According to him, races are won before they ever take place.
“When I show up on race-day it’s like taking a test,” Kahsar said. “If you’ve studied a lot there is no way you can fail.”
This is coming from a graduate student who studies chemical engineering. Currently, CU pays Kahsar to do research on bio-fuels and bio-chemicals. He’s also the director of engineering for the Energy Club and leads weekly discussions on topics in energy sources.
To say that Rudy Kahsar is a busy man is like saying James Bond once got with a model. He makes the active town of Boulder seem like a row of sleepy-headed, couch watchers.
With a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in one hand, he could have a doctorate from CU in four more years, if he so desires.
Lately though, he finds himself dreaming of triathlons even when he’s studying. He claims that it’s getting harder to focus on schoolwork.
“The plan is right now to stick with it,” said Kahsar of his doctorate program. “But I can’t say how good I’ll be in two years or what my goals will be.”
The decision to turn professional tosses and turns inside him, so much so that it emerges from his words frequently.
In August, Kahsar became the first person to ever win Collegiate Nationals and the Age Group National Championship (two of the most prestigious amateur races) in the same year. Because triathlons are not NCAA sanctioned, stated professionals can compete in college or amateur races until they are 28.
Before his first and only season at CU, Kahsar was in no rush to test the professional waters. Now, he thinks he could jump into that pool of competition as early as this winter.
“There’s no one else to beat until I go pro,” Kahsar said. “Really, now more than ever is the time when I might get a pro-license and try to get some serious sponsorships.”
He could still race as a Buff. The only major difference is that he could then compete in races that are limited strictly to professional triathletes.
The sport may at first sight seem like epitome of individual effort, but look inside to the team-oriented training sessions and what Kahsar said in regards to winning a race in the weeks and months before the starting gun becomes clear.
He credits his teammates for raising his ability, referring to them as “the” team and not “my” team – a fine distinction when noting the character of an athlete so masterly in his craft.
“It was the team that got me over the hump,” said Kahsar alluding to finally winning the Collegiate Nationals. “At all our team workouts, very rarely was I ever the fastest swimmer. I’m never the fastest person on track (either) and I’m chasing after them as hard as I can.”
This past Labor Day, Kahsar bypassed any time to relax and instead competed in the Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship Age Group Elite in Des Moines, Iowa.
In the most recent race of his still-young career, Kahsar finished second to a former professional who came out of retirement in order to win the first-prize purse: a Mini Cooper.
“Doesn’t that suck?” he said, looking back with a laugh. He says that laugh comes out a little easier when considering that second prize received is $4,000.
As a course record setter, a national champion and a Ph.D. student, not too much brings down Rudy Kahsar.
He sits back in his throne and looks up with a smile, putting himself back five years ago when he was a rookie triathlete with a head full of fantasies.
“It’s weird because I used to never think I would get to this level,” Kahsar said. “I used to dream about being this good.”
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Michael Krumholtz at Michael.krumholtz@colorado.edu
