Hoboken couple Maria Bengtsson and Chris Wedgeworth are getting married…but not until after the race.
Both Bengtsson, 33, and Wedgeworth, 36, are ready to enter their second Nautica New York City Triathlon together. They’re also ready to enter into marriage together next year, but not until after they compete in what will be their third triathlon in three years.
Bengtsson and Wedgeworth work for a consulting group at Dow Jones in Manhattan. They train together, work together, and live together. Bengtsson said the training provides a mutual goal and a different atmosphere for the couple to operate in other than work or home.
“We can get together as a hobby,” she said. “It’s something great to do outside work. I don’t know how I would do it without Chris.”
Bengtsson is originally from Sweden and Wedgeworth is from England.
Bengtsson moved from Europe over four years ago, and when she met Wedgeworth, who had come here two years before that, she knew immediately something special was there.
They tried to hide their relationship for a while from their co-workers, but Bengtsson said when they finally made the announcement, “They said, ‘Yeah, we’ve known for like a year.’ ”
Learning to swim
The race takes participants on a 1.5-km swim down the Hudson River, a 40-km bike ride up the West Side Highway, and finally on a 10-km run through Central Park.
Last year, some friends who were entering the race sent an e-mail around work for sign-ups.
“I said ‘You’re crazy. I’d never do that,’ ” Wedgeworth recalls.
However, “We just did it. We signed up,” Bengtsson said. “But we didn’t know how to swim.”
She said they found a swimming coach on the internet. But by January, the couple was practicing techniques poolside.
“The coach wouldn’t even let us in the pool,” she said. “It was hard, but we did it.”
She added, “We push each other. If one person doesn’t want to train one day, the other one is there.”
Besting her beau
“I beat Chris,” Bengtsson said without remorse. “But I started early when the [water] current was very strong.” A faster current improves swimming times, she said.
“It got warmer later,” she said, apparently making excuses for her future husband. “And there was less of a current.”
“She’s actually quite talented,” he conceded.
The couple’s first triathlon was actually a few months before the New York City Triathlon, but it was a short “sprint triathlon” so the two could practice transitions and get a feel for the sometimes brutal swimming portion.
This year they feel much more prepared.
“We train with the Hoboken Triathlon Club,” she said.
Some of the training mates will enter the New York City Triathlon and some will enter the Jersey State Triathlon on the same day.
This year’s race
The ninth annual Nautica New York City Triathlon on July 26 is the only Olympic-distance triathlon in New York City, and over 3,000 entrants are drawn to the event every year, according to their website.
There is $30,000 in prize money to be won, but Bengtsson said that this isn’t the goal.
“If I can win that in the raffle, then I’m shooting for it,” she said. “There’s a lot of elite athletes there.”
This year, the race also doubles as the ParaTriathlon National Championship, with nearly 100 physically disabled athletes trying to qualify for the World Championships. To qualify, they must finish in under four hours.
The swim is one of the fastest Olympic-distance triathlon swims around, according to Bengtsson, as the path takes participants with the Hudson River current.
“The current can change a lot [during the day],” she said. “And it can change from year to year.”
The biking portion take the triathletes back up the Hudson to the George Washington Bridge before the run takes sends them along 72nd Street and through Central Park.
Organizers claim all 50 states are represented in the race, as well as 20 countries.
The wedding
Bengtsson and Wedgeworth are scheduling their wedding in Sweden for two weeks after next year’s July 18 race.
Wedgeworth, an avid soccer fan, added that the 2010 World Cup was another obstacle to the wedding date.
The couple hopes to improve their times at this year’s race. “We trained more with the Triathlon Club,” she said, which helped.
But love in the heart doesn’t stop the competitive spirit.
“I hope I beat Chris again, but I’m going to have to step it up,” she said.
“I’m just trying to close the gap,” Wedgeworth said. “She’s too good.”
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.