This is the sixth time Barletto, 39, has been an All-American, but this is the first time he’s received the honor since he switched from triathlons (swim, bike, run) to duathlons last year.
“It’s special every time you get it,” Barletto said. “It makes you feel real good. It makes all the painful (training) worthwhile.”
Barletto swam for the Springfield YMCA’s SPY team in high school and didn’t start running until his senior year. He was just a runner until he started doing triathlons in 2005. He has since become one of the top multi-sport athletes in the state. Two years ago, he was the top overall finisher in the sprint triathlon at the Great Buckeye Challenge, one of the biggest triathlons in Ohio.
Payton, a 1989 Kenton Ridge graduate who owns Payton Plumbing, is ranked 189th in the nation in the 40-44 age group. This is the second straight year he’s earned All-America status.
Payton, 41, raced at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in October and hopes to qualify again this year when he does the Louisville Ironman. He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to race in Louisville, however, because his youngest son, Seth, a senior at Northeastern, is joining the Air Force after graduation, and his other son, Colin, is graduating from Wittenberg this spring.
It’ll be a busy year for Payton and his wife Alix, who have been racing almost every week with Springfield’s Champion City Cycling team in the Ohio Spring Race Series.
“It’s been kind of a fun year so far,” Dan said. “I feel a lot stronger this year.”
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