At age 24 Keith Casserly is the only full time duathlete in the United States.  Keith began his career as a triathlete as a member of the US Junior team.  He turned pro in 1997 and in his first duathlon placed second at Powerman Alabama.  In 1998 he won Powerman Alabama and finished 8th at Powerman Zofingen after coming off the bike in second place.  At Zofingen he was one of two competitors to break the bike course record.  He is also a category 1 cyclist.   Keith grew up in New York and attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.  He now lives in Colorado Springs with triathlete Nick Radkewich.  Keith can be seen at some races with his 1984 Volkswagen Van, which contains all the necessities:  a stove, popup tent, refrigerator, and sink.  He is sponsored by Kestrel and DeGeorge.

duathlon.com: At Dannon Chicago in September you said you may be signing with a cycling team. Have you done that?

Keith Casserly:  I couldn't really find any strong pro teams that would still let me race duathlons. So I will probably just do what I did last year, which is race for some elite cat 2 or cat 3 teams.

duathlon.com:  Were you happy with your 1998 season?

KC: Yes, but I kind of fell off after Zofingen. It pretty much took me out for the rest of the year because I was so unprepared for that second run. But otherwise, I was in great shape. The Monday before Zofingen there was a city duathlon in a neighboring town, and it was a draft legal race. It was 5k, 16k, 3k. It was invitation only. Tobin and I got in and it was a big crowd. A lot of the top duathletes were there. I had a great run and ended up second to Marcus Keller. He is a short course triathlete.

duathlon.com:  What will you do to differently to prepare for Zofingen next year?

KC:  I will run hills. I was really getting beat up on the downhills more than the uphills. People would pass me on the downhills and I would pass them back on the uphills. I will go in with a better race plan and make sure I eat enough. I will up the running miles and run stronger.

duathlon.com:  Were you surprised to come off the bike in second place at Zofingen?

KC: No. I had been doing bike races all spring. I am a cat 1 now and I was racing with the top guys in the US. I figured there weren't going to be many people that could beat me in Zofingen. I figured I should be coming off the bike in the top 3. And I knew I had not really put the mileage in to do well on the run. The second run was my longest run of the year.

duathlon.com:  What type of training were you doing leading up to Powerman.

KC: I was trying to do a bike race each weekend. I would run for two hours after the last stage of the race.

duathlon.com: Did the cyclists think you were strange  for doing that?

KC: I would go out and hide.   I didn't want them to see me.   I didn't really do enough of that though because I got too caught up in my bike races.   I didn't want to get too tired for the races. The two hours eventually became one hour. I have to become more focused on duathlon.

Quantity wise I was doing 20-25 hours on the bike and 6-7 hours running. I probably need to do more running this year. I seem to have a knack to be able to absorb a lot of training. I think it stems from when I was swimming in college, going to school, and working at the same time. 

duathlon.com:  What races are you planning for next year?

KC:  Powerman Alabama and Zofingen.  I would like to win the Powerman Series next year.   I will probably do Powerman Holland and South Africa.  After that I'll see. It depends on how I am running for me to decide if I will do short course worlds, or how difficult the bike is.  After Powerman Alabama I will probably head over to Europe.  I will be based in Switzerland and travel to the other races.   I will also try to do the big US cycling tours.  

duathlon.com:  Your first pro race was Powerman Alabama in 1997.  Were you surprised when you took second place?

KC: Yeah, I was definitely surprised. Your first time going to a pro race you have no idea where you are going to stand. I was very excited.

duathlon.com:  Did you swim or run for Brown University?

KC:  I walked on the swim team and swam for 2 1/2 years and ran track and cross country  for 3 years. I walked on the swim team because the cross country coach told me I had to stop swimming and biking. I didn't want to stop so he kicked me off the team.  Then 2 years later he let me back on the cross-country team. 

duathlon.com:  How competitive were you as a collegiate runner and swimmer?

KC: As a swimmer  I sucked. Brown was a division 1 school so it was pretty competitive.   I raced varsity only because our swim coach killed everybody so there was only 8 guys on the team, so I had to race varsity. I think I beat 4 or 5 people my whole swim career.  In track I ran a 14:42 for 5000 meters and a 3000 meters in the 8:20's.  For cross country I was usually the fourth or fifth man. 

duathlon.com:  Do you have a desire to do Ironman Hawaii?

KC:  Yeah I do.  I didn't want to start doing duathlons because I knew if I did I wouldn't want to go back to triathlons.   But I would like to do  Ironman.