Dr. Lawrence Fong
Membership Director
2008 - 2009

~~ www.FongStrong.com ~~

Being around athletes since the age of 6, it was only natural that Lawrence would end up an endurance athlete himself. As a kid, he always tagged along on his dad's many Sunday running races. From short 5k's to the "morning-long" Marathons, Lawrence was always there to support his dad. Lawrence continues to get his inspiration from his dad Wayne who, at the young age of 75, has completed over 80 marathons - and still runs 3 a year as well as compete in sprint and Olympic distance triathlons!!!

When Lawrence was in high school, he played on the school's basketball team. Every fall was "conditioning practice" for the upcoming basketball season. It seemed like Lawrence was the only on that ever got excited for that time of year. Always a runner, it only made sense that he continued running 5 & 10k's after high school was over.

After running the LA Marathon in 2002, he decided to add cycling to his training to give some much needed cross-training. He immediately took to cycling and tried his first multi-sport event at the Solana Beach duathlon that year. He then raced his first triathlon at Mission Bay that same year and fell in love with multi-sport racing. He has since added over 30 triathlons and an adventure race to his race resume, including Ironman Arizona and Ironman Florida last year. When he's not racing tri's, he can be found racing as a Category IV cyclist.

In the professional realm, Lawrence is a Doctor of Chiropractic and has practices in Santa Monica as well as Woodland Hills, where he specializes in Sports Injury. He has been in practice for almost 8 years and finds great fulfillment helping other athletes stay healthy and meet their goals. His passion for athletics goes further. He has been coaching triathletes and runners for the past 3 years where his enthusiasm and spirit inspires his athletes. His vast medical knowledge and experience in endurance sports has been a rewarding combination.

Lawrence and fellow LATCer, Beth Kallok, were married in April 2008. Beth and Lawrence, animal lovers, live with their three dogs and one cat in Encino. ~~ www.FongStrong.com

Gerardo Barrios
Membership Director
2008 - 2009

Gerardos mission in life is to encourage and motivate people to live a full life of activity and goals, which strengthen the mind, body, and spirit. He is a believer that one can move beyond perceived limits and make achievements possible.

The sport of triathlon is the perfect outlet to practice this vision. Inspired by his fathers battle with cancer, Gerardo has applied the same focus to his athletic and life goals. He started running with Aids Marathon runners after his roller hockey injuries forced him to consider other options. After hours of running, cross-training in the swimming pool morphed into triathlon training. He fell in love with the sport and has finished 30 triathlons since '04. Eight of which were half Ironman and one was Ironman Western Australia. In '07 he qualified and raced in Clearwater, Florida at the Ford Ironman World Championship 70.3 and this year he will represent the U.S. at the Aquathlon World Championships in Monterrey Mexico. He is currently training for his second Ironman in Austria. When Gerardo is not racing, he is spreading his passion to the community of multi-sport athletes by volunteering for many running events and triathlons in the local region. His motivation, discipline and enthusiasm earned him the nominations in the LA Tri Club: Newbie of the Year '04 and Member of the Year '05. Now in '08, he has joined the La Tri Club Board as Membership Director.

Gerardos passion for learning and leading others to achieve is clearly evident through his full-time job as assistant principal for a middle school for the past five years and previouslya social studies teacher for 8 years.Gerardos other interests include cooking, travel, movies, concerts, and beach volleyball. As Membership Director his goal is to transcend his passion and love of triathlon to others in the multisport community and provide members the best value for their membership.

Brian Morel
Managing Director
2005 - 2007

Though Brian dabbled in swimming, biking, and running during and after college, he didn't officially become a triathlete until 2001 when he joined the San Francisco chapter of Team in Training and trained for the Wildflower Olympic distance triathlon. His performance was nothing to write home about, yet he was hooked. It was also at Wildflower that he first saw the sea of fun-loving LA Tri Clubbers which, when he soon moved back to Los Angeles in the fall of '01, he knew he wanted to be a part of.

Since his initial foray into triathlon in 2001, Brian has gone on to participate in many races - from sprint to Ironman distance events - though his favorites remain Wildflower and Santa Barbara.

Brian was elected into the role of Membership Director in July of '04. Though the role was not well-defined, he used his position to bring new life and a fresh perspective to the The Board. To that end, Brian solicited feedback from the membership, and looked to ensure that the Board operated in a way that was in the membership's best interest.

In '05 Brian's position within the Club was elevated to Managing Director. In this role he provides general oversight and advisement of all functional areas of the Club, from social to training activities, as well as organization development, marketing, sponsorships and website operations. Brian is extremely passionate about LATC, and is proud to be a part of the Club's Board and to work with its team of smart, fun, and highly-motivated Board members.

Outside of triathlon, Brian's interests include music, windsurfing, and travel.

Konrad Ribeiro
Racing Director
2002 - 2004

Konrad is in his fifth year as a multisport competitor and his third year of coaching multisport athletes. He is currently a coach with Triathletix.com and is a former head coach of the Westside Los Angeles Team in Training tri team. He was also a three-term board member and Director of Racing for the LA Tri Club.

He has raced in over 30 triathlons and dozens more cycling, swimming and multisport events including duathlon and aquathlon. He is a national championship qualifier at international distance tri and a world championship qualifier in aquathlon. He has raced at distances from sprint to Ironman, having finished his first IM in 2004 at Madison, WI in 11:28:59. He is also an avid cyclist, recently achieving a Category IV designation from USCF.

His athletic background is primarily aquatic. A lifelong competitive swimmer, open water swimmer, and water polo player, he still holds a school record from his high school days and is the all-time leading scorer in Washington Husky water polo history! If you can put on the cap, goggles and suit, he'll teach you to have a great swim.

Hailing from Seattle, he is a Northwest native having graduated from University of Washington in 1997 with his BA in Geography. He moved to SoCal in 1998, where he met his wife Stefanie. They live in Santa Monica with their daughter Frankie and two cats, Bubba and Faith.

Ray Barrios
Director of Racing
2008 - 2010

"Riptide" Ray Barrios joined the Board in '08. However, since '06 he has been active with the Social Committee and an enthusiastic race volunteer. Who hasn't befriended Ray after meeting him at an event or training with him? Ray, a runner with over 15 marathons under his belt, turned to triathlon in April '05 inspired by his brother Gerardo, himself an LATCer and Ironman. Gerardo taught Ray his first swimming strokes and the rest (including his moniker) is history! He has completed two 70.3/half races and several other triathlons, and he is training for Ironman Arizona in '08. The Santa Barbara Triathlon and Nautica Malibu Triathlons are among of his favorite triathlons. Ray is as big of a fan of LATC members as he is a fan of the sport. When he is not racing, Ray thoroughly enjoys helping out at races, hooting and hollering for all LATCers during the races, and cheering in every last one of them at the finish. He is particularly supportive of newbies and those of us who struggle for personal bests because he himself has struggled with the swim (a good riptide or two changes your perspective on life) and is always working to improve his biking abilities. In '07, Ray took up another endurance sport, ultramarathon, inspired by both the documentary "Running On The Sun: The Badwater 135" and the Ultramarathon Man himself, Dean Karnazes. Running side-by-side with Karnazes at the '07 Catalina Eco Marathon, even if it was for a few minutes, has been one of the highlights of his running career. For Ray, it is not the challenge of enduring so many miles but the level of closeness to his family, community, and the surrounding natural beauty of abundant trails, the byproducts of running so much. Ray completed his first two 50K races in '07, and has immensely enjoyed the challenging Bulldog 50. In addition to taking on his responsibilities as a Board Member in '08 and training for his first Ironman, Ray hopes to continue training for ultramarathons, and run the Western States 100 and Badwater in the future. Running the Boston Marathon is not far from his radar.

Tina & Mo Geller
Training Directors
2009 - 2010

In February of 2005, Tina and Mo met at a Pierce College Masters swim, doing what they love - training for an Ironman (Tina - CDA, Mo - Arizona). After much prodding and cajoling, Tina finally convinced Mo to go for a bike ride - the rest is history. Since 2005, they have raced together in two Ironman events, various halfs, and many shorter races. They have also both become USAT Level I certified coaches. However, triathlons are not their only commonality. They also enjoy backpacking, camping, mountain biking, snowboarding, and supporting the arts. 

Mo caught the triathlon bug in 1998, after seeing the Malibu Triathlon while out surfing—his first love after Bubba (Tina). After three seasons of swimming/drowning in a surf wetsuit, and getting passed by everyone while riding an antique 'mountain bike', Mo was conned into registering for Florida Ironman 2002. This is when he realized that the knowledge base from the LATriClub was his only hope. Due to the invaluable clinics and support, he has been an active member ever since. 

To support their excessive racing habits, Mo is a software engineer. He also enjoys creating ceramics and teaching classes at Nagayama Martial Arts, where he is a black belt. In fact, one of Mo’s most rewarding experiences has been helping students achieve their personal goals.

Tina has been involved in sports her entire life, having competed in basketball and track in high school and then moving on to running marathons in college. She was also active in the drum & bugle corps community, competing for five years with the world renowned Star of Indiana (which now has evolved into the popular stage performance Blast). She was first introduced to triathlons by her clients, who convinced her to compete in the 2004 Camp Pendelton Olympic. She fell in love with the sport so much she ended up signing up for her first Ironman (CDA 2005) just two months later. Since then she has completed one Ironman per year. 

Tina is a personal trainer and thoroughly enjoys training her clients. She is also a full time graduate student at CSUN, working towards her doctorate in Physical Therapy. In her free time, she stills plays the French Horn, performing with the LA Pierce Symphonic Winds. 

Mo & Tina are really excited for the race season. Personally, they are looking forward to their “A” race, IM Switzerland. More importantly they are thrilled about their opportunity to give back to the triathlon community by serving on the LA Tri Club board.

Gary Schechner
Director of Racing
2005 - 2007

As a soccer player for over 20 years and a competitive 10k runner for four years, Gary stumbled into the sport of triathlon in '05 when his grad-school-friend (and now fellow board member), Brian Morel asked him to train for a marathon. At first blush, that idea seemed hair-brained - 'who'd do that to themselves?' thought Gary. Then about a year later, Brian's reverse logic of using a marathon as a 'warm down' from a 2.4-mile swim and a 112-mile bike ride seemed to make more sense and what ultimately drew Gary to triathlon racing the Ironman within 18-months!

Gary's involvement with the Board can be traced back to the handing off of the Race Director torch by board member emeritus, Konrad Ribeiro, who helped establish the LATC's Race Rewards program. Working closely with the board and Konrad, Gary helped launch the Podium Program a first for amateur tri clubs looking to reward their members for racing fast in select events. His other role is to work with race directors to help promote races to the LATC membership and to negotiate registration discounts and comp slots for our members.

Gary can be regularly found training on the westside, braving L.A. traffic on his motorcycle, and now most often on the road for work.

His interests outside of triathlon are windsurfing and golf.

Mike Gwaltney
Training Director
2005 - 2007

Mike Gwaltney has been working with athletes as both a coach and personal trainer and instructor since '86. Mike is a U.S.A. Triathlon Level 1 Certified Coach, and has been given Team In Training national coaching certification by six-time Ironman World Champion Dave Scott.

Mike offers coaching serivces through Triathletix.com and he is currently the Head Coach of TNT's Conejo Valley Tri team and Head Cross Country Coach at Chaminade College Preparatory. At both Chaminade and Servite High School, Mike led soccer teams to record seasons.

Mike has twice been named "Coach of The Year" by the L.A. Times and L.A. Daily News, and has been an Orange County "Coach of the Year" and All-Star Game Coach. Additionally, Mike holds coaching licenses from the United States Soccer Federation, National Federation of High Schools, and various others associations.

Mike's athletic career corresponded with the '70s soccer boom in Southern California. Through the early '90s, Mike enjoyed numerous successes as a player and has since coached club and high school soccer, and worked in the Olympic Development Program. He continues to work with young soccer players on their fitness and technique.

Mike has been a runner for many years, races as a Cat 5 cyclist, and regularly races triathlons. His goal as a triathlon coach is to help beginning and experienced athletes become mentally and physically prepared for the lifestyle of triathlon so that race day is a happy culmination of all their preparation.

Mike lives in Woodland Hills and his day job is Chair of the Social Studies Department at Chaminade College Preparatory, where he teaches History and Political Science. He is working on a Masters in Psychology which he plans to use to help athletes become better mentally prepared for training and racing.

Nick Gardner
Jack-of-All-Things
2003 - 2005

Holger Beckmann
Training Director
2001 - 2004

Amanda McPherson
Social Director
2002 - 2004