An EXTREME Tri-Athlete

By Rana Terry

Growing up in the small rural community 65 miles south of Portales in Tatum, N.M., Carlos Mendoza (B.S. 88) felt right at home at ENMU. Carlos said, “I was a small town boy. I liked the proximity of the school.” ENMU had the home town feel and it had a quality Education Department Carlos was looking for.

Carlos and his wife, Rika, of 21 years met at ENMU. Carlos graduated in December of 1988 with a B.S. in Science and Education and his wife Rika graduated in May of 1988 with a Marketing and Business Administration degree.

Carlos was an active student. He was one of the founding members of the ENMU Ambassadors. He helped with student orientation and showed true ENMU hospitality to interested high school students. He was also a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity and a Resident Assistant at Eddy Hall. Carlos said, “I had a lot of great friends at ENMU that have also done really well in their careers. I hung out with some really motivated individuals, which has helped me get where I am today.”

Carlos now resides in Anthem, Ariz. with his wife and two daughters. He is working in the pharmaceutical industry as an account executive and he is a part time tri-athlete.

Carlos is an EXTREME Tri-athlete. He started doing triathlons about 15 or 16 years ago, beginning with sprints, went to Half Iron Man events, and is now competing in Iron Man events which are 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and marathon (over 26 miles). The competition must be completed in less than ten hours.

“I have qualified to go to the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii,” Carlos said. Carlos has Qualified three times, in 2006, 2009 and 2011. To qualify for the World Championships you have to place in the top five of your age group in one of the 25 qualifying races. Each qualifying race also has 1,800 entered. Needless to say, qualifying for the Championships is a challenge but also very rewarding.

Carlos said, “Hawaii has the best finish line. All the hours of training and the stress of getting there, makes the course very intense, but it’s very neat. The people cheering you on also know how hard you have worked. It’s a great feeling!”

You may be wondering what a tri-athletes week looks like during training. Twelve to 14 hours a week of training grows to 18 hours a week, six weeks from the event.

Carlos enjoys running. He said, “You begin to crave it. Once you run a mile you want to run another. It’s a snowball effect.” He has many goals, and would like to compete in the Leadville 100, a 10,000 feet elevation triathlon. Carlos said, “I am going to try to qualify for that this year.”

Carlos’ primary goal is his family. “Making sure my girls have a great home environment. My whole purpose for what I do is to provide for my family,” Carlos said. His professional goal is to eventually teach and coach.

ENMU was a great experience for both him and his wife. Eastern had the values that were important to them, and they also loved the student to teacher ratio. Carlos said, “I would like my girls to go somewhere like ENMU.” ENMU was good to the Mendoza’s. Carlos said, “Eastern was awesome! We still reflect on our time there.”