Solo Act

Named after his great-grandfather and father, Trixie Smith is always on the lookout for an adventure as unique as his name.

“I was 16 when I watched my first Iron Man triathlon event on TV,” says Smith, 43, who grew up in a small town south of Tallahassee. “I was amazed by the athletes who pushed themselves to the extreme, running, biking and swimming. I thought those are the kinds of people I want to be around; people who push themselves and don’t give up.”

Smith’s triathlon dream was deferred when he joined the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) right out of high school, but he began to develop the athletic skills to apply to that goal.

“We did a lot of swimming and running to stay fit,” notes Smith. “I’m not a particularly fast runner, but I can cover long distances. I’m most comfortable in the water, so swimming always felt very natural to me.”

When Smith was sent to the USCG Training Center in Petaluma, California, he acquired another key athletic skill. 

“Petaluma is in Sonoma County and it borders Marin County, which is considered the birthplace of mountain biking,” says Smith. “I connected with some mountain bikers and that’s when I started mountain biking. So now I was running, swimming and mountain biking.”

After his USCG service ended, Smith joined the U.S. Army and served a year in Iraq. Following his discharge, he returned to the Tallahassee area and became involved with forest fire management.

“Now that I was more settled, I began pursuing that triathlon dream again,” shares Smith, who is a U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter and the helicopter manager for the Apalachicola National Forest. “I competed in my first triathlon in 2007 and I just loved it. It was difficult and a great challenge, but I loved it.”

Just to put things in perspective, Ironman Triathlon participants must swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. After that 2007 triathlon, Smith competed in the 2009 Great Floridian Triathlon in Clermont. That was followed by the 2010 Keys 100 Ultramarathon, where he finished the 100-mile run in 28 hours, 27 minutes and 53 seconds.

“As I said before, I’m not a fast runner, but I am a steady runner and can go long distances,” says Smith. “I was 31 then and actually won my men’s age group of 30-34, which was kind of a surprise to me.”  

Every year, Smith signs up for a triathlon, ultramarathon or adventure forest race to continually challenge himself. He points out that he “trains most days, running or mountain biking, and I have a whole forest to do that in.” On rainy days, he can jump on his office treadmill, which is set up like a stand-up desk.

Smith was content with his athletic endeavors and wasn’t looking to add to his skills but ended up becoming an equestrian too. Married with three daughters, it was Smith’s oldest daughter Brigette who helped make that happen.

“Brigette decided she wanted a horse and a friend ended up giving her one,” shares Smith, who, with wife, Misty, owns a 7-acre farm. “Then Misty got a horse and so I decided I might as well get a horse, too so we could all ride together. That first horse was not a good experience at all. I got kicked in the face and decided to get rid of that horse.”

As luck would have it, Smith’s mother had also gotten into horses and had just weaned a black and white paint filly from her dam.

“My mother and I traded horses. And I decided if I was going to have a horse, then I was going to train it to be the kind of horse that I wanted. I worked with that filly every day and we definitely bonded,” says Smith. “Her name is Annie; she’s 10 years old now and we are a good team. She’s a great trail horse and I’ll ride her on forest fire breaks to check on prescribed burns.”

One day while Misty was doing some research for a new adventure for her husband, she came across the 2022 Cross Florida Greenway’s Ride Run Roll Relay. A team consisting of a runner, horseback rider and mountain biker go out one at a time on designated trails, tagging their teammate when they return.

“When Misty told me about the RRR Relay, I was interested right away,” recalls Smith. 

“And then I had the idea that it would be more of a challenge if I did all three legs. I checked with Bre Ximenes, the Greenway Trails and Volunteer Coordinator, to see if that was possible. She said as long as I had someone to handle my horse while I was out running and biking, that was fine.”

And so, Smith did indeed compete under the one-person team name of, appropriately enough, Firewalker. 

“Overall, it was a great experience. I enjoyed it and Annie did great,” recalls Smith, who finished the 5-mile horseback ride, the 8-mile mountain bike leg and 3.1 run in a total of 2 hours and 32 minutes. “And I learned some things that I can tweak for this year’s event. I rode Annie with a western saddle in running shorts; don’t think I’ll do that again. I also got turned around a bit on the mountain biking leg, so the plan is to come a day early and check out all the trails.”

Smith’s 16-year-old daughter Skyler also competed as an equestrian on a team last year and plans to do the same this year. Misty will be there to support both her husband and daughter as needed.

“I’m not a very competitive person against other people,” says Smith. “I prefer to take on these athletic events to challenge myself. And the RRR Relay is a great way to do that and have some fun, too.” OS