Jen Annett and Nathan Killam join PLUSH Global

by Christopher Bagg April 20, 2022

What Magic Was in the Air at Wildflower 2015?

Both Jen Annett and Nathan Killam, up-and-coming professional triathletes in 2015, had heard of Heather Jackson and Sean “Wattie” Watkins before racing the Wildflower Triathlon in the spring of that year, but neither of them knew that they would leave Lake San Antonio that weekend having made a connection that would help carry them through their careers. Annett finished 9th and Killam 8th, both great results, although they each hungered for more. That night they heard rumors of a big party up in the camping area above the expo site, and headed over to explore. They ended up at the Wattie Ink. after party, which had been loosely organized (but heavily encouraged) by Jackson and Watkins. “Heather gave me a tour of their RV,” Annett remembers. “And she was just so friendly and welcoming. That was really important to me at that stage of my career.” Killam knew of Jackson and Watkins through his training partner, the legendary Rach McBride, but hadn’t had a chance to actually hang out with the couple. “It was amazing!” the typically loquacious Killam tells me from his bike trainer between gasps (he is in the middle of a set of 10x2’ sub-threshold intervals during our interview). “They were both so…real! And encouraging! And friendly! And the kits were SO RAD. I really, really wanted to be a part of what they were doing.”

Journeyperson Pros

Both Annett and Killam hewed to the journeyperson model in 2015: driving to races to save money, carving out a few months of breathing room off of a little prize money, still working full-time jobs. As with many excellent professionals, they knew they had what it took, but they didn’t know if luck would swing their way at any particular event. Looking at their results, however, 2015 marks the hinge of their careers, as podia and victories began to pile up in the seasons to come, with Annett setting bike course records at many of the races she attended and Killam quietly including himself in the conversation with Cody Beals and Lionel Sanders as one of the Canadian greats. Annett’s breakthrough came in 2016, when she claimed the Canadian National Championship at Challenge Penticton, the course preview of the 2017 ITU Long Distance World Championships. Always known as an über-biker who often moved backwards on the run, Annett upended expectations when she ran down Liz Lyles, the American triathlete known for her running abilities.

“Oh gosh, I came out of the water so far back. I think I had the shittiest swim in the history of all races: pro, age grouper, anything. I wanted to just call it quits then. I will say I’ve had some pretty shitty swims, but this was in a league of its own.” Annett, who had moved from self-coaching to working with the great Canadian coach Johnny Caron that year, bided her time on the bike, slowly moving through the field and catching Lyles with about 20k to go. Caron had urged Annett to hold back on the bike and avoid her usual habit of torching the field (and herself). “20k isn’t much room to get ahead,” Annett recalls, wistfully. Melanie McQuaid dropped out with an injury and Annett took the lead, knowing Lyles wasn’t far behind. When Lyles passed her, Annett remembers thinking the race was over. “I was like, ‘Oh, well, OK. Go ahead.’” But then Lyles, after establishing a small gap, stopped making forward progress. Annett watched and waited for seven kilometers, thinking that either Lyles had made a surge and couldn’t continue, or that she herself had sped up, but “I was pretty sure I hadn’t sped up.” The race courses in Penticton, B.C. often feature a grueling out-and-back along Lakeshore Drive just before the finish, a treat for spectators but a horror-filled prospect for athletes both trying to catch and trying to stay away. Even on race day the beach throngs with vacationers, adding to the feeling that all eyes focus on you the athlete in your most painful moment. At that point 3rd was minutes back, and Annett said to herself “Ah, screw it. I could really use those extra two-thousand dollars.” She buried herself, fully expecting Lyles to easily come with her. “I scrambled through those final few corners, totally sounding like I was absolutely dying. I glanced back as I entered the finish chute and thought ‘Oh god, she’s not there. I’m going to win.’ I had never felt that extreme before, and it gave me the confidence to go there again in the future if I had to do so.” Go there she did, as Annett hit podium after Ironman podium over the next three years, culminating in a trip to Kona in 2019, the triathlete’s promised land.

Killam's Climb

2016 proved to be a pivotal year for Killam as well, as he recorded a 6th place at Wildflower, a 5th at Victoria 70.3 (among a who’s who of professional athletes), a podium at Challenge San Gil in Mexico, and then a 4th place at the Canadian Long Course Championships, where Annett won. His progress continued, and soon Killam stood on podium after podium, including a third place behind Cody Beals and Lionel Sanders at Ironman Mont-Tremblant in 2019. Killam’s rise to legitimate professional athlete would surprise many, since in 2004 he was couch-bound, eating potato chips and weighing in at 210 pounds, a significant figure for his short stature. “I was killing myself,” his website says, but the recent college graduate and soon-to-be firefighter started running and lifting weights. He and his friends had entered a Canadian 10k for years, often trudging to the finish line in about an hour to earn their beers. After losing forty pounds in less than a year, Killam decided to test himself, running a 40:26 for 10k in 2007. He was addicted, and fifteen years later, he’s talking to me from his bike trainer, wearing a Dodgeball-esque headband and telling me about the homemade sauna I can see in the background, which can reach temperatures of 130° Celsius. Yes, you read that correctly: Celsius.

“Do you think it’s safe to be in there?” I ask.
“Probably not,” Killam tells me. “But when I open the door it usually drops down to around 100.”
“Water boils at 100,” I say.
“Yeah,” he replies.
“Do you ever have…second thoughts?” I continue.
“Like, doubting my life choices?” he laughs. “Yeah, every time. The last five minutes are absolute hell.”

Coming Home to PLUSH Global

Both Annett and Killam joined Wattie Ink. and raced for that team successfully for years. When Watkins announced PLUSH Global, both athletes joined immediately. “They’re both such down-to-earth people,” Annett says of Jackson and Watkins. “What you see is what you get, and I’d like to think I’m the same way. I don’t have time for fluff and any of that garbage. I loved their kits, of course, but then after I worked with them for a few years I realized how invested they were in their athletes. What sponsor messages you after every single race and tells you ‘Hey, great job,” regardless of whether or not they were at the race? When the change happened to the new team, I knew this was a relationship I didn’t want to end.”

For Killam, continuing the relationship with PLUSH was also a no-brainer. “I’m not a quiet person,” he says between gasps. “If you can hear me across the parking lot, I want you to be able to see me, too. Wattie Ink. was exciting, with Heather and Wattie and Rach and everybody else. I’m a chocolate guy—I’m not a vanilla guy. And everywhere you went, you were on a team. It didn’t matter if you were first, last, or aggressively in the middle. Everyone was the same: rad and supportive and awesome. I always felt welcomed, even if I didn’t know the person welcoming me. Heather and Wattie created that culture, and I always want to be part of it.” Hearing that line, I thought to myself OK, that’s my quote to end the article, but then Nathan, being Nathan, one-upped himself. “With PLUSH, it’s like those guys are opening a fresh can of whoop-ass on the sport.” I don’t think there’s any better way to say it. Jen and Nathan, welcome to PLUSH Global. Welcome home.