Justin Riele: The Pursuit of His Potential
After leaving a successful tech career to pursue professional triathlon full-time, Justin Riele is betting on himself - and discovering just how far his talent can take him.
@t100triathlon
We had the opportunity to watch Justin Riele race in person at both the San Francisco T100 and the Ironman 70.3 North American Championship in Happy Valley this season. His results were impressive – 16th against one of the deepest fields in the sport at T100 and 9th at the North American Championship – but they tell only part of the story.
The bigger story is what happened before those races.
In March, Riele made a decision that many aspiring professional athletes dream about but few are willing to make. The San Francisco-based triathlete left his full-time position as Senior Director of Marketing at Upstart to pursue professional triathlon full-time. Having already achieved remarkable success after entering the sport as an amateur, he reached a point where one question became impossible to ignore: what is his true potential if he commits fully to the pursuit?
Now, for the first time, he has the opportunity to find out.
We sat down with Riele for an in-depth conversation about the decision to leave corporate life behind, the challenges of chasing excellence in professional sport, and what he hopes to accomplish in this next chapter of his career.
Betting on Himself
To kick off our conversation, we asked Riele how he managed to achieve such a high level in professional triathlon while simultaneously holding a demanding role in the tech industry.
His answer was perhaps surprising, and one that stayed with us long after the interview.
“I wouldn’t say that I’ve been successful despite my corporate job,” Riele said. “Firstly, I’ve been passionate and given a lot to both pursuits. But I would actually say that it’s my success in both together that has led me to this opportunity now.”
He explained that his professional success has provided the financial stability and flexibility to take a risk that many aspiring professional athletes cannot comfortably take.
“I’ll be good for at least a couple of years,” he said. “I’ve gotten myself into this position because of my corporate job, allowing me to take this leap purely because it is something I want to do – to find out how far I can go, to pursue the thing I love most right now.”
“Of course I hope the results show, but it’s not solely about that for me, and I’m not dependent on it,” he continued. “If I truly give it everything, I’ll be proud… proud of having given myself this chance and gone all in.”
He also shared that, while the corporate success was essential in empowering him to take this leap, the athletic success was equally important. “Without the athletic success, contemplating going for it to truly become world class wouldn’t be a consideration,” he said. “So I’m grateful for each, and excited for what’s to come.”
Riele also shared that the timing of this decision was influenced by factors beyond triathlon. He and his wife Lauren are beginning to think about starting a family, and he acknowledged that balancing a demanding corporate career, professional triathlon, and eventually a growing family would likely be unsustainable. In that sense, the decision aligned with both his athletic ambitions and their evolving priorities.
What Will It Take to Become World-Class?
The obvious question, then, is what separates Justin Riele from the athletes currently standing on the biggest podiums in the sport.
Riele is already known for his swim-bike combination. Last season, he earned three Ironman 70.3 podium finishes and placed 14th at the San Francisco T100, a series renowned for attracting some of the strongest fields in professional triathlon.
But when asked where the greatest opportunity for improvement lies, his answer came quickly: the run. “If I can run sub-1:15 twice this year off the bike, I’ll be happy,” he said with a smile.
“Why twice?” we asked.
“Because if you can do something twice, I feel like it means you can really do it.”
The confidence was not misplaced. Riele pointed out that there have been races where his swim and bike performances put him in position to challenge some of the sport’s biggest names, only for the run to become the deciding factor.
Of course, progress is rarely linear. Just five days after leaving his corporate job, Riele’s current season took an unexpected turn when he crashed during the bike leg at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, requiring surgery and temporarily disrupting the momentum he had hoped to build.
As he put it: “It was five days after I left my job that I raced Oceanside and crashed. You can’t write this kind of bad timing in a storybook.”
Yet the setback has done little to shake his belief in the process. Rather than focusing on the results immediately following surgery or placing too much pressure on himself too early, Riele remains focused on the bigger picture: building the long-term consistency required to unlock another level of performance.
For now, the answer to Riele’s central question remains unknown. How far can he go when he commits fully to the pursuit? We’ll be checking back in with him for a more in-depth feature in our October print issue as this next chapter of his journey unfolds.