spin / second sole multisport team

Krol and Jim are ready for whatever.

The Greater Cleveland Triathlon took place on Sunday, but without a key element of most triathlons– the swim! Nevertheless, SSSMST was there in force, nabbing top spots at every event!  SSSMST had eleven athletes there, and took a podium spot in every event we entered.

Read on for the full account!

On Saturday, just a day before the race, waves in the lake were large and steep.  The forecast was for the winds to calm down overnight, though, and so I’m sure everyone was disappointed when we were greeted by very stiff north winds and angry waves on Sunday morning.  With the swim canceled, we all started preparing for the change in plan.  Rob Reddy decided not to race and save his legs for Ironman Wisconsin in a few weeks.  Jim Lamastra decided to start, but to take it easy on the run to save his legs for a tough upcoming schedule.  Andy Cornwell decided to skip the day altogether and head to a family reunion, but most of the team shrugged off the change and got ready for their new event.

The "Aqua"bikers ready to roll

The Aquabike, usually a swim-bike combo, became a 56-mile individual time trial.  Tim Walsh and Paul Lentini demonstrated how fast they’ve gotten this year, with Paul coming in 2nd overall.  Tim’s results haven’t shown up on the GCT webpage yet, but he felt strong, although he mentioned that “I could not keep up with Lentini, who was just killing the course! Probably finished a good 4 or 5 minutes behind him.”

In the Half-Ironman distance, Brian Stern, Jim Lamastra, Joe Bush and Marty Mason all lined up for a short run before heading out on the bike.  Shaking off the disappointment of the swim, Jim brought laughs from the crowd by showing up in his cap and goggles before he, Brian, and Marty headed out in the Elite Open wave.  Jim had built a several minute lead in the bike before missing a turn and traveling several miles off-course.  Just behind Jim’s wandering ride, Brian Stern was having a good day.  He held close on the bike, and then laid down a 1:21 half marathon to finish 3rd overall in a suprisingly competitive elite group.  Marty “Cue Ball” Mason came in close behind Brian to finish 9th overall and 2nd in his age group.  Marty commented that although he doesn’t consider himself a swimmer, he was hoping for the swim: “A mile in open water just does something to runners.”

Marty's not sure about this...

John Wilse took a break from his XTerra campaign to race the sprint event, where he finished 2nd overall! He was killing himself on the final run to catch the 17-year old winner of the race, and stay in front of the 17-year old just behind him.  Booth-staffer extrodinaire Nacho Davila commented afterwords that the combined ages of those two don’t add to John’s…  an impressive race!

Aaron Rood and Brandy Smith combined their duathlon skills to win the relay division.

Kevin Krol, Annie Callahan, and Mike Schaefer also raced.

Afterwords, the team enjoyed massage from Marcella and her team from Ginger Care Massotherapy, who trekked out to Mentor from Lakewood to take care of us and many other athletes.  Ginger Care is the team’s only choice for sports massage.  Check them out, and tell them the Spin/Second Sole team sent you!

Also, the entire Spin/Second Sole team congratulates Kirk Roessler from Five Seasons on completing his first long distance race. I’m sure it was terribly disappointing to not swim, but he did an excellent race, finishing 5th in his age group. He shrugged it off, and was looking forward to finding another race to try later this year. Congrats, Kirk!

Filed under: 2008 |