spin / second sole multisport team

For the second year in a row, the swim was cancelled for the Greater Cleveland Triathlon.  As Yoda says, “No. Tri not. Du… or du not. There is no tri.”

(Sorry, I had to)

And so everyone lined up for the duathlon together.  We had some amazing finishes– Bruce Mac won the sprint, and Marty Mason was on the podium for the Olympic race.  John Willse, Andy Cornwell, Mike Schaefer, and Joe Bush all had first-place age group finishes.

Unfortunately, the end of the race left a bad taste in our mouths, as one of our teammates crashed pretty hard during the bike race.  She’s doing well, on her way to recovery.  Many strong healing vibes to Jenn!

Despite the shock of hearing of a downed-teammate, SSSMST had a great day and are again happy to be part of this great event.

Says Marty Mason:

I hate when the swim is cancelled. When the Coast Guard says no; they mean NO! The rain and lightning almost made me stay in bed. I’m glad I raced. There were some negatives to the day. First, my aero pad blew off on the drive out. I improvised. Second, no TP in the stall after a long wait. I improvised again. Third, big crash with a teammate involved. My heart is with those that crashed. Heal quickly. The first two issues are trivial.

Says Smiley Tim Walsh:

What a fun time…so many familiar faces…SSSMST teammates and CTC clubmates…many racing, some volunteering, and LOTS cheering…first duathlon for me…started missing the swim when I tried a running mount onto my bike out of t1 but realized the legs where heavier than usual, it was pretty embarrassing… wishing all well as there were bigger hiccups than bad mounts…loving the presence at ‘priority event’ races!

Says Joe Bush:

No swim for the second year in a row, but 2 mile run at the end was nice. Wet on the bike and very dangerous. Saw more crashes during this Tri than all other races combined in my career! SSSMST represented well again.

And Mike Schaefer, who won his age group on SUNDAY after taking 3rd overall at Findley Lake on SATURDAY!

Mike has a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall at Findley!

Decided to return to Findley to defend my OA will from last year, even though GCT is tomorrow. I consider it my hometown race, and it’s where I really lost my tri-virginity.  The swim was even shorter than usual ~6minutes! But bike was lengthened to 16mi and went on smoother roads this year (nice!). The 5k Trail run was challenging, narrow and hazard-filled as usual. I was 5th of of the water, and took the lead on the bike by mile 2. Traded leads with the eventual overall winner (guy from Eddy’s with the Southern accent, sorry forgot is his name already), and he took at 30sec lead as I rested and stretched a bit coming into transition2. Lost sight of him on the run by mile 1 (easy to do in the woods!), but thought I was cruising to 2nd OA until I saw Jason Zangmeister (young guy from OSU) closing on me with 1/4 mile to go (oh S#$T!). Still thought I could hold him off with my ex-decathlete sprint, but he blew by me just before the line (he probably closed ~20sec in just the last 300m!). I did manage to strain a hamstring and cramp up in both quads, though, which is always fun! Guess I’m not getting any younger. The only good thing, is now I have a complete set of Overall Trophies from the last 3 Findley tri’s: 2nd, 1st and 3rd! Its a great race – wish it wouldn’t conflict with GCT so you all could do it!

I had a great time volunteering at the railroad tracks with Aussie Rob Thompson, Aaron Rood and our friend Mark Murphy.  Only one train passed, and it was gone before we even caught wind of an athlete approaching our mile marker.  Paul and Tammy Lentini actually had some work to do at their railroad crossing, as three trains came during the course of the race!!  I think Paul worked just as hard to keep the athletes in order during this race as he does when he is racing himself.

Great job to SSSMST on spectacular finsihes at the race, and for those who helped the event run more smoothly.

Get well soon, JD!

Filed under: 2009 |