The race has two transition areas. Starting at Gunlock reservoir and finishing at Snow Canyon High. I ran the bikes up to Gunlock just at sunset and put the bikes at t1. Luke and I did some fishing before sundown and then we headed back to town.
The morning came early and we had to be on the shuttle bus at 5:30am. I only slept maybe two hours and at 4 am I ate my traditional pre race meal of tapioca pudding, apple sauce and a bottle of Ensure! I left the Eggo waffle out this time since it was a sprint race I didn't need many calories. I did consume 1 bottle of Carbo Rocket on the bus ride up and just before the start of the swim. The whole process with the shuttle went really smooth and I did not mind it at all. It is actually nice to have your bike already set and not have to haul it around with you in the morning.
7 am was drawing close and it was very fun to have many friends at the race to talk to in preparing to make our way to the water. The tri club is growing and it is fun to see the sport grow.
The water was perfect in the high 60's as we started the 750 meter triangular swim. The start was more physical than any previous triathlon or Ironman I had ever been in. I was around flailing swimmers and I think I may have been in a bad starting spot. I got hammered in the goggles a few times for the first 50 meters and then the crowd opened up. Rounding th last bouy I could only see a few caps ahead of me. I ran right into some floating dead wood and was startled for a second wondering what the heck I hit but realized it was just wood. It startles you when you cant see two feet in front of you and you see something you are not expecting.. I came out of the water in 10th and had a pretty fast transition other than a slight struggle getting my left ankle out of the wet-suit. Ryan D was right with me and also had his bike set up right by mine. I got out ahead of him on the bike and knew he would shortly be catching me on the bike because he is one of the strongest cyclist I know. I thought to myself, wow holy cow I am in 5th or 6th coming out of t1!! The ride into Snow Canyon High was fast with most of it flat or downhill with only a few quick uphill bursts. It was lonely out there only seeing about 3 others on the bike. It was nice with no traffic and coming in off the bike in top 10 right behind Ben F. T2 was fast at 38 seconds and a quick grab of Abby's Unicorn and we were off. I told Abby I would race for her with her Unicorn!! A minute or so in I was passing Ben and we started to hit the uphills into the lava fields. I knew the I had to keep this pace or I would be caught. I saw Meri coming in off the bike and knew she was up in the lead somewhere against the other women. I made the turn-around and had made a gap on Ben but Craig and Heath were closing not too far behind. Heath is my shadow when it comes to racing. We had the almost exact same bike split by 1 second and in past races like the St George tri a month earlier we were steps from each other and he beat me out by seconds heading into the finish. I had a lead on him this go but knew he had the ability to catch me so I just kept pushing hard. I finished 6th over-all behind Craig and the gold medal was mine for the age group. Heath finished 7th right behind me for silver. It was pretty cool to see 5 of the top ten finishers were buddies I have been training with the past year. I stayed at the finish to see Meri finish 2nd over-all for the women and getting the silver medal and 2nd place plaque.
This was a fun race, with a good turn-out of near 170 participants. I hope they can continue and make it a yearly event for the Summer Games. Jeff and Colby put on a good race!! A huge thanks to those that helped Abby.
Now its time to check the calender and see what's next!!
| 1 | 135 | Steve OLSEN | ST. GEORGE UT | Utah Male Overall | 0 | 01:07:20.7 | 00:00:00.000 | 00:14:30.486 | 00:01:10.383 | 00:32:05.408 | 00:00:39.913 | 00:18:54.564 | ||||
| 2 | 173 | Todd MITCHELL | LAS VEGAS NV | Utah Male Overall | 0 | 01:10:47.5 | 00:03:26.800 | 00:13:32.311 | 00:01:22.750 | 00:34:23.631 | 00:00:42.986 | 00:20:45.898 | ||||
| 3 | 190 | Kalani SCOTT | ST GEORGE UT | Utah Male Overall | 0 | 01:10:56.0 | 00:03:35.300 | 00:11:40.828 | 00:01:37.469 | 00:34:27.121 | 00:00:39.636 | 00:22:31.005 | ||||
| 4 | 202 | Ryan DUCKWORTH | ST GEORGE UT | Utah Clydesdale | 0 | 01:11:41.0 | 00:04:20.300 | 00:13:32.988 | 00:01:42.247 | 00:32:32.124 | 00:00:59.625 | 00:22:54.066 | ||||
| 5 | 107 | Craig COATS | ST. GEORGE UT | Utah M 25-29 | 0 | 01:12:08.6 | 00:04:47.900 | 00:13:37.937 | 00:01:56.627 | 00:35:14.236 | 00:00:47.171 | 00:20:32.631 | ||||
| 6 | 138 | Rich BRUIN | ST GEORGE UT | Utah M 35-39 | 0 | 01:12:21.0 | 00:05:00.300 | 00:13:29.209 | 00:01:40.164 | 00:34:42.809 | 00:00:38.664 | 00:21:50.230 | ||||
| 7 | 139 | Heath BURCHINAL | SAINT GEORGE UT | Utah M 35-39 | 0 | 01:12:26.7 | 00:05:06.000 | 00:13:56.598 | 00:02:10.835 | 00:34:43.293 | 00:00:49.257 | 00:20:46.814 | ||||
| 8 | 155 | Kim FORD | ST GEORGE UT | Utah M 40-44 | 0 | 01:13:14.6 | 00:05:53.900 | 00:11:57.743 | 00:01:33.639 | 00:35:41.807 | 00:01:13.596 | 00:22:47.858 |
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