Hello sports fans this was a busy weekend. We had our club represented in the South with Ironman 70.3 Oceanside and in the North with March Triathlon Series at Lake Lopez.
Starting from the south, it was a record breaking day in Oceanside and a great day of racing at the 10th Annual Ironman 70.3 California. A cool, clear morning greeted just over 2,100 athletes as they entered Oceanside Harbor for the 1.2-mile swim, followed by a 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run. I took a lesson from Dave Groom and did a little delegating by enlisting a couple of reporters-at-large re club members Gary Maxwell, Sarah Mandes and Rosie Thompson at Lake Lopez.
Here is what they reported; Gary said the water was not as cold as UCSB and the bike had some challenging wind driven climbs but the run was mostly flat a few rollers and a couple of loops through the sand. Gary Maxwell's time was an amazing 5:22:21 with a big fat first in his age group 60-65 and a big fat ticket to Kona! I like to take this time to thank Gary, Dave Groom and Fred Kass for aging up this year in my group to completely remove all podium pressure. Anyway, Sarah Mandes said the swim was a comfy 58.6 degrees, the bike had some steep climbs but not long. She had a smoking 1:36 min run even forgetting her watch and depending solely on her inner child for pacing. She said the event was well organized and smooth going with the help of tons of volunteers and spectators. Sarah finished with a 5:45:18 32/112 W30-34. Sarah found Chris Latham in the finisher's tent completing in a fabulous 5:57:13 31/95 W35-39. Craig Spreadburywas the first SB Tri Club member to break tape at an amazing 4:48:10 23/258 30-34. My predecessor, Vic Birtalan, once again showed us all how to keep running fast races with a finish time of 6:02:41 just a skosh few seconds off first in his age group of 65-69! Some guy from Alberta, Canada nipped him at the finish line but I think the canucks may be on juice to stay thawed during winter.
The fourth annual March Triathlon Series is the primary fundraiser for the Cal Poly Triathlon Team. Proceeds from the event fund all ventures of the team. My on board anchor women, Rosie Thompson gave this commentary: "Several SB Tri Club members competed at the March Triathlon Series on 4 April at Lake Lopez. Both Olympic and sprint distances were held with the sprint = ½ the Olympic distance. The lake water was a balmy 58 F – much warmer than the air early in the morning. However, the weather was beautifully sunny, and the wildflowers were blooming. My wave of the sprint was the last one, so my feet got very cold standing barefoot for an hour. My toes did not completely thaw until the end of the run. However, I won my age group (60-64) in 1:47:01.5 and came in 101st out of 167 women. Emi Umizawa came in first in the 25-29 age group with a time of 1:32:39 for the sprint, Sue Beatty won the 45-49 age group in 3:05:12 for the Olympic, and Andrew Duncan came in 5th in the 45-49 age group in 3:46:27 for the Olympic." I want to thank Podium Rosie for making my reporting job easy going!
I found some other names on the registration roster that were from Santa Barbara; Nicole Couto, 1:44:31 sprint 8th F20-24, Sloane Noelle Pellegrin, 2:54:59 with a first in age W25-29 and Stephen Litchfield, 3:39:48. Looks like out club members kicked some righteous booty in SLO town.
All for now, my usual disclaimer is to please don't shoot the messenger. I do and will make mistakes and this time it's very likely. I did a margarita enduro this Saturday and would have podiumed if I didn't break three glasses.
Sandy