Tri-umphs Culture - We are the Champions

Tri-umphs

By Jim Starr

As any athletic enthusiast knows, those drawn to a sport help to define a "culture" for that sport. Triathlon is no different. Like any good culture, triathlon has its own "origin myth." Thus, triathlon celebrated its silver (25^th) anniversary on September 25, 1999. The first "official" triathlon was run on that date in 1974. Put together by Don Shanahan and Jack Johnstone of the San Diego Track Club, the event combined a five-mile run, a five-mile bike and a 600-yard swim. (Today the run and swim segments would qualify this as a mini triathlon. The bike distance is too short to be used in anything but a tri for novices nowadays.) One of the participants at that "first" triathlon was John Collins, a naval officer, who relocated to Hawaii and began (several years later) the most famous of all triathlons that ignited the multisport movement around the world—the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon.

We might call this issue's column the "We are the champions" edition. It is appropriate to do so at the end of the season. The legendary stature, media attention (live coverage of the event has been available on the Internet for some years), and fierce competition for entry into the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon make it a de facto world championship. As the picture that accompanies this column shows, several locals also made some version of a multisport Team USA. They represent some of the best local talent. They are good enough to be considered among the best in the country and thus were selected to represent the USA in world competition. They represented us (US) well . . .

The Hawaii Ironman Triathlon

Although the professional athletes from the US did not fare particularly well at this year's event on October 23, the amateurs did. Still, among the pros, two area triathletes (i.e., from the mid-Atlantic region) ran good races. Perennial Ironman Ken Glah (35) is a strong biker from the outskirts of Philadelphia. The renowned "Beast from the East" took 16^th place in 8:46:13. He was the second US finisher among the pros. Baltimore's Joanna Zeiger (29) took sixth place among the women and was 110^th overall with her 9:36:39 finish.

The Ironman in Kona, HI begins with a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike and a marathon (26.2 mile) run. Luc van Lierde of Belgium used a powerful 2:44 marathon to win the race in 8:17:17, almost 14 minutes behind his course record 8:04:08 set in 1996. The fastest pro woman was Canada's Lori Bowden who combined a strong bike and a course record 2:59:13 marathon to overcome a weak swim and best last year's winner Karen Smyers with a time of 9:13:02. Smyers finished in 9:20:40. Bowden dominated Smyers about as handily as van Lierde dominated her husband, Peter Reid, who also won last year only to finish second in 8:23:29 in the cool overcast of this year's Kona race. The race featured a new swim record (48:43) by Stanford student Jodi Jackson.

Among the amateurs, several athletes had benchmark efforts. Potomac's Desiree Ficker (22), featured in an earlier column, not only qualified for Kona but finished seventh in her age group with an 11:15:36 showing. She was 94^th among the women—pretty hot for a newbie! Phillipe Kozub (24) of Bethesda blazed the course 9:47:24 good for 186^th overall and 13^th in his difficult age group. Tom Shinners, the bike courier from Alexandria, was in Hawaii for his sixth Ironman and finished in 10:38:02, 572^nd overall and 17^th in his age group. Hollie Kenney Hollis (29) of Baltimore crossed the line only three minutes (10:41:07) behind Shinners and earned 5^th place in her tough age group, 53^rd among the women and 596^th overall. Richard Brokaw of Bel Air celebrated his last year in a sub-masters age group with a 10:56:42 clocking good for 710^th of the 1422 finishers . . . . And, oh, yes the wondrous Lyn Brooks was there. The 51- year-old from Baltimore who had finished as high as fifth in her stellar triathlon career added a 20^th finish to her record number of Ironman completions. Brooks, featured in this year's Ironman telecast on NBC, is unsure about how long she will continue to do the Hawaii Ironman.

Steve Smith (32), featured here earlier and an invaluable contributor to this column, earned 12^th place for his efforts at the World Endurance Duathlon in Langley, BC (near Vancouver). Smith and his fellow racers battled wind, rain, and the course that combined a marathon (13.1 miles before and 13.1 miles after) and a 112-mile bike. He finished in 9:55:08.

Most of the other locals competed in the Duathlon World Championships held in Hunterville, NC on October 16. Rockville's Marjan Huizing (30) deserves special accolades for her outright win on the 10K (6.21 miles) run, 40K (24.85 miles) bike, 5K (3.11 miles) run course. Her 2:05:54 time included a 10K PR (36:56) on the first run that put her in second place overall. In the lead group of four women after the bike, the Dutch NIH researcher running for the US pulled away to gain a lead of about half-a-minute after the first mile. She maintained that lead until the end.

Amanda Gillam's race wasn't too shabby either! The 26-year-old Baltimorean took first place in her age group with a 2:06:57 clocking, earning fourth place honors among the women. Reston's Kim McLaughlin took third place among 30-34 year-olds behind Huizing to complete a sweep of the first three places in that age group by Americans. Rebecca Strode (44) of Springfield finished 11^th in her age group in a time of 2:26:05. Among 45-49 year-olds, Arlington's Anne Viviani and Columbia's Judi Carbary finished 12^th and 14^th respectively with times of 2:30:10 and 2:31:44.

Among the men, Craig Lowry (32) of Harrisonburg, VA placed third in his age group in 1:43:31 while Silver Spring's Trey Cassidy finished 16^th in 1:48:14. Marty Stiegmann (38) a perennial top finisher in local duathlons took 16^th among his age-mates. The Glen Allen, VA resident was timed at 1:48:46. Danville, VA's Joe Carr (55) dominated his age group with a 2:13:05 time. Brad Leonard 's 2:48:06 was good for earning the Alexandrian 11^th place among the 65-69 year-olds. USA Triathlon's mid-Atlantic region fared well among the amateurs. The region placed about a dozen men and a dozen women among the top 15-20 in their age groups.

Two multisport friends have left the area. Although they've been great competitors, they are all the more remarkable for their dedication to triathlon and duathlon. In September, Sue Falsey retired. Her husband, Brad Leonard, was cited in the previous paragraph for his efforts at the duathlon worlds. They recently moved to their place in Colorado where they used to go just to ski. Both worked tirelessly as chairs or co-chairs of USA Triathlon's Age Group Commission. Brad served both with me and before me as a member of the USA Triathlon Board for the Mid-Atlantic region. They showed their commitment in countless other ways. Surgery and our own changing residences this summer kept me on the periphery of things this past season and we lost contact. As I write this on the day before Thanksgiving, it is appropriate that I say: From both Bean and me and for the USAT members in the region, I offer Brad and Sue this heartfelt thank you and salute. Our loss is Colorado's gain.