(6-10-08) Submitted by Dave Campbell - June-uary! That was the buzz-word for the cold, wet, windy weather that greeted 3000 triathletes at the 20th annual ITU Short Course World Championships this past weekend in Vancouver, British Columbia. The majority of the field, nearly 1700 of us, proudly wearing our respective national colors, competed Saturday, June 7 in age group waves at the Olympic Distance (1.5k Swim, 40k Bike, 10k Run). The United States fielded its largest team in history with 400 athletes flying the flag and nearly four dozen representing Oregon and Washington.
The uncharacteristic weather that had battered the Juniors and Sprint Distance athletes earlier in the week also plagued the Age Groupers. Race day was cloudy, cool, and very windy causing white caps to grow on the already frigid 55 degree waters of English Bay. Due to barely race-able water temps in what is an inlet off the Northern Pacific Ocean, the swim was shortened to 1000 meters. The bike was four twisting laps of the perimeter of the gorgeous and heavily wooded Stanley Park. The principal challenge was a kilometer long, 6% grade lap midway through each lap, and a roughly surfaced descent where speeds in excess of 40mph could be reached. The run was two mostly flat 3.6 laps followed by a short 2.7 km straight shot into the flag-lined finish chute. A short trail section rose up a small hill after transition and there were three turnarounds each lap on the serpentine course that wove back on itself giving runners ample opportunity to assess their position relative to the leaders.
672 athletes, all of the women's age groups up through the 50-54s, braved those rough waters with, in some cases, near disastrous consequences as even the support kayaks blew over as the wind blasted straight into the athletes faces. Many emerged hypothermic, were blown off course or were unable to crest the waves and make it around the wind-tossed buoys. The number of rescue boats seemed insufficient for the number of athletes needing assistance and disaster loomed. With Women 55 and over and all the men still remaining and the wind increasing (1030 athletes), officials made the difficult but necessary decision to re-format the race into a duathlon and delay the start by an hour and a half.
The Canadian race crew was extremely efficient and the athletes accepting of the new format and all seemed to embrace the new challenge as remarkably, the sun came out and the day warmed noticeably. The new first leg was a "3k run" that in reality was somewhere around 2500 meters and sent very tightly packed competitors onto the bike course making pass (and not drafting) quite a challenge.
Marti Reimer-Reiss of Bellingham crossed as first in the women's 35-39 division but her near seven minute margin of victory and ultra-fast run seemed to indicate she did only two of the three run laps, a sadly common problem on the congested course that plagued many groups. The Women's 40-44 group saw Tracy Orcutt of Seattle just miss a medal finishing fourth in 2:12:06 and Anne Jensen of Kirkland just 41 seconds behind in seventh. Bellingham's Kelly Molaski won Silver in the 50-54, just 19 seconds behind teammate Kim Cole from Maine. Lauren Binder of Portland scored bronze in the 60-64 women's race, and 45 seconds back in an impressive 2:13:32 and Ellouise Morse of Anacortes, WA was 5th in the 65-69 group.
Many top regional performances on the Men's side were kicked off by Portland Phenom Eric Lagerstrom scoring bronze in the Mens 18-19 group in 1:46:51. In just his first year of triathlon, the youngster recently came onto the local radar with a scintillating win at the Duck Bill Chill a couple weeks ago and has a bright future. Perennial strongman Roger Thompson of Spokane was 9th in the uber-competitive 35-39 group in 1:42:35, just 4:34 back of the winner. Northwest legend Patrick Wallace of Lake Oswego was 5th in the 50-54 group in 1:49:22, just 3:56 back of American winner Tony Schiller. Richard Holloway of Bellingham scored Gold in 1:57:50 in the 60-64 Men's group and Blake Willeford was 7th in the 65-69 group. Ageless wonder Lew Hollander of Bend claimed yet another medal, this time a silver in the Mens 75-79 age group in 2:39:49. The 20-24 and 25-29 mens groups, which featured top Nationals performer Jesse Thomas of Eugene, suffered many course miscues with results still being sorted out.
I had a solid race (1:48:25) to finish 24th in the 40-44 group, right behind Drew Magill of Sammamish (1:48:03 in 22nd) and Joel Kinnunen of Vancouver, WA (1:48:18 for 23rd). The experience and the atmosphere was nothing short of incredible and if you ever get the opportunity to represent our nation in international competition, take it! The honor, the camaraderie, and the super intense competition with the very best from all over the world make for an extremely special experience. Speaking of opportunity, the USAT Age Group Nationals are scheduled for September 20 at Hagg Lake in Forest Grove, OR with spots available for 2009 Worlds, which will be held on Australia's Gold Coast. I will see you at the region's next big event...the Blue Lake Triathlon this Sunday!
