(5-18-09) Submitted by Dave Campbell - Spring? Forget spring, summer, warm glorious sunshiny summer is here! At least it was Saturday, May 16 for 146 individual triathletes and eight relay teams who congregated at the sun-bathed Lebanon pool for this annual fun, safe, well-organized sprint triathlon in the mid-Willamette Valley.
The 500-yard pool swim was broken into seven heats with the luxury of only three swimmers per lane, minimizing the inevitable chaos and "washing machine effect"! Thankfully, for most of us preparing for the Olympic and Half Iron races that loom, 20 lengths go by quite quickly.
The warm, still air and brilliant sunshine made for fast transitions all around as many male competitors raced in tri-shorts only and socks no longer a necessity to prevent cold feet. I moved fairly quickly into the lead, but in a heated race as in truly all triathlon, the race is very much against yourself and not the others in the field. However, I feared the run of Canby's Dave Florence, so I tried to keep the pressure on, stay seated in the rolling terrain for aerodynamics and efficiency, and keep my speed high. I must admit I snuck some peaks of the gorgeous coast range from across the lush green farm lands after cresting the course's one significant climb. Shortly before the turn around on the out-and-back 12.5-mile bike course I came across the aforementioned Florence, from an earlier heat, dealing with his first ever flat tire, which he later reported he had glued on extremely well.
I took a comfortable lead in my heat into the two lap 5 km run that loops on grass and bark chips from the pool to neighborhood city streets. Psychologically I have always found this run difficult as the two laps passing by the finish after the first make it seem quite long relatively. As a masters athlete, my ability to run fluidly and efficiently off the bike in recent years has diminished, so I was hoping for a change of fortunes. For the first time in what seems like ages, I had a relatively smooth fast run (19:36 split) to take the overall victory by nearly two minutes in front of fellow "experienced" competitor Andy Libert of Eugene in 57:21. I was satisfied with the fact that I was 32 seconds faster than last year... a rare accomplishment for "experienced" (old) athletes such as myself. 35-year-old Christian Isakson of Portland was just 11 seconds adrift of Libert for third overall and victory in his age group.
13th overall and top female finisher was OSU Tri club stalwart Pamela Johnson (21) of Corvallis with a solid 1:07:44 and an impressive "old guys" performance by the ever-present Richard Earle of Salem (age 52) in 1:03:30 for 7th overall and the age group win. Kat Smith of Shady Grove (35) won her age group in 1:10:14 with Kristy Keeny of Eugene the top "40 something" woman in 1:11:41. Pat Ketcham, age 50, clocked 1:17:55 to win her age group. 10th overall and just 16 years of age was Powell Lindon of Corvallis in a very impressive 1:06:33. 24-year-old Devin VansCoy of Salem was the 4th rider to go under an hour and won his age class in 59:43.
In the Beginner friendly Mountain Bike division Ed Clarkson of Salem topped 20 competitors in 1:17:01 with Anne Flannery of Corvallis the top woman and 5th overall amongst mountain bikes in 1:29:06.
The coed team of Safely and Simons from Clackamas was in the thick of the action in the overall finishing order (9th place) and claimed the top relay spot by nearly four minutes in a time of 1:04:53. While no all-male teams competed, local Team Sell, Cole, and Stiffler were top women in 1:23:10.
I have found races like Lebanon to offer something for everyone whether newbie or veteran. This one funded the local swim team and offers a scenic bike course, excellent support and course marking and a fun friendly environment. The rookie gets a great experience with the afternoon still available for family and a distance that is manageable but still leaves a solid sense of accomplishment. Now that we have such great weather, the excuses are running out! See you at the races!
