(6-17-09) Submitted by Dave Campbell - The traditional Northwest season opener... 500 athletes competing Sunday (with over 800 on Saturday in the sprint events) experienced a warm lake, cool conditions, and the super hot riding of Roger Thompson of Spokane. Holy ultra bike throw down, Batman!!! Thompson recorded what, in my eleven consecutive Blue Lake participations, is the fastest bike split I have ever seen here... 54 minutes flat for 40km! His 27.11 mph average was at least one mile per hour faster than anyone else in the field. To put that in perspective I won two State Masters TT titles in recent years on similar courses (no swim, no wet shorts, no need to eat, drink, and prepare for a run) in MUCH slower times. Wow! Needless to say the race was for second place!
18-year-old Connor McCarroll (Portland) and 42-year-old Mac Skimmin (Seattle) led out of the 70 degree water in a blistering 18:04 with the first of the overall contenders Matt Berg of Milwaukee (in his first road triathlon appearance of the year) in 8th (19:49) and Thompson only 20 seconds and two places behind. 16-year-old Taylor Lakey of Beaverton was the first woman in 19:39 right in front of the 36-year-old Berg.
Thompson, who reported feeling really great on the bike, quickly assumed the lead on the relatively wind free and flat course on Marine Drive along the Columbia River. Meanwhile, one of the quickest swimmers reportedly knocked over some bikes and scattered some gear in his scramble along the elite rack in transition... causing a bit of chaos for some of the later competitors. The first affected was 39-year-old Warren Bloomberg of Salem (11th out of the water) who didn't find his helmet on his bars but did find it (or so he thought) laying on the ground nearby. He could not, however, find his glasses or gel. When I arrived to my bike, there was no helmet like I had left on my bars either... and none anywhere around and so I thought my race was over! Luckily, 50-year-old Dave Skinkle of Bend, noting my distress, found "my" helmet 30 feet from my bike along the fence, and it mysteriously contained some glasses and a gel! Luckily Warren and I have similar sized heads and it all worked out in the end, but it was a bizarre bit of chaos the likes of which I had never experienced in a race.
While Thompson disappeared down the road, Berg rode the third best bike on the day (57:27) to move solidly into second while 21-year-old Cameron Dorn of Waterloo, SC, a convincing winner of Saturday's Sprint, race stayed closest to Thompson (55:57) to move into third. After coming out of the water in 25:09, 49-year-old Lisa Magness of Bend charged, much like Thompson, to the best bike split of 59:01, an incredible 12th best overall and nearly four minutes better than her nearest rival, to take over the lead in the women's race.
The fastest run of the day belonged to Portland's 36-year-old Chris Ramsey who charged up from 7th up to 4th in 36:12. Thompson, nonetheless was untouchable, pulling away still with the fifth fastest run (37:12) to break the tape in a jaw-dropping 1:53:54. The large crowd at the finish line had to wait over four minutes for the consistently strong Matt Berg to cross second in 1:58:22 with both in the 35-39 group. Dorn finished his impressive weekend double third in 2:00:41, winning the 20-24 age group and 5th overall David Gettle (Weiser, ID) tops in 25-29 in 2:03:55. I was the top Master and 40-44, 2:05:15 and 10th overall after struggling mightily on the run. Indicative of the very competitive nature of the event, only 50 seconds separated the last five places in the top ten overall!
The fastest women's runner was 30-year-old local Kaytee Petross, whose 41:14 brought her up from 8th off the bike to 4th overall and a win in her age group. It was the second best run, however (41:47) by 28-year-old Lara Brown of Portland that made the biggest difference, catching long-time leader Magness in the final stretch of the run for a narrow 17 second victory in 2:11:18. Magness' amazing performance netted her the Masters victory as well. Only eight seconds back was Karen Oppenheimer who triumphed in the 40-44 group with the top five rounded out by the ageless Bridget Dawson (51!) in 2:16:51. Chantel Efraimson won the 35-39 age group in 2:17:05, sixth overall.
Blue Lake seems to be the one race where all the top Washington, Oregon, and Idaho athletes meet head to head for an important test of their fitness (and that of their rivals!) before heading in different directions (and distances) for the summer months. For some that means Lake Stevens or Ironman Couer d'Alene but for me that will mean my favorite race in the whole tri world... Pacific Crest! Hope to see you there! Rest up, get fast, and get ready because summer race season is upon us.
