Triathlon - 61 finishers
5K - 70 fnishers
Kids Sprint Tri - 17 finishers
Delandite Mike Mott knew beforehand that he had his work cut out for him in the triathlon portion of the 2nd Annual YMCA Fitfest. No, it’s not what you’re thinking. There was nary a discernable temper tantrum among the 131 participants split almost evenly between the 5K and triathlon ( 300 yard pool swim, 12 mile bike and 5K run).
Mike’s target was 34 year old Kevin Grogan, of Mineola, Florida. Grogan is one of those athletes that you don’t want to look in the eye. He has that serious, determined look that leads you to think, “Okay, so he’s got first, maybe I can pull it all together and finish second.” And his lean, muscular frame backs that up 100%.
Grogan did the 300 yard swim in 4:44 (part of which was about a quarter mile jaunt to the bike corral), and followed up with a smooth 18 second transition. Mott was 20 seconds back in the swim and nine in transition. That 29 seconds may not sound like it would make much of a difference, but it did.
Transitions were a big part of this event, even more so than the times listed would indicate. Besides rerouting caused by an extensive construction project under way, after the swim, competitors had to walk across two pool decks, jog barefoot through a field house and a field that seemed to be sprouting rocks, enter and leave the bike corral, then walk their bikes (both coming and going) across about 100 yards of a well-worn playground before being allowed to mount their bikes or begin the 5K on the road course. So if times seem slow, this was a big part of it. A guestimate is that all this added two to three minutes to the total finish time.
“I went out hard in the bike,” explained Mott. “On the way back it was less windy than it’s been lately, probably because it was still early (the swim kicked off at 7:00 AM). I was thinking that maybe I could relax a little, but then I thought ‘No, you don’t know where you fall in that window.’”
Mott was referring to the fact that, because the pool could not accommodate all the swimmers simultaneously, they took turns entering the pool and thus their cumulative times would eventually have to be sorted out by computer to determine the winners.
“It was weird,” he added. “This is the first time that I’ve done this one. But it’s here (close to home), so there’s no reason not to do it. With the price of gas, it doesn’t make sense to drive half way across the state to another.”
Grogan won in 55:43, with Mott close behind in 58:08. Two places behind him was 30 year old Daytona Beach News-Journal photojournalist Chad Pilstar.
“I was trying to break an hour,” he said after his 1:01:20 finish, “but I knocked six minutes off of last year’s time. I thought I was going to beat Steve (Bodaruk, third in 1:01:11), I beat him last week at the St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg. My transitions cost me 30 seconds (40 after the swim and 47 after the bike): I dropped my bike and my goggles. He got out of the swim-to-bike transition first, but I caught him on my bike. Then we went back and forth.”
Pilstar is confident that he can do better. “It wasn’t my best. I’ve got to work on it.”
37 year old Shannon Beusse, an employee of Stetson University, was the best female triathlete there. Stringing together a 7:35 swim, 37:30 bike and 23:55 5K for a 1:10:01 finish time, she had a nearly two and a half minute margin over second place finisher (also 37) Deborah Brazill of Leesburg. Beusse, who also won last year in 1:14:17, improved almost across the board in this year’s race, her 6:43 swim in 2007 being the lone exception.
“Today, I just didn’t know. There were a few new faces, so I knew there would be some competition,“ she said after finishing. “I was in the beginning in the swim, maybe eighth back. The girl ahead of me on the run may have started the swim before me. I didn’t see her at all in the bike, although I passed four or five people.”
Unlike that of the men’s competition, their transitions were pretty even; Beusse totaled 64 seconds, Brazill 67.
“I’m normally first in the transition because I don’t wear bike shoes.” Those athletes whose bike shoes were attached to the pedals would find it an excruciatingly slow, barefoot trip to and from the bike garage.
Beusse liked the experience of being close to her home, which is in Ormond Beach.
“I just try to find friendly events; easy to get to and close to home. I used to travel for tris, but I don’t do so any longer. I do for cycling, however, like century events (100 mile races). I’ve done Tallahassee and Mt. Dora.”
Running close to home certainly fit Andrew Epifanio’s criteria. He had one of those ultra busy weekends that a (dual enrolled) college student can count on from his professors as the semester draws to a close. Beside a trumpet recording session after school both Thursday and Friday nights, he had two papers due on the next (Monday) morning and four finals in the coming week. Taking a respite from schoolwork, he was on the starting line at 7:30 AM Sunday morning to defend his title as last year’s (the first YMCA 5K) winner.
Several older runners took turns pressuring Andrew to keep up the pace, which he did, winning in 17:56. Chris Rabon (43, from Orange City) was second in 18:22. The female winner was 34 year old Pamela Hanson-Peterson, who, like Epifanio, was from Deland. In between were a number of bandits who protested the race’s high race day entry fee of $30 by running sans number.
Sisters Keira (30) and Erika (14) Galen ran the course together, and by the expression on their faces at the finish had a fabulous time doing so.
“Last year I did the tri,” commented Keira. “This year Erika wanted to run, so I dragged her here. Nice sister bonding.
“She had a really fun time. When she saw the numbers and the timing chips, she asked ‘Are they really going to tell us our time?’ I said ‘Yeah,’ and she said ‘Wow!’
“Next year she’s going to try the tri. She got a taste of it and got inspired. She looked at all the people cheering for us and saw that it was a big thing.”
Someone may have to warn Erika first, though. Besides being addictive, training for multi sport events can also become quite time consuming. And, as her schedule is already full with dance, both lyrical and ballet, there may be a decision to make between the two worlds.
To conclude the day, Allison Mott, Mike’s ten year old daughter, won the Kids Sprint Triathlon in 25:02. Her seven year old sister, Sara, was third (29:52). In between was nine year old Austin Herlin of Edgewater in 29:46.
Compete results can be accessed on line at AltaVista sports.com.
Top 5 Finishers
Male Triathletes Time Female Triathletes Time
1)Kevin Grogan 55:34 )Shannon Beusse 1:10:01
2)Mike Mott 58:08 2)Deborah Brazill 1:12:21
3)Steve Bodaruk 1:01:11 3)Kim Martin 1:14:40
4)Chad Pilsar 1:01:20 4)Jamie Thomas 1:22:43
5)Greg Falk 1:07:40 5)Susan Morgan 1:23:39
Male Runners Time Female Runners Time
1)Andrew Epifanio 17:56 6)Pamela Hanson-Peterson 21:05
2)Chris Rabon 18:22 12)Sharon Marsh 22:49
3)Zach Rooney 20:02 13)Jeanine Dormire 23:21
4)Steve Koski 20:18 21)Tracy Holman 25:37
5)Joshua Bonet 20:22 24)Suzie Babcock 26:42