Mighty Moraine Man Adventure Triathlon

September 11th 2016

Portersville, PA

Finished 5th overall and first in my age division

Race Review.

The Mighty Moraine Man Triathlon is a multi sport festival held over two days at Moraine State Park in Potersville, PA. Events include Half Ironman, Olympic Triathlon, Sprint Triathlon, Duathlon and Aquabike. All triathlon distances can be completed as a standard triathlon or for the first year as an adventure triathlon. Longer events were held on Saturday and sprint events on Sunday. In total around 1000 athletes competed in the USAT sanctioned events.

I competed in the sprint adventure triathlon which was a 2 mile kayak, 14 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. The race conditions were slightly breezy, low humidity and temperatures in the low 60’s. The kayak leg was an out and back course on Lake Arthur. The bike course was on the hilly and winding roads inside the Moraine State Park. The bike course was very challenging with several long steep climbs. It was difficult to carry any speed on the downhill sections due to the sharp turns all over the course. The out and back run leg was fast, flat, and scenic as it wrapped around the shore of Lake Arthur on paved trails. Athletes were greeted at the finish line with beautiful custom medals, finisher t-shirts, and finisher towels. The swag bag at registration contained a tech shirt, water bottle, towel, running gloves, and samples from sponsors. Overall this was a very well organized race. I would certainly recommend any triathlete to put this race on their schedule for next season. They also offer a spring version of the race at the same location. Check out www.mightymoraineman.com for next year’s race dates.

Akron Marathon….. Time was 3hr 40 min. Ended up 137th/1134 OA and 17th/99 in age group.
Paul Lenz

Akron Half Marathon

Finish time 1:42:42
243 out of 3,472
190 out of 1,521 males
18 out of 196 males 45-49

Team (Got the Runs) placed in the top 7% in mixed teams and top 10% overall with a total time of 3:41:01. Also on our team was Ray Fryan of Team ER. He ran the second leg at a 6:28 pace! Gretchen

Ogden Utah -Xterra National Championships 9-17-2016

Morning was a cool 50 degrees’- but sun was out and weather map showed gradual warming. With the altitude, cold water- I opted to hang back at start- let stronger swimmers go, and not hyperventilate by starting to fast. With altitude- I was having issues getting a full breath as it was- so wanted to start slow and ease into swim-lake is at 4200 feet elevation.
I felt ok on swim- slow but steady- and avoided the kicking/punching with 350 swimmers going for a small buoy ½ a mile away (1-mile swim)

I got out of water and sprinted past several racers- then had a smoking fast transition. Hit the bike hard, was still in 50’s so with a wet thin tri suit on was shivering for first 2 miles down the road. I started passing people right away. We hit wheeler canyon and started the long climb to top of Snow Basin ski resort- just under 7000 feet

I passed people in groups, and pushed hard on the bike- the altitude felt like a bear squeezing my chest. After the canyon climb there were a few short flat sections, then the final climb to the peak- a never ending series of switchbacks. I continued to pass people, and as I neared the peak I passed another rider in my class-which I knew put me in second place. At this point my lungs were screaming, my legs were starting to cramp from 90 minutes of nonstop climbing and I knew I had 2 choices- back off the effort and take a safe second place- or continue on the pain train and try to catch 1st

I knew I was on the edge- and continuing at this pace might leave me walking on the run course. I kept pushing- and on the downhill got held up some by a few riders- but ended up finishing bike passing well over 100 riders. I made another fast transition- and headed out for the run. You leave the parking lot of snow basin- and go right up one of the ski slopes- its torture! My legs were really screaming now- begging me to slow and walk some -but I kept pushing, looking for the 60 on the back of every runner I passed, which designates 60 plus age group I was in. The final mile is all downhill, it’s a tight boulder covered trail where I took some big chances passing people. I pushed it all the way to the finish- never seeing 1st but never had a person pass me the whole day ( could just be because my swim was so bad!!)

Taking home, a National Championship would have been great but I had no regrets. I always give every race my all- but this race I pushed past my limits- and I had spent the last 18 months doing everything I could to have my best race- and it worked. Leaving with second place felt fine.

Ken

Ledges to The Lake Adventure Triathlon

Hinckley Ohio

7th overall and 2nd in 45-54 age division

Finish time: 1:19:00

Race Review

This was the 5th year that the Cleveland Metroparks hosted the Ledges To The Lake Adventure Triathlon At Hinckley Lake Park. The race consists of a 3.5 mile run, 2 mile kayak, and 9 mile bike. This year’s race conditions were not ideal. Heavy rains made this short but challenging course even harder. Temperatures were in the high 60’s at race start with mild winds. The run course is a combination of dirt trails and paved trails starting at the spillway and ending at the boathouse. The course is challenging and technical especially this year as the heavy rains made the rolling hills of the dirt trails very muddy and slippery. The kayak leg of the race is 1 1/2 laps around the lake. I was challenged this year as I had a rudder issue and found it very difficult to steer my boat and stay on a straight line with the winds and rain pushing off course. The bike course is 3 laps around the park on the paved roads. This bike course is hilly on the front side with several faster downhill sections on the back side. The rains finally stopped as most of the participants started the bike leg making it much safer and more enjoyable. Cleveland Metroparks did a nice job organizing the race. They still have a few quirks and bugs to workout. They only give first place overall awards and I would recommend awarding 1st – 3rd place overall winners and then age groups. They did extend age group awards this year to 3rd place and awarded participants that have raced in all 5 years of the event. The age groups are a bit funky as well and I would recommend the standard 10 years per age group. I competed in a 45-54 year age group which is a little bit out of the normal for these types of races. Other than the weather this was a great race that I look forward to competing in again next year.

REV 3 Cedar Point…1/2 Aquabike..10th overall….time 3:41:27

ASHLEY…..1ST AGE GROUP 24:14 CARLO….3RD AGE GROUP 24:08

Ran the Jim Klett 5K on 8-19-16
2nd place overall 20:10.
Great, Fun Race, started at 8:19pm. Finished in the dark.

Ran the Crooked River Otter 10k in Kent on August 6. I placed 3rd overall female. (see photo 2016 pics)