Sunday June 19, 2016 – Louisville, KY “Tri Louisville Sprint”

Tri Louiville took place in downtown Louisville, KY on Fathers day. The event was done extremely well. Not only was the course extremely flat and fast it was also very scenic. The swim took place in the Ohio river and for the sprint was a “reverse” direction through a channel that they start Ironman Louisville in every year. Upon exiting the water, you took a short run and entered a fully closed bike leg that was 4 lanes wide (2 out and 2 back). This course was extremely flat and allowed you to really push in the bike. The course traveled through the downtown core past the river front, museum row (with a special pass along the front of the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory) and then back into transition. For the sprint 2 laps were completed and then on to the run. The run was scenic following along the river front; however, at times the course was a bit difficult to follow so you had to rely pretty heavily on course workers that were very friendly and helpful. Also, as an added bonus there were 3 spots where you had to ascend and descend stairs so this really helped to get the legs nice and warmed up. The post race was really nice – there were beverages and snacks aplenty and they also had free snow cones and face painting for kids (it was fathers day) plus a specialty coffee and breakfast food truck that spectators could purchase from – I helped myself to a coffee post race and must say it was excellent!

I had a lot of fun, especially with my wife and boys on course and finished 32nd of 175 overall and 6th of 15 in my age group (35-39). I would reccomend this race to anyone looking for a new venue and will likely return to race the Sprint or Olympic in the future.

Sunday June 26, 2016 – Champ Racing “Munroe Falls Tri”

This was my 3rd race weekend in a row (after GWRT and Tri Louisville) and although I improved my finish time slightly from last year I was struggling to find any reserves in the tank to really hammer down. My age group had some impressive finish times this year which was great to see but that resulted in me struggling to finish in the top 3 (my original goal for this race after a 4th place finish by 4 seconds last year).

Came in 6th of 15 in my age group (35-39)…. Hey – this is the same as the race last weekend? What are the chance of that!!!

2016 Great Island Adventure Triathlon

Lock Haven, PA

3.1 mile kayak, 14 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run

Placed 13th overall and 5th in my age group. Finish time 1:50:29

Race Review.

This was my third year competing in this race and my best result. I knocked 9 minutes off of my previous best time. Every leg of the race including my transition times were all faster than previous years. The race starts with an out and back kayak on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Kayaks head up river first and loop around the island before returning to the bike transition area. The bike course was changed this year to a new 7 mile loop. The first 3 miles include some grade 4 and 5 hill climbs. The rest of the course is mostly flat and downhill with a few rollers. Bikers are required to complete 2 laps of the course before returning to transition for the run. The run course is scenic and mostly flat. Runners make there way across the bridge over the river and then follow the paved trail on the top side of the damn. Runners enjoy great views of the river below as they make there way to the turn around point. This year around 100 total participants competed in the adventure triathlon. The race did offer a standard swimming division with another 30 participants and a kids mini adventure triathlon that was held the night before the main race. Numbers were a little low but competition was not as PA has some of the best kayakers and adventure triathletes in the country. I counted no less then 5 2015 USCA National Kayak Champions in the race field. This race is always well organized and very well supported by the community and sponsors.

Monroe Falls Sprint Tri 6-26-2016
Team ER Cleans Up!

The weather was perfect- 65 degrees at race start- water temp was 70+ degree’s, and with a short 400-meter swim, 10 mile bike and 2.5 mile run it would be an all out sprint

They sent off racers in waves- I was in wave 3, with anyone over 55 years old, about 20 men. I came out of the water in 4th place, with top 3 right in front of me-Since the transition included a 500 yard plus run to get to bikes- even with changing out of wet suit- I left transition in the lead.

Jumping on my bike- I felt great, but could not get my shoes clipped in- I finally pulled over- looked down and like a lightning bolt it hit me. I had my Mountain bike shoes which are not compatible with my road bike!! I have never done that – mainly because even though both sets of shoes are the same- the mountain bike shoes are always dirty!! One of my early mountain bike races was a total mud race- so I actually scrubbed and shined up my shoes.
I did my best without clipping in, and just spun like crazy.

I had another super-fast transition- and hit the run like a man possessed. I continuing passing people, and ended up with a 18-minute run-averaging under a 6:30 pace

Ended up 13th overall (out of 130) 1st in my age group by over 10 minutes, and laughing about my shoe screw up! Team ER had a great showing – with Roy Miller finishing 10th overall , winning his age group, Carlo Buzzetta placing 2nd in his age group and Daniel Deckler making the top 10 in His age group

Karen was great to get up at 5 am and drop me off at race so I could leave right after the race and ride home – I ended up with a solid 35-mile training ride feeling great.

Ken