7/20/2025
The Lake Metroparks Pirate Triathlon
Fairport Harbor, Ohio
Scott Orlando
Finish Time: 1;21;29
Overall Place: 1st Place / 26
Veronica Neubert
Finish Time: 1:32:10
Overall Place: 4th Place / 26
Division Place: 1st Place Overall Female Finisher / 13
Russ Neubert
Finish Time: 1:53:35
Overall Place: 15th Place / 26
Division Place: 5th Place / 6
Race Recap By Scott Orlando:
This morning I competed in the Lake Metroparks Pirate Triathlon. Everything just clicked today and I was the overall winner of the kayak triathlon! This was the first time I have been the overall winner of a triathlon.
The race starts with a 2K kayak on Lake Erie. Kayaking was rough. We got tossed around in the wind and waves. I got off to a slow start but finished strong being the first kayak out of the water. My 20K bike leg was strong and I was the first biker into transition. My 5K run felt smooth and efficient and I crossed the finish line in 1:21:29 winning by about 2 minutes. My finish time was just a few seconds off of last year’s finish time.
Congratulations to Veronica Judith who was the female overall winner and to Russ Neubert who after the Lake Erie waves flipped his kayak managed to get back in and finished the race strong.
It was a little disappointing to see such a small race field this year in the kayak triathlon with 32 participants. The swim triathlon had 260 entries. There was a large competing kayak race and Ohio Ironman 70.3 this weekend that I’m sure spread out racers.
All participants received custom pirate themed tech shirts and finisher medals. A selection of cut fruit, cookies, salty snacks, and Gatorade was available post race. Lake Metroparks does a really nice job organizer their events and this race was no exception. I do think the awards could be better managed. They always offer a first place overall award no second or third place overall awards and then age group awards every 10 years. I would prefer that they present awards for the top three overall male and female finishers. This year they combined age groups every 15 years because of the low registration numbers in the kayak triathlon. The overall male and overall female winners of the kayak triathlon received two trophies. We each received an overall winner trophy and and age group winner trophy. Most races do not include overall winners in age divisions and I would prefer to see this race follow that format and spread the awards around more. Thank you to Lake Metroparks and all of the volunteers for putting on a great race!
Race Recap By Veronica Neubert:
Sunday, 6:30am I’m watching the tracker as Cameron begins his swim at the Ohio 70.3 Ironman. He finishes his swim before the 8:00am men’s kayak portion of our triathlon begins. 8:05am female and team kayak division begins. (Thank you to Scott Orlando for the use of your Stellar performance kayak and your first triathlon win!) The waves were rough and I struggled to right the boat a few times but ended up first female to hit the shore, second out of transition. I caught up quickly and passed the other female on the bike. The bike route was SO windy I had to work hard the entire time but I remembered Cam was fighting the same wind and had more than double the amount to ride than I did. I was first female to finish the bike and remained in first the entire run. It was humid and I was slower than I wanted to be but I only had a 5k to run and Cam had an entire half marathon! The feeling as I rounded the corner to the flags was joy! I had won (back to back 24 & 25)
Congratulations to Russ on finishing and his upbeat pirate performance!
I’m so happy they announced awards early because then I could make the drive from Mentor to Sandusky to see Cam finish! I can’t put into words how proud I am of his effort, his tenacity, his self discipline … that hug at the finish line brought me to tears! My son is so strong!