8/2/2026 Scott Orlando, Veronica Neubert, And Russ Neubert Lake Metroparks Pirate Triathlon Fairport Harbor, Ohio

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8/2/2026

Lake Metroparks Pirate Triathlon

Fairport Harbor, Ohio

Kayak Triathlon

Scott Orlando

Finish Time:  1:18:57

Overall Place:  3rd Place / 40

Division Place:  1st Place / 3

Veronica Neubert

Finish Time:  1:28:04

Overall Place:  7th Place / 40

Division Place:  1st Place / 4

Russ Neubert

Finish Time:  1:36:13

Overall Place:  13th Place / 40

Division Place:  3rd Place / 7

Race Recap By Scott Orlando:

What a day of racing today at the Lake Metroparks Pirate Triathlon in Fairport Harbor! I was really nervous about today’s race because of the forecasted storms and rain. I was so nervous thinking about kayaking big swelling Lake Erie waves and racing a carbon fiber bike with narrow tires on wet roads that I barely slept the night before the race.

Surprisingly the rains and bad weather shifted and we had dry safe racing conditions. I was able to paddle my Stellar Kayaks S18S EXP from Performance Performance Kayak & Surfski Inc. I was the first kayak to reach the beach. Upon hitting the beach all of the swim triathletes waiting to start were cheering me on which was a cool moment. I was all alone leading the bike leg until mile 8 when the eventual winner caught and passed me. I was able to stay with him and made it back to the transition area less than a minute behind him. On the run he was ahead of me always in my eyesight. At times I made up ground but just couldn’t get any closer and he beat me by about a minute.

I thought I had finished 2nd overall but the results showed I finished 3rd overall. I questioned the results but the timer verified them. What I wasn’t understanding was that there was a 38 year old female who absolutely crushed the course. The women started 5 minutes after the men so her chip time beat me by 19 seconds. It’s great to see some younger and newer faces on the courses. It’s good for the sport and the only way it grows.

I was happy with my finish time of 1:18:57 which secured 3rd place overall and 1st place in my age division. I beat my time from last year by over 2 1/2 minutes.
Congratulations to Team ER members Veronica Neubert who won her division, and Russ Neubert who placed 3rd in his division.

Thank you to Lake Metroparks and all of the volunteers who helped put on another great race.

Race Recap By Veronica Neubert:

Looking at the weather forecast, I wasn’t sure what to expect, would we even race? I am happy to say that the rain held off and although it was very muggy it turned out to be a nice morning! We arrived a little later than usual and I had to rush to get set up and a warm up run and before the race. Fortunately, I was able to use Scott’s boat (Thanks so much Scott).
8:05 start, there was one young woman that took off right away in the kayak and then it was me and two other ladies that I have raced with before. I was 3rd out of the water and on to the bike. I was JUST behind the second place female going up the hill when my gears started crunching and I couldn’t unclip and ended up falling (There is a first time for everything) I was most looking forward to the bike portion (usually my strongest) but not so much today. Fortunately, I was going slowly and wasn’t injured (just a little scrapped up), mostly embarrassed, struggled to get the chain back on for a little bit but was successful. I made up some time and was still 3rd going into the run. The run is usually my least favorite, it was so muggy, today was no exception. I was making up time slowly but surely until about the last quarter mile some spectators yelled “Let’s go ladies” and Mary turned around. She saw I was creeping up. I ended up 8 seconds behind her for a third place overall finish and first in my age group. I’m so happy that I was able to continue on the bike and my time was even 1 minute faster than last year. It also makes me feel better when first place was in her 20s and second was in her 30s and I’m Good competition!
Congratulations to Scott who finished 3rd overall and first in his age group and Russ for finishing 3rd in his age group and all the preparation, driving, encouragement