May 18th Weekend Races

Ron Hoyne:

I raced in the Thunder in the Valley Olympic Distance Triathlon (800K swim/40K bike/5.0 mile run) in Terre Haute, IN.  I finished 40th out of 136 overall and 3rd out of 10 in my age group with a time of 2:01.46.  I was seventh after the swim (8:17), 20th after the no draft bike leg (24.8 miles @ 21.6 mph) and 40th after the 5.0 mile run (40:42).  The 25 year old professional winner completed the race in 1:39.02.  I was rocking the Wildcard colors and will forward a picture if any show up on the race website.

Aaron Higley:

Black partridge,Mountain bike
I started off strong as I went into the woods 4th wheel with Jason Rassi and Aaron fader.  I went to grab a bottle off my water feeder and I realized it had fallen over. With 90 Degree temperatures and no water I started to cramp up. Finished 7th in Cat 1.

Scott Dahman:

The beginning of the 2013 May Madness Sprint Triathlon at Lake Sara was chaos. 84 participants started the swim in a single wave. I was badly positioned as I heeded the starter’s instruction to stay on the beach. A lot of other athletes waded into the water before the starting siren. I spent the first half of the 400m swim just trying to find open space and avoid kicks to the face. I often like to draft at the start of the race, but I was surrounded mostly by slower swimmers and received little benefit. I probably should have lined up to the outside of the first turn to reduce the commotion, but I was a little rusty on tactics as this was my first race of the season. I was in the clear, but out of breath after about 200m. I exited the water in 7th place, but was passed just as I crossed the transition mat. It was a slow swim compared to past performances, but not a disaster.

As I started the bike, I did not know how many people were ahead of me. I passed a few in the early going, including two that were in my age group. Approaching the turnaround of the 13-mile out-and-back course, I counted 4 riders ahead. I passed the leader 1/2 mile before the turnaround, meaning he was a full mile ahead of me on the course. I caught 2 more riders on the way back into a gentle headwind, so I knew that I was on the podium if I could avoid getting passed on the run.

As I headed onto the 5k run, the last guy I passed on the bike was entering the transition. (It was the same guy that pipped me into the first transition.) I kept my eye on him as I ran around the “circle of death” loop that begins the mostly out-and-back course. As I rounded the corner onto Beach Road, I could see the 2nd place runner ahead. The leader was long gone. After the first mile, the landscape opens up, allowing a view across most of the next mile. I tried closing the gap to 2nd place, but it seemed to grow slowly with each step. At the turnaround, it seemed that the guy in 4th was closing. Would he keep accelerating in the second half? Would he run out of road before he caught me? Would he blow up? Would I blow up? I seemed to hold a steady pace through the finish and peeked over my shoulder as I approached the last 400m. No one was in sight and I cruised to a 3rd place finish. (Full results: http://www.cuttingedgeevents.net/results/MAY%202013/May_Madness_OA.htm) I also managed 2nd in the bike split, trailing only the overall race winner.

John Betenia raced the MATS series at Kankakee, results have not been posted yet.

Great job all.