Race Coverage

"...We Are Building Character Here..."

Thursday, 07 June 2018 23:20

By Marc Sontowski

New Bri Tri race report- Vulgar language may appear, if you are offended I guess I don’t care. Also enjoy all the grammar flaws :) 

I was originally signed up for Buffalo, and well, no need to speak on that’s so here we are. I am overly excited for this race, because if you know me, you know I love to race. I don’t have a spare weekend in sight that I’m not doing some type of race.

I show up at the ass crack of dawn because that the type of person I am, not because I need to make sure I get all the pre ride, run, and swim in before transition closes, but because I just like being early to things. My pops always told me that being late to something is one of the most disrespectful things you can do in any circumstance. I guess I took that a little too serious as I was there about 5:55 and apparently the park wasn’t supposed to open until 6:30. 

As those who raced know, it was a little bit on the windy side, but wind builds character. I find out the swim is a time trial start, I still don’t know if I’m for or against it, I guess I really don’t give a shit either way. The swim was fantastic, the water temp was ideal, some waves and wind, but again we are building character here....

Out of the swim into bike transition we had this nice grassy area in a perfect square. Envision that, it was nice. The bike was rather flat, and unfortunately I did have to stop at two red lights. It would be nice to see some consistency with the races as for as controlled intersections go. I understand safety is top priority, and sometimes nothing can be done, but when a person's race may be determined by their timing of when they arrive at an intersection is a little bit frustrating, but then again, I wasn’t winning this shit anyway. 10 year age groups, I know where I stand. I'm out here to race, have fun and first or last I’m still out here and will still have a smile on my face.

 I’m not sure yet, but I feel I did fairly well on the bike even with the two stops, we will find out come the results. 

At about the 2.5 mile mark on the run I am getting passed by a nice fellow that starts talking to me “ this is the hardest part of the race ,c'mon let’s go” I’m thinking to myself “ this f'n guy” I notice a 36 on his calf, so my ass decided to get on his heels for about a 1/4 mile. Then it comes to the finish and boom he is gone in sprint mode, I tried, but yeah, my running legs told me to piss off. His comment though, definitely gave me a burst of energy I didn't know I had. (This sport is a mind f$&# is what I’m trying to say.) I finish, said dude gives me a handshake, and it makes me smile. 

Anyway, race done, meeting friendly faces, high fives all around, then it’s time to go put the hoodie back on and wander down the finishing path to start cheering on the remaining finishers. My friend Nikki is already down there handing out high fives and snapping photos. I think it’s something that more of us need to do. If we want to grow this sport locally we need to support everybody. Stick around a bit, be nice, and give some high fives.

It’s no secret that people think triathletes are Type A jerks (I hear this all the time from people both inside and outside of the sport, and if that offends you, you probably are one of them. It’s never too late to change the perception of the sport. It's already intimidating as hell. 

I would like to thank all the volunteers that came out. These races CAN’T happen without you. I would also like to thank Randy for the timing and the race director Judy and all her peeps for putting on a great race. For the record, post-race there was many beers had, a burger , nachos, and about 7 miles of single speed riding to have these treasures. 

Next up is Trinona, Minnetonka, and the Lutsen 69er to round out June. Hope to see many of you there!