A small, but fiesty band of triathletes and support crews ventured south to the mega-tropolis of Pacific Grove over the weekend for the 200th running of the Pacific Grove Triathlon. The Pac Grove Triathlon began with humble origins when Portuguese sardine fishermen accidentally fell off their boats while off the coast of Monterey. Without wetsuits, they swam through the kelp beds to the relative safety of the sand dunes north of town. From there, they caught wild donkeys which in those days roamed in greats herds along the California coast. The fisherman road the donkeys into town, then ran the last few miles to the nearest pub to tell their compatriots of their adventure. Since much fun was had by all, the swim, donkey ride, and run became an annual event with top prizes including sardines for life and crates of pickled kelp. Today the Pac Grove triathlon is a 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K run with winners completing the course in under 2 hours 15 minutes. And this feat is even more amazing considering no donkeys are allowed in the race.
Huffers and Puffers entered in the race this weekend were Sharla "Big Gears" Smith, Dorothy "Salty Lips" Golubski, and new H&P member Kim "Kelp Collector" Beastall. Support was provided by Gordon, Corinne, and Mickey Smith, Brian Cullen, and your host, Jeff Durban.
Sharla smoked the 40+ Age Group to place 5th, while Dorothy kicked butt to an awesome 7th place age group finish in the Sprint Event. Kim, having just come off of the Big Kahuna half Ironman race, powered to a 4th place age group finish.
Sharla flew on the bike course turning in one of the best bike splits of the day, while Dorothy had blindingly fast splits for all three events. And Kim was third out of the water after an amazing 24 minute swim.
Also competing this weekend were Dave Edney, Ethan Falls, "Pilot" Pat McCarthy, and Greg Novacek in the Tri for Real at the Pleasanton Sewage Treatment Plant, I mean, Shadowcliffs Regional Park. Preliminary reports indicate that H&P athletes dominated as usual in all age groups.
Congrats to all the H&P triathletes this weekend!
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Saturday, March 15, 2003
2003 Las Vegas Marathon
Congratulations to Dan and Kirsten for their awesome qualifying runs at the Las Vegas Marathon. Dan finished with a nice 1 minute cushion at 3:14:00 while Kirsten came in at 3:28 well under her needed 3:45. I, on the other hand, will have to wait for Boston next year.
To put some perspective on Dan's achievement, let me describe the conditions. We started the race with a slight offset tail wind coming up from our left shoulder. That changed to a side wind by about 8-9 miles. At about mile 12, we were running into a full head wind; sand, dust, and tumbleweeds tossed in to make it interesting. I had fallen back very early in the race, but Dan was able to get into a good pace group that worked together to overcome the wind. I struggled with the wind until mile 16 when I looked at my watch and realized that there was no way I was going to make 3:15 unless I grew rocket boosters out of my ass. Fighting the wind for another 10 miles was not high up on my to do list for the day, so I bagged it and walked over to the sag bus. I walked up on the bus and looked at the sea of faces before me and realized "these people are a bunch of LOSERS!!!!". I could not stomach riding home on the loser bus, so I got off, slogged back on the course and proceeded to finish the damm race in 3:39.
The headwind was reported to be 50 MPH with some 60 MPH gusts. All of us have the nice sandblasted facial look. Kirsten and I lost our contacts, and Dan is still cleaning dust and sand out of orifices he did not even knew he had.
Greg, Fred, and Janine ran great half marathons. Fred in at 1:27, Greg in 1:32 and Janine in at 1:50. Fred did some great pacing for Dan, and Greg was in position to pace me in, but no one could spot me. I was probably tucked into a pack of runners trying to stay out of the wind and sand.
Thanks to the Vegas group for a great weekend despite the race and thanks to all my well wishers prior to the race. I am bound and determined to run a 3:15...maybe Napa???
To put some perspective on Dan's achievement, let me describe the conditions. We started the race with a slight offset tail wind coming up from our left shoulder. That changed to a side wind by about 8-9 miles. At about mile 12, we were running into a full head wind; sand, dust, and tumbleweeds tossed in to make it interesting. I had fallen back very early in the race, but Dan was able to get into a good pace group that worked together to overcome the wind. I struggled with the wind until mile 16 when I looked at my watch and realized that there was no way I was going to make 3:15 unless I grew rocket boosters out of my ass. Fighting the wind for another 10 miles was not high up on my to do list for the day, so I bagged it and walked over to the sag bus. I walked up on the bus and looked at the sea of faces before me and realized "these people are a bunch of LOSERS!!!!". I could not stomach riding home on the loser bus, so I got off, slogged back on the course and proceeded to finish the damm race in 3:39.
The headwind was reported to be 50 MPH with some 60 MPH gusts. All of us have the nice sandblasted facial look. Kirsten and I lost our contacts, and Dan is still cleaning dust and sand out of orifices he did not even knew he had.
Greg, Fred, and Janine ran great half marathons. Fred in at 1:27, Greg in 1:32 and Janine in at 1:50. Fred did some great pacing for Dan, and Greg was in position to pace me in, but no one could spot me. I was probably tucked into a pack of runners trying to stay out of the wind and sand.
Thanks to the Vegas group for a great weekend despite the race and thanks to all my well wishers prior to the race. I am bound and determined to run a 3:15...maybe Napa???
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