Noell Maerz Patriot Games Triathlon - Triathlon

we started the run pretty hard hoping to beat the congestion to the canoes. i didn't need to be first, but wanted to be near the front. we ended up getting into the water 5th overall. we had no problems putting on our vests or grabbing the paddles and the awesome volunteers were launching you into the lake. it felt like they just opened the gates at disney and we went straight to the flume ride.
it was a smooth start and we were a little off course to the first buouy, but the turn was great and we had a nice second leg. people were passing us, but i wasn't too worried and we made a nice turn at the second buouy as well. the third leg was a bit dicey. we were going off course and my steering was pretty sad as i was trying not to rudder too much to avoid slowing us down. i had to do it towards the end though and we made it back to shore.

learn better steering techniques and get more paddle experience.

i had a hard time getting my vest off at first and my sisters told us there were 20 teams out of the water ahead of us. we had a good t1 though and made up some ground as we are listed at 13th OA starting the bike.

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we started the bike eager to make up ground and see what we could do. a 2 person team time trial was the most appealing part of the race. we went out pretty hard and underestimated the course a little. tim is a stronger cyclist than me and it takes me some time to warm up on the bike. when we hit the first hill, we did a good job of busting up it, but it took it's toll. i had to ease off a bit and we had a hard time getting our pace in sync early. we got stuck behind some teams on the first time through the thin section and although it allowed a little recovery, it was costing us some time. we did a better job on the second hill though and made some nice efforts on the downhill finish of the first loop.
at this point we had no idea where the leaders were, but my sister called out that we were :53 seconds behind. that was good news and gave us a boost to keep pushing for the second loop. we alternated :30 pulls until we hit the first climb again. there were plenty of teams walking the hill on their first loop and we tried to yell some encouragement. it was great to see people out there pushing themselves in what may have been their first race ever. that hill must have been a bit of a surprise but they were all very determined and looked good.
we rode the climb steady this time and caught a few teams just after. tim came to the front and they jumped on my wheel as we passed. i gestured for them to pass us, but they just sat there. didn't they know that tim was there to pull my a$$ around the course, not their's?!?! i started to get a little frustrated and just started yelling to tim "go! go! go! go!". he slowed at first, but finally realized what was going on and dropped the hammer. i hung on and we were alone in seconds. tim eased a little, but didn't pull off. he recovered and then saw an opportunity for a few more passes before the trail. i agreed and he put in a monster pull that we realized later put us in the front of the race. it was unavoidable and much safer, so we ended up easing up as a pack through the trail section actually calling out walkers, turns, dogs, etc. like we were on a slow group ride.
with about 100 feet left of the trail and a sharp turn at the end, the teams behind us must have seen a green flag. they squeezed by us and took off. we played leapfrog a little, but went steady until the top of the second climb where we were able to make another solid effort back to the transition area in first place. or should i say the dismount area, as the team behind us RODE into the transition area next to us and technically made it to their rack first.
obviously there were some stronger cyclists out there, as they were busting up hills by us. unfortunately they were leaving their teammates behind and wasting energy showing us how great they were. it was good to see that sticking together payed off in the end.


not much. my cycling has been lacking lately. we also could have been steadier in our efforts early.

i almost forgot to take off my helmet, but other than that, we had a great t2 and took off while the 2nd place team tied their shoes.


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great solid run. we went out pretty hard and then just kept a solid pace. it got pretty hot so we tried to stay cool and finish strong. we were able to see all the teams on the way back so the pressure was off. we cruised back into the finish area with a decent crowd and my sister going crazy.
very cool. first ever and maybe last overall win (unless team XY pulls off some relay wins next year). even though it's a small wacky race, tim and i have had our sights on this race for a while so to win it together is kind of special

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bought some lemonade at the kid's fund raising stand and camped out on the finish line to cheer for everyone finishing.
waited for the awards ceremony and got a plaque, big trophy, and will get our names engraved on the big event trophy.


tim not wearing his aero helmet on the canoe.


great venue. great cause. great course. website, race details, course details etc. are pretty poor, but i would still recommend it.