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While checking the PBP webpage on Friday July 10, I realized the Sunfish Triathlon would take place in Meridian the following day. I thought: it would be nice to participate in such event, but I don’t like to do the bike leg. What if I could find another crazy pacer that could do the biking and make a team? Well… there was another crazy person who joined me and registered our team for the triathlon at the last minute! Who was that? Our friend Irongirl Susan Davidson.
We drove to Meridian very early in the morning and arrived to Bonita Lakes Park with two hours of anticipation. We received our number, t-shirts, timing chip and got a great spot to place Susan’s bike in the transition area. While waiting for the beginning of the race, we had opportunity to chat for a while with other fellow pacers such as Jim Coll, Tony Mozingo, John Pendergrass, Terry Ingram, Ben Hughes, Leonard Vergunst, James Daniels, Steven Champine, Robin and Kim Ryder. Some GCRC members such as Ed Wheeler, Bob Clark, and Rock (Rockola) Earhart were also there. Ben was helping with the organization. The other guys were ready to participate in the individual event.
As we were among the last participants to register for the triathlon, we were assigned number 333. Once the competition started, I had to wait at least 30 minutes before I hit the water for the 1/3 mile swim course. As always in the water, I went slow but confident and managed to finish this part of the Tri in 13:59 (later in the day, when looking the overall results, I found out that there were 38 people that swam even slower than I did! I couldn’t believe it!). Then Susan was ready to cycle the next 17 miles. She did the bike in 1:12:49. Her average speed was 13.8 m/h, 0.4/mile faster than her previous performance at the Iron Girl Triathlon. Susan enjoyed the hilly course very much. She said that she is ready to do it again tomorrow! J -- Once Susan got back in the transition area, I grabbed the timing chip and a couple of seconds later I was on the road. It was very hot and humid, so I tried to avoid going too fast and killing myself. I kept a steady pace, stopped twice to drink some water, and then I ran through the finish line with a tired expression on my face. I looked down at my stopwatch, and it showed that we finished in 1:52:55. Great race! We did pretty well as a team.
We enjoyed the post-race party and had some pizza, sandwiches, chicken, fruit, Gatorade, soft drink, and other goodies. Pine Belt Pacers Leonard Vergunst and John Pendergrass placed in their age groups. After the award ceremony we headed home. Now we are ready for the Y Triathlon in Hattiesburg next week. Let’s see how everyone does. The Meridian Athletic Association and its volunteers did a great job organizing and directing this event. The overall results can be found in the following page http://www.besttimescct.com/results/Sunfish_09.txt © Pijume Diwesi
Here are the results for some pacers:
Name – Swim t. – Trans #1 – Bike t. – Trans. #2 – Run t. -- Finish Time Robin Ryder 8:14 - 1:11 - 46:51 – 1:23 - 18:45 -- 1:16:22 James Daniel 8:40 - 0:57 - 45:20 – 1:03 - 21:15 -- 1:17:13 Leonard Vergunst 11:12 - 0:43 - 46:49 - 1:20 - 18:59 -- 1:19:01 Lance Ware 11:13 - 1:38 - 48:48 - 1:29 - 25:36 -- 1:28:42 Steven Champine 12:31 - 1:03 - 52:48 - 1:09 - 21:15 -- 1:28:44 Tony Mozingo 9:10 - 1:57 - 52:34 - 2:03 - 24:44 -- 1:30:27 Raland Burks 10:18 - 1:03 - 54:03 - 1:32 - 26:51 -- 1:33:47 John Pendergrass 12:02 - 1:39 - 50:24 - 1:26 - 29:13 -- 1:34:42 Jim Coll 12:11 - 1:52 - 57:18 - 1:12 - 22:52 -- 1:35:24 Chris Shivers 11:59 - 1:08 - 54:18 - 1:28 - 28:15 -- 1:37:07 Kimberly Ryder 11:53 - 1:55 - 58:59 - 1:49 - 24:09 -- 1:38:43 Terry Ingram 16:28 - 2:18 - 58:04 - 2:35 - 25:04 -- 1:44:28 Raul & Susan 13:59 - 0:38 - 1:12:49 - 0:48 - 24:43 -- 1:52:55 Marlene Shivers 12:50 - 1:49 - 1:09:43 - 1:34 - 33:43 -- 1:59:37 Erika Miller 13:00 - 3:43 - 1:25:12 - 1:57 - 42:11 -- 2:26:02 |
