Woolmarket Duathlon Race #2

Do the Du #2

Pine Belt Pacers Jim Coll, Kily Garcia, Keith Hilpp, and Nestor Raul Anzola (etc., etc., etc…Sorry Nestor if I left any of your other names off like "Pijumi Diwesi") competed in the Woolmarket Duathlon Series – Race #2 on Sunday, May 21st. This event consisted of a 2 mile run, then an 11.2 mile bike ride, and then another 2 mile run. Jim Coll was the only Pacer in the group that actually owned his own bike, the rest of us where functioning with borrowed equipment. Hattiesburg triathletes Dave Beckett and Steve Phillips also competed.

For any of you interested in these events (there are three in this series every year, all using the same starting point for the which the run is always out and back and the bike route is always the same loop) you might want to note that this course is particularly hilly, both in the run and bike. The run is out and back, downhill the first mile, then back uphill the second. To illustrate the extent of the hills, my first mile was a decent 6:37, but the return second mile I could only muster a 7:48. It was even worse the second time around after getting off the bike!

Jim Coll took off at the gun and held pace with the leaders during the run. Jim says he’s not a great cyclist, but he’s better than he gives himself credit for as he finished second in his age class (30-34). Jim had a blazing second run somewhere in the 13 minute range, which is incredible considering coming off the bike from 11 plus miles of hill climbs. Jim finished an impressive 29th overall in 1:02:25.

Kily and Nestor finished within a few seconds of each other. Nestor, by benefit of Tony Mozingo’s old road bike, beat his previous result from Race #1 which had only a 5K run. Nestor finished in 1:18:08. Kily edged out Nestor at the line to finish in 1:17:58.

This was my first "Multi-sport" race, having never competed on a bike before. Having just healed up from a stress fracture just above my left ankle from the Pine Hills 10K I am just easing back into running again. Likewise, with less than a week’s experience on my borrowed road bike, my goal was to enjoy this race and gain some experience. I have to say this was a lot of fun and was a real exciting event to compete in. I did as good as my lack of recent running would allow on the first 2 mile run and held serve on the first 3-4 miles of the bike course (which was mainly downhill). It was about then that the better cyclist started catching up and whipped past me over the final 7-8 miles. In all, I think I lost about 20-25 positions on the bike and only gained about 3 back on the last 2 mile run. If you’ve never tried running after a strenuous bike ride before, it’s like your legs are numb and you’re floating on air. Not a real comfortable feeling. As Dave Beckett described it to me, it’s like "running with someone else’s legs!" He says it gets better with practice. After a first run of 14:25, I could only complete the second 2 mile run in 16:06. I finished 52nd overall with a time of 1:07:07, fourth in my age class and just out of the trophies. Not too bad for a first timer I hope. Finishing this event is victory enough. More importantly, I managed to finish this event without re-injuring myself!!! My thanks to my good buddy Dustin Meaders of Texas for lending me the road bike which functioned perfectly during the race, I wish I could say the same for the rider!

Hattiesburg-ers Steve Phillips and Dave Beckett finished in times of 1:03:30 (34th) and 1:06:00 (47th) and both placed in their age groups.

I was amazed at the amount of talented athletes in this race. There are some that just excel at cycling, some that are just great runners, and a few that are great at both! I am glad that many of these cyclist don’t come to our foot races, they might walk away with some of our trophies!

My compliments to the Gulf Coast Running Club and Cyclist Choice for putting on a great event. They seem to pull this event off effortlessly and show a lot of efficiency tallying up the results and coordinating the event. This event attracted a great crowd (112 participants) but was very relaxed at the same time. All of this for the low-low price of $10, $15 if you wanted a well designed tank-top for the event. After the race amenities included water, sports drink, soft drinks, beer, and watermelon. A good time and a great event.

© Keith Hilpp     See Results      See Pictures

Woolmarket Duathlon Race #2

Keith’s report said it all! His precise description of the event and the feeling of guys as us, rookies in the "Multi-sport arena", are 100% accurate. First, congratulations to Keith for a great performance in his debut. For sure, he will beat a lot more of those duathlon guys in the next race to take place on June 25^th.

The Pine Belt Pacers did great. Jim Coll, Steve Phillips, David Beckett, and Pine Belt Coaster Bob Clark placed in their age groups. Keith Hilpp and the other PBP Coaster, Ed Wheeler, biked and ran strong and got very close to the podium (they were in the most competitive age brackets). Kily Garcia improved in 9 minutes and 4 seconds his run from the previous year, and I broke the Colombian record for the event.

Thanks to Tony Mozingo for lending me his famous and venerable Hawaii’s Ironman Bike. As Bob Clark says: "it ain’t the Bike, it’s the motor that counts". Even with this poor "PijumeDiwesian motor", I was able to improve my time for the 11.2 miles by 9 minutes  thanks to Tony’s bike. The only concern was that the biking shoes were too small for my big feet, so I had to ride without the shoes and learned to ride with my feet on the bare pedals (not problem in the hills; a little risky downhill!). I felt much better today. Last time 46 bikers passed me during the 11 miles ride; this time just 16. I was also able to gain 13 positions back in the last 2 miles run. I finished in 1:18:08, almost the same time I did last month in a shorter course (Race #1 had a 5k run; race #2 included a 4-miles run).

See you in the next race series on June 25^th. Barnes, Villalonga, Pendergrass, Ryder, Mozingo, Copeland, etc, etc., don’t forget to mark it in your calendar!

© Pijume Diwesi

Woolmarket Biathlon #1 (5K run + 11-mile bike)

Race #1 April 23, 2006. What a great day for a race! The weather was near perfect. 110 folks gathered for a 5K and 11.2 mi bike race. There were 1st timers and veterans. People from Mobile to New Orleans Even some folks from Hattiesburg (Steve Phillips, Aquilino Garcia, Nestor Anzola, Dave Beckett). All toed the starting line. The winning time was 48 min. and the slowest finisher was under an hour and 1/2.

I have to wonder what went through the minds of some of the folks traveling to church on an early Sunday morning finding a crowd of folks running and biking around their small community. I finished in the middle of the pack and as far as I could see there was a trail of bikes going up three rivers road. Speaking of bikes one of my favorite things about the Tri's and Du's is looking over the bikes. In the old days they were all the same. Now days they come in all sorts of shapes and materials. Some of the bikes were in the 4k range and others were K-mart specials. It was once pointed out to me," it ain't the Bike it's the motor that counts!"

The after race was cookies, watermelon, Gator aid and Beer. The total package all came for the amazing low price of 15 bucks, 10 if you didn't want a t-shirt. See the results on the web site. Thanks to Cyclist Choice for the trophies. © BC 
See Results

Woolmarket Biathlon #1 (5K run + 11-mile bike)

The last time I rode a bicycle was back in 1994 when I was working on fisheries in the Amazon region and lived in a small city, Leticia, located in the middle of the Amazon jungle. Since then, I had not ridden a bike anymore. Twelve years later, Pine Belt Pacer Kili Garcia invited me to participate in the first of the 2006 Woolmarket Biathlon Series. It included a 5K run followed by an 11.2-mile bike split. Well… "I have not ever done any biathlon in my life, let’s try it", I said. Even though I don’t know anything about bikes, brakes, pedals, wheels, or helmets, I thought, "I can survive it, can’t I?" So, I borrowed a mountain bike and early Sunday went to Woolmarket with Kili and his family. On the way down there, we met David Beckett and Steve Phillips and just followed their car to the place where the competetion would take place.

Blue skies and temperatures in the 80’s greeted a stellar field of runners, bikers and a couple of first-timers like this Colombian fellow. Once we registered for the competence, I got my borrowed mountain bike and put it the transition zone; Kili placed her nice bike in a strategic area in the other side of the road. I could not avoid looking at the other beautiful hyper-mega-nice bikes standing there. It seems they were brought from space, or from a science fiction movie. Man… biking can be an expensive hobby! Some of those bikes were in the 3, 4 or $5,000 range, and the people’s gear and outfit could easily reach the four digits too, if not more! At that moment, I just remembered why I am a simple and mortal recreational runner or walker J

The 5K running race started, and I tried to keep a steady pace. I arrived at the first mile in 7:00 and then slowed down. I saw Bob Clark passing me right before mile two. Since I didn’t know what to expect when reaching the transition area and riding the bike, I tried not to go too fast and reserve some energy. First mistake of this rookie! You don’t have to go slower than you usually do. You just have to run as fast as you can do in any other race. Once you get on the bike, you can rest whenever you go downhill.

I finished the running part in 24:05. Then, I made the second huge mistake. Once I got in the transition area, I rested for at least 2-3 minutes walking and drinking some Gatorade while trying to get some air before I rode the bike. There is no need for that; again, you can rest anytime once you descend in the road on the bike. When I put on the helmet, my head hardly fitted in there since I have an enormous and somehow abnormal head! Anyway, I fought and got it in place and then I started riding my mountain bike. I just wanted to finish the event and tell people I did it. I pedaled hard and steady, but I expended the time suffering in every single hill (it is a very hilly course!) and counting how many competitors passed me during the 11.2 miles. I counted 46 people to be exact! I just passed three guys during the course, but I did it just because they got a flat tire in some point. It seems that mountain bikes are slower and a "little heavier" than racing bicycles! J . Finally, and after 49 minutes, I saw the finish line. I tried to go faster and finished in 1:17:00, 99^th place overall. Luckily, I did not finish dead last. Exhausted from the day’s cycling I quickly slipped into a state of soporific bliss from which I was abruptly awoken when Leonard started calling names and giving the awards to the top biathletes.

Both Robert Scott and Katie Povolo bombed the downhill to put a hurt on the rest of the field in winning their respective divisions at the biathlon. David Beckett (57:32) placed first in his age group while Steve Phillips was second in his age bracket finishing in 54:56. Bob Clark finished the competition in 1:00:54 and Kili Garcia in 1:09:39. I had a lot of fun, and I hope I can participate in future events; however, it was not a very easy task especially when riding the hills. Aaaaah…, and today it is for sure a pain… © Pijume Diwesi