The Kokopelli triathlon took place in Hurricane, Ut on Saturday, Sep 20. This event was the third in a series of three triathlons offered by Brogg Sterrett and his fine staff at BBSC Endurance.
The first one was the St. George triathlon on May 20, the second was the Utah Summer Games on June 14. In order to participate in the trifecta, an athlete must do two out of the three events, if you do all three, the organizers drop your lowest result and tally up the points. The scoring system is very complicated so I won't get into it. The ticket is to do all three and try to finish in the top three or higher. Being consistent is the key, many athletes will not participate in all three events therefore opening the door to the ones who are persistent.
Last year, the Kokopelli tri was cancelled due to foul weather, a late summer storm crashed through and the park rangers, along with the organizers, cancelled the event. John Harrington and I were sitting in the water just 3 minutes before our start when we heard the announcer call the event off. I exited the water extremely dissapointed, I had trained for this event diligently for quite a few weeks, but, you can't win against Mother Nature. John sat in the water in disbelief, they literally pulled him out of the water, the man wanted to swim and he wasn't about to be denied!
This year was a bit different. Perfect weather graced the venue at Sand Hollow reservoir, the race was on! A sprint distance was offered, 750 meter swim, 12.5 miles on the bike and a 3 mile run, the olympic distance was exactly twice the sprint. BBSC Endurance outdid themselves with a perfectly organized event, plenty of volunteers, lots of food and drinks, medals for all finishers and a great announcer who blurted out your name when you came through the finish kite. The swim was modified to accomodate the low level of water. Two laps were required for the olympic and a single one for the sprint. The bike course for the olympic was modified as well. I understand that Brogg used the old St. George tri route eliminating several 90-degree turns and a section of rough road that rattled your chain and your teeth! The run course was pretty brutal, several steep hills, deep sand and a few rocks to mess up your ankles.
Overall, it was a great day of racing and everyone involved had a blast. I'm happy to report that John Harrington claimed first place for the day, adding to his trifecta victory. John literally had to win the day to claim the trifecta, several scenarios were possible for him to win, the easiest was to win, no doubt there! I claimed second for the day culminating my result with the trifecta title by virtue of points from the first two events (two firsts), a slighter easier road than John's.
We spent some time with club members Molly Kramer and Kara Robertson. Both of these ladies participated in their first olympic triathlon. Molly claimed third in her age group (25-29), pretty darn good for her first one. Kara had a great swim and a good bike, the run proved a bit much for Kara, unfortunately, she was pulled due to the time cut. Kara is a champion swimmer recently completing an ungodly 10,000 meter (6.2 miles) swim in the frigid waters of Colorado Springs, it just took her a bit over 4 hours........Unreal!!! With a bit more focus on the run, Kara will be a force to be reckoned with, you just can't beat her out of the water!!!
There are too many LV residents to mention so I will direct you to www.milliseconds.com, there you can find all of the results including the trifecta. The next event will be the Las Vegas triathlon to be held this coming Sun, Sep 28, followed by Brogg's baby, The Pumpkinman taking place on Sat, Oct 18. Pumpkinman will hold the club championships and the Half-Maxx Iron, making it the largest triathlon in SoNev by far. This event is sold out but, look for Brogg to open a few more spots in the coming few weeks. Check Brogg's website, www.bbsctri.com.
The final event will be the toughest full distance triathlon in the world, The Silverman. It will take place on Sun, Nov 9. This event offers a full distance, a 70.3 and relays. Frank Lowery is the brains behind this brutal event. Frank is in his fourth year promoting Silverman and I can see it being the premier triathlon in the western US. You can find Frank coaching the masters swimmers at the Henderson MultiGeneral complex around 5:30 am. It's been a great season for the Lv Tri Club, many great results by its many members, check the 'blog' and 'message board' to find out more. OK, I must get some rest which happens to be my favorite training session, 8 hours!!!..............
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