Silverman Report 1: Victor R

The Silverman full and half distance triathlon took place on Nov 9 in the beautiful city of Henderson, NV. As always, race director Frank Lowery managed to put together the finest full and half distance event in Nevada and the southwest as well. This was the 4th year Frank has provided SoNev with such fine event.

There were upwards of 700 athletes from abroad and the states, topping the number from previous years. This year we were honored to have OPERATION REBOUND athletes participate in the event. O. R. is a group of military personell who have served this great nation in Iraq, Afghanistan and all over the Middle East. These brave soldiers came back home with life-long injuries, most of whom were injured on the line of duty. I got to meet most of the brave men and women of O. R. These folks, most of them amputees, are being helped by an organization called CAF, Challenged Athletes Foundation. I spoke with a young man who lost his right arm on a road-side bombing and asked him how he could swim with one arm. He replied by saying that he uses his left arm for propulsion and kicks his feet as rudders to proceed in a straight line, simply amazing!!! The other gentleman I spoke with lost his left leg below the knee in a similar fashion, I saw him pedal his bike and run with no trouble at all. These men and women refuse to let their misfortune slow them down, their will to succeed and spirit is unparalled. I feel very fortunate to have raced with these brave personel and hope to see more of them next year....................

If you live in SoNev, you know how the weather can be unpredictable from day to day. We were hoping for some good news from the weather service but no cigar, a storm is brewing in the Pacific and it's heading this way. The previous days were gorgeous, sunny and warm, no wind, just perfect. On race day, things were a bit different. At 6am it looked like we were going to get lucky and enjoy a fine day. The full athletes took off on their swim at 6:30am, things were calm until they were half way through their 2.4 mile splash. It suddenly became very windy causing the lake to churn up two-foot waves and white caps. Some of the kayakers were blown off course and had to be rescued buy boaters.

At this time, the half iron athletes were sitting in the water waiting to start. The wind was trecherous but everyone was anxious to begin. The park rangers, along with Frank, decided to delay the start, we sat in the water for 45 minutes waiting for the storm to pass. Eventually, we were asked to exit the pond and corrall inside the changing tent. The main concern wasn't the windy conditions, it was lightning!!! At around 9:10am, the storm had passed and we were allowed to start our swim. It was very interesting out there, you could hardly see the bouys, it was difficult to navigate. We all managed to make it through the "washing machine" and now it was time to deal with the wind.

The bike course was very hilly and cross winds played havoc with the riders. Fortunately, just about everyone made the time cut and by then, the weather had calmed down. The run course was hard as we all know but at least we didn't have to deal high winds and rain. After all was said and done, it was a great day of racing, many athletes achieved their goals and dreams of being an ironman, what a feeling!!!.....................

Silverman may not be the most famous or largest triathlon on the schedule but it certainly is the most down to earth. Frank Lowery and his fine staff always manage to engage that "Ma and Paw" atmosphere and everyone involved feels like they're at home. I've been to other events and the feeling is that you're a number racing from point A to B. This is my fourth year racing Silverman and I will keep on participating for as long as I'm able and Frank allows me to do so. Next year, Frank promises to provide us with another stellar event and I heard him clearly say that he guarantees perfect weather unlike what we experienced this year. Also, he promised to remove about 8 or 9 thousand feet of climbing from the bike course!!! Wow!!!................

There were numerous LV Tri club members as well as many SoNev locals racing Silverman, too numerous to mention so, please go to: www.silvermannv.com and click on results, there you will see your favorite athlete's number and placings. Again it's a pleasure bringing you a short romp of Silverman, thank you for reading and it's time to rest and recharge the batteries for a couple of weeks then, back to the grind!!!.............Victor