RACE REPORT: Beaverdam International Distance Triathlon

Submitted by: Mary Whitwell

Finish Strong puts on fantastic races and I recommend them HIGHLY to everyone. Great people and a truly personal touch. Swimming in a 62 degree lake is COLD, but not too bad in a wetsuit once you can breathe right…until your arms go numb the last 300 yards.

First transition is slow when you can’t feel yourself…couldn’t find my fingers to put my socks on the toes that weren’t there. Oh well, no worries, all part of the fun. Surprising how warm you feel riding a bike even when soaking wet and the air is 55 degrees when your adrenalin is flowing and the joy of the sport courses through your arteries faster than the chilly blood flow.

T-2, plenty warm, only a 10K to go….wait, did the non-runner just say that?!?!? You guys are rubbing off on me. SCARY! What the heck! A course of hills, up and down, no flats. Hmmmm. Like I thought, I run my best off a bike and ran the fastest 10K of my life (ignore the fact it was only the 2nd so not such a feat of feet). A final sprint to the finish and the thrill of completing with nothing left on the track. That is, truly, the point of it all.

I finished 19th of 51 women and of the 18 who beat me, the next oldest was 45. Proud to be a female of “advancing” years who plans to face the challenge for years to come.

The route was very hilly, bike and run, added to the challenge. Finish Strong does a superb job, everything easy access here, super friendly folks everywhere. No complaints, only kudos to them.

PS Sorry to break the recent trend, but I didn’t feel compelled to mention my butt even once. Oops, just did :-)