By Lynn DeBruin
August 20, 2009 (Boulder, CO) – In five weeks, triathletes will grind it out in Newton’s 24 Hours of Triathlon. But in the first-ever Newton Trail Triathlon at Boulder Reservoir, there was a stark contrast in strategy: “This is full gas, as fast as you can go and hard as you can go for an hour,” said overall winner Winfield Hartley, 39, Boulder.
Hartley completed the 750-meter swim, 5K trail run and 10K trail ride in 1 hour 26 seconds.
While the Boulder Reservoir site was fairly familiar to Hartley, running on the beach, single-track trails, the back of dunes and climbing over fences added a degree of fun and interest.
So did the swim-run-bike order.
“I’ve never done that before, and I’ve never done the mountain bike portion where you have to push your bike up the hill, go through gravel and over fences,” said Superior’s Susie Wasson, 43, who was first out of the water. Wasson finished the race third overall among women and 13th overall in 1:11.40
Laurie Mizener enjoyed the event because she was able to ride her cyclocross bike in a triathlon event. Not that there weren’t some technical problems. A third of a mile into the biking portion, she was yelling out for anyone who had an Allen wrench.
“When I did a jump-out on my seat, I apparently didn’t have the bolt tight because my seat slid all the way down and I was pedaling with me knees in my chest,” Mizener said.
Fortunately a spectator had the simple tool, and Mizener was able to fix the problem, catch Wasson and finish first among the women—and sixth overall—in 1:05:48.
Darren Rapaport wasn’t so fortunate. He had not one, but two flat tires.
“That could have been me,” he said as he watched Hartley cross the finish line first.
Rapaport, an Army officer who works in the athletic department at the Air Force Academy, thought he had a chance at winning.
“I was just on the other side of the dam, chasing down first place and closing the gap pretty fast,” he said. “Then I had a flat on the rear (tire) and before you knew it I was heading downhill, barreling, and had a flat on the front. I walked away unscathed, but my two wheels not so much. You do this long enough and it’s bound to happen.”
Rapaport could be seen carrying his bike back to the staging area, albeit with a smile on his face.
Despite the outcome, he vowed to be back next year.
“I like it because it’s definitely unique, the format and being out on the trails,” he said.
With 70-plus competing in the evening event (6 p.m. start), creator Ian Adamson was pleased.
“It’s designed to be fun,” said Adamson, who is perhaps the most successful adventure racer of all time (six world championship titles and current world record holder for endurance kayaking).
“A lot of people will use it as training as it uses the Stroke & Stride swim and run closely. But it’s short enough that pretty much anyone can do it with a basic bike,” he said. “I also wanted to do an evening event because in the summer it’s kind of nice to roll out of work and do a short little fun race.”
His eventual goal is to have it on a Friday, so participants and their families can celebrate afterward and not have to worry about work the next day.
Adamson, who founded 24 Hour Events in 2005, says he likes to design races that meet a need—more so than make money.
Maybe so, but last year’s 24 Hours of Triathlon at Cherry Creek State Park sold out early with 400 competitors. This year’s race is scheduled for September 26-27, with a fourth of the competitors riding solo and the rest as members of two, three, or four-member teams.
Hartley planned to compete for the fourth straight year.
“You have to make sure you’re eating and drinking enough, keep it in low gear and keep it going a long time,” Hartley said.
For Newton Trail winner Mizener, if she competes, it probably would have to be as a team member so as not to put too much stress on her immune system.
Mizener has multiple sclerosis. One would never know it watching her cruise through Thursday’s event. Though she turns 40 on August 24, she hasn’t slowed down much in 20 years of doing triathlons.
Neither has Adamson, who besides being an author, motivational speaker and model, also is director of product development for Newton Running of Boulder.
The product launched in 2007 and has seen huge market penetration in just two years. It was the third-most popular shoe last year and second-most popular at a race two weeks ago.
“It’s the fastest shoe out there,” he said of the product with a membrane technology shock-absorption system that also transfers energy more efficiently without the use of springs.
“Athletes have found they can run further and faster with less damage,” he said.
With a 24-hour race coming up, that’s the name of the game.
Top Ten Women
| FIRST NAME | LAST NAME | AGE | SWIM | T1 | RUN | T2 | BIKE | TIME | CITY | |
| 1 | LAURIE | MIZENER | 40 | 0:13:25 | 0:01:05 | 0:23:04 | 0:00:45 | 0:27:30 | 1:05:48 | BOULDER |
| 2 | AMANDA | TYLER | 32 | 0:13:54 | 0:00:42 | 0:24:45 | 0:00:28 | 0:29:09 | 1:08:56 | BOULDER |
| 3 | SUSIE | WASSON | 44 | 0:12:21 | 0:01:01 | 0:23:44 | 0:00:30 | 0:34:07 | 1:11:40 | SUPERIOR |
| 4 | CELESTA | HOWE | 38 | 0:18:33 | 0:01:34 | 0:25:29 | 0:01:09 | 0:26:44 | 1:13:27 | BOULDER |
| 5 | HEATHER | BONEWITZ | 38 | 0:20:00 | 0:01:01 | 0:24:32 | 0:00:49 | 0:27:12 | 1:13:33 | GOLDEN |
| 6 | ALISON | CONRAD | 37 | 0:16:37 | 0:01:07 | 0:25:07 | 0:00:50 | 0:29:59 | 1:13:37 | EVERGREEN |
| 7 | CLARE | SHEMETA | 53 | 0:15:16 | 0:00:53 | 0:29:13 | 0:00:53 | 0:30:47 | 1:16:59 | BOULDER |
| 8 | SUSAN | BAUTTS | 33 | 0:17:13 | 0:00:58 | 0:27:52 | 0:00:38 | 0:31:56 | 1:18:34 | BOULDER |
| 9 | ANN | CHEVALIER | 38 | 0:17:44 | 0:00:50 | 0:28:04 | 0:00:56 | 0:31:40 | 1:19:13 | GOLDEN |
| 10 | LESLIE ANN | LEDDY | 28 | 0:19:01 | 0:02:16 | 0:28:47 | 0:01:18 | 0:28:05 | 1:19:26 | BOULDER |
Top Ten Men
| FIRST NAME | LAST NAME | AGE | SWIM | T1 | RUN | T2 | BIKE | TIME | CITY | |
| 1 | WINFIELD | HARTLEY | 40 | 0:13:21 | 0:00:29 | 0:20:59 | 0:00:36 | 0:25:03 | 1:00:26 | BOULDER |
| 2 | ERIC | COPPOCK | 41 | 0:15:21 | 0:01:26 | 0:21:06 | 0:00:48 | 0:23:07 | 1:01:45 | LONGMONT |
| 3 | ALEX | PARRILLO | 32 | 0:16:58 | 0:01:01 | 0:21:18 | 0:00:26 | 0:24:18 | 1:03:59 | DENVER |
| 4 | BARRY | CULP | 46 | 0:13:47 | 0:01:14 | 0:22:20 | 0:01:41 | 0:25:22 | 1:04:22 | DUBLIN, CA |
| 5 | CHRIS | EWING | 37 | 0:14:01 | 0:01:36 | 0:24:10 | 0:00:58 | 0:24:27 | 1:05:11 | BOULDER |
| 6 | AL | MARVIN | 61 | 0:14:34 | 0:00:54 | 0:24:17 | 0:01:02 | 0:25:44 | 1:06:30 | DENVER |
| 7 | PHILIP | SNYDER | 40 | 0:15:23 | 0:01:24 | 0:22:47 | 0:00:56 | 0:26:43 | 1:07:11 | DENVER |
| 8 | GLENN | DYER | 50 | 0:13:17 | 0:01:10 | 0:24:55 | 0:01:05 | 0:27:42 | 1:08:08 | DENVER |
| 9 | KEVIN | CALLAHAN | 39 | 0:16:08 | 0:00:46 | 0:23:13 | 0:00:41 | 0:28:04 | 1:08:52 | BOULDER |
| 10 | CASEY | FLYNN | 26 | 0:20:30 | 0:01:16 | 0:22:19 | 0:01:18 | 0:26:01 | 1:11:22 | BOULDER |
