Kekionga Sprint Triathlon 2012

This year our 4th annual sprint triathlon went official and teamed up with Tri State Triathlon. The decision to do this began back in December when a guy named Derek Wetli gave me a call about our event. He had recently hosted an event at Fox Island and had experience with triathlons. I thought this was the perfect chance for our event to grow and become more legitimate.

The planning carried on all throughout the winter and spring. Derek and I discussed prices, logos, marketing, course maps, and all the logistics that go into hosting one of these events. We set the date for July 21st, $65 for participants, $20 for friends, family, and neighbors. The distance was 630 meters across the lake, 12.6 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. The event was a total success!

Tri State Triathlon made the event entirely legit. They provided signs, bike racks, a transition zone, time chips, road blocks, police, volunteers, swimming caps, and just about anything else you would expect at an official triathlon race. They also brought the bulk of the participants, through their triathlon network. Around 50 seasoned triathletes showed up to the race, some as far as Chicago. Unfortunately we only had 4 participants on our side, (Philip, Shawna, Kelly Bren, and myself) Palmer slept in and missed the entire race. However I was still very excited to see how our tiny event had grown into a well-organized and officially sanctioned race.

A registration table was set at 6am, to hand out packets. We also agreed on allowing same-day entrees for potential neighbors or friends. The Lions Club set up a tent in the front yard, to sell food and drinks. This wasn't a great idea however, since nobody came to eat and hang-out, they just wanted to race. Chick-Filet brought 100 free sandwiches, an amazingly kind gesture. Joseph DeQuis also provided my dad with a free box of wine bottles.

As expected the competition was at an entirely different level, and way beyond my range. The swim began at 8am, as an open start. The water was of course very shallow and mucky due to the drought. Dad was on the pontoon and had a floatilla unit of about 3 to 4 boats. I was able to hang with the pack on the swim, yet would lose them all on the bike.

The biking course was 12.6 miles through the beautiful Aboite countryside. It was a scenic yet very hilly course. Dad and I had rode it twice to get familiar with it. Yet my 21-speed Schwinn bike and amateur cycling experience was no match for the rest. I was quickly passed few miles into the course, and began to fear that I would finish last. I suppose I was just extremely winded from the swim, and especially struggling on the hills. When I finally got the bike course done, I knew I would be bringing up the rear of the race. The run went surprisingly well considering that my legs were jello, and I maintained a decent pace. I ran 29 minutes on the 5k. Derek won the race, at an incredible time of 1:09. I finished 2nd last, in front of KB, with a time of 1:56. It was a little embarrassing however I was happy to finally have the thing finished. Next year I will definitely focus more on my cycling.

Afterwards we had a nice award ceremony, in the backyard on Dad's patio. Derek and his gang of volunteers did such an amazing job at coordinating the event. They passed out water bottles to the top finishers, and had a brief Q&A to see what people thought of the race. Derek had intended for people to hang out all day, yet this didn't quite happen. By about 12 the house was cleared from all the action. This was a perfect chance to shower and rest.

Later that evening however, we moved on to phase 2, our 5pm party. Not expecting a huge turn-out, I decided to get cases of beer instead of a keg. We cooked burgers, hot-dogs, and my mom made her world famous pad thai. The Palmer family came out, and Ryan was very sorry about sleeping in. I wasn't mad and was happy to see him there. Derek brought his family and hung out the entire night. LaMaster also came out to join in on the festivities.

We had a decent turnout of around 30 people, and spent the night outside drinking, listening to music, playing games, laughing, and talking. We played power hour and continued some more games in the garage. Derek made an incredible effort at getting to know our family and friends, and was the last one up with me till 2:30am. We had some good conversation and went for a late night swim. We agreed next year to do it again, keeping just about everything the same. The only difference would be changing the course name to the Sundberg Sprint Triathlon.