Sunfish Triathlon – Meridian, MS – 7/11/15

This weekend the GCTT made its debut at the Sunfish Triathlon in Meridian, MS. This mid-July race typically brings HOT temperatures and this year’s race was no exception. Even the water temperature was a balmy 92 degrees.

This also marked the 29th running of the very popular Sunfish Triathlon, attracting a fast field of participants from all over the Southeast. The race started with a 1/3 mile swim in beautiful Lake Bonita followed by a 17 mile bike through some very deceiving hills. The event finished with a steamy 5k run around the lake.

A great feature of this race was the $100 cash prize awarded for the fastest participant in each of the three disciplines so even before the starting gun went off the competition was heating up. Rob, Allen, and Sam would all be chasing the swim split since Joey would not be competing (according to Joey it was Rob’s for the taking). Matt was planning to crush the field on the bike. In the absence of Eric the run split would also be up for grabs by the runner who could survive the heat with a swift run. When all the dust settled Sam would take home the cash for the fastest swim edging out Rob by only 21 seconds. Matt narrowly missed the top bike split by the tiniest of margins (8 seconds). The run split was taken with a blazing fast time (albeit questionable, story for another time) of 16:44 by an unknown from Louisiana.

Even with a stacked field the team placed 7 members in the top 22, and 4 in the top 11! Allen would yet again cross the finish line first and take the overall win with a smoking fast time of 1:10:52. This race along with Heatwave marked Allen’s second top podium finish of the year. Johnny grabbed the Grand Masters Title to keep his hot streak going. Doug rebounded from his Texas injury by taking home the Senior Masters trophy. Several others also took home hardware.

Full team results are as follows:

1st – Allen Stanfield, Overall Champion
6th – Sam Hudson, 1st AG
8th – Caleb Earhart, 1st AG
11th – Johnny Harrison, Grand Masters
16th – Rob Felty, 1st AG
21st – Matt Storr, 5th AG
22nd – Kevin Self, 5th AG
30th – Doug Jones, Senior Masters
64th – Terry Bailey, 3rd AG

Awesome job of racing in what proved to be a very fast field!!! Complete results along with video of each participant crossing the finish line can be found here.

Post-race activities included frosty beverages and pizza as well as the always “healthy” Popeye’s fried chicken. A good time was had by all! Next team race will be the all popular Sandestin Tri on August 22nd.

-Kevin

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon  (Chattanooga, TN)

USAT Southeast Region Age-Group Championship

2015 being the third year in existence for the Gulf Coast Triathlon Team (GCTT) and following a great, inaugural team road trip to Central Florida in 2014, GCTT set forth in making plans for crafting such an undertaking into an annual event for the team.  The result of sifting through various race databases, exchanging numerous e-mails, and coordinating a listing of seventeen (of the twenty-two) team members and two team sponsors would not disappoint — a fun-filled trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee for Team Magic’s annual Chattanooga Waterfront Intermediate Distance Triathlon!

Per usual, the organization of the Team Magic events is second to none.  Packet pickup, transition layout, bus service to the swim start, and athlete village traffic flow are all very easy to navigate thanks to race directorship’s fine attention to detail combined with an energetic volunteer force.  These would actually prove to be the simpler aspects of the entire weekend.  Seemingly more effort was expended on planning out how to conveniently transport, entertain, and lodge (in no particular order) seventeen bikes, nineteen men residing across the entirety of the Gulf Coast and a complement amount of transition bags and race gear, a portable chiropractic table, a rental U-Haul trailer, and a fifteen-passenger rental van.

So, with an eclectic spread of digital music and a healthy mix of tales to pass the time the team set out for the Scenic City on Saturday for this Sunday event.  Beyond the routine of packet pickup Saturday afternoon would include half the team enjoying the city’s bike rental program while the other half scoping out portions of the 10k run course; all followed by a feast at Mellow Mushroom and bookended by some scheming around the local Sunday beverage sales restrictions.

Sunday morning would bring near-perfect racing conditions:  a down-current swim in the 80-82F Tennessee River, 65F air temps, negligible wind, clear skies, fantastic road conditions featuring U.S. Highway 27, and a generous amount of shade along the TN Riverwalk run course.

The swim course is a unique point-to-point swim which has somewhat become a hallmark of the Chattanooga events (70.3, Ironman).  Athletes were arranged in order of estimated swim time, submitted upon entry to the event.  GCTT landed around the same grouping of bib numbers (115 - 150 range) which also made for a familiar set of bikes, gear, and athletes in the same vicinity of transition.  As above, the swim was comparatively fast given the down-river direction and a favorable water flow.  Athlete traffic in the water was ideal and easy to navigate.  Just as soon as the entire team was in the water GCTT athletes were slinging themselves out of the water and up the steps into T1.

The bike course is a challenging ride along Highway 27 as it courses North followed by a quick button-hook turnaround and back Southward toward the city.  The back half of this ride made for some fantastic views of the city coupled with some exhilarating speeds (40+ mph) on the bike.  A quick exit ramp jaunt and it was screaming into T2 in preparation for the 10k run.

The run course is a deceptive event for this race.  Apart from the 10k distance being too long to “fake it and hope to make it” like many sprint events (5k runs), this course features some uphill running during the meat of miles one and five.  Beyond that, there is the set of stairs at the 0.5 and 5.5 mile markers.  These hills and stairs made for an challenging run, but a run which really is/was fun especially considering the great aide station support (cold towels, water hose showers, supportive volunteers), the abundant amount of shade, the elevated wood plank path through the heavily-wooded areas, and the counterflow athlete traffic which allowed for scoping out competition and cheering other athletes along.

The post-event festivities were great.  A well-coordinated results display (paper posting and computer screen scrolling), a great selection of food and drink, and a scenic venue which allowed the entire team to enjoy the beautiful weather.

When the final tallies were in, this event would prove that it deserved to be the Southeast Region Age-Group Championship — this was a competitive field.  The GCTT athletes made some proud podium appearances with seven awards for the haul:

Pocreva — 1st AG, Southeast Region AG Champion

Larson — 3rd AG, 10th overall, fastest run of the day

Stanfield — 3rd AG

Hudson — 2nd Masters

Rothfeder — 2nd AG

Walton — 1st AG, Southeast Region AG Champion

Harrison — 1st AG, Southeast Region AG Champion

Full results can be found here:  http://www.amatteroftiming.com/images/results/2015/cwt.html

Rounding out a fun weekend trip, GCTT enjoyed the remainder of Sunday:  relaxing at the outdoor sundeck of the hotel, checking out the various eateries in downtown Chattanooga, using the 24-hour bike rental passes until the last possible moment, some competitive games of ping-pong at Clyde’s On Main, entertaining sing-alongs of some of GCTT’s favorite songs, helping some young co-eds with the portage of their watercraft to their cars, and much, much more…

Thanks again to the fine team sponsors who make these sort of events possible for GCTT and to the folks at Team Magic for hosting such a fantastic race.  Special thanks to Joseph Bolton of Pro Cycle & Tri and Ryan Nobles of Coastal Chiropractic for making the trip with the team, their insight and company made for a great event!

- Evan