Red Hills Triathlon Recap

Red Hills Triathlon - The Toughest Sprint in Florida
1/3 mile swim, 16 mile bike, 5K run

Saturday, April 7, 2012 was the official start to Triathlon season for Triattic. The morning was clear, cool, and filled with excitement at Maclay Gardens Sate Park, the host to the annual Red Hills Triathlon in Tallahassee, FL. Fifteen Triattic athletes took to the starting line and 100% made it to the finish. We had podium finishers, PR races, and first time athletes cross the finish line.

Charlie Johnson had the fastest finishing time for Triattic and Tallahassee, placing 3rd Overall with a time of 1:10:04. Charlie also ran the fastest 5K of the day setting a new personal record for a 5K in triathlon with a time of 17:16 for 5:33/mile.

Two ultra-impressive PR performances came from Keith Rowe competing in the 40 and over Clydesdale division and Wayne Thumm in 40-44 age group. Keith Rowe placed 2nd in his division with a time of 1:23:31, he had the fastest 16 mile bike split for his division with a time of 46:15 with a pace of 20.8 mpg. Keith dropped over 7 minutes off his 2011 Red Hills Triathlon time improving in all disciplines including T1 and T2. Wayne Thumm improved his 2011 Red Hills Triathlon time by a WHOPPING 20-minutes (22 if you count his 2-min penalty from 2011). He improved his swim time by over 5-minutes, that means he dropped his pace from a 2:42/100yds to a 1:45/100yds; that is nearly 1-min per 100. He took off 10-min from the 16 mile bike split, that is a 16% improvement. He also took off over 3 minutes from his 5K run split for an improvement of 1 minute per mile. Way to go guys!

Other top performances came from three first time Red Hills racers and two veterans to the sport and this course. Eric Godin, Jo Curry and Karen Muzon all first time athletes at this event placed in the top 3 in their respective age groups. Eric had the 2nd fastest Triattic time, placing 3rd in the 25-29 age group with a time of 1:18:30. Eric had the2nd fastest swim in the race and the fastest swim for Triattic with a time of 7:14. Eric used his strength to his advantage on the run, he ran down 3 athletes during the 5K moving himself from 6th place to the podium! Jo Curry won the 45-49 age group with a time of 1:31:38. Jo remained near the top in her division for all three sports. She had the 2nd fastest swim, 2nd fastest bike, and the fastest 5K run, passing the leader on the course and winning by nearly 2 minutes. Karen Munoz was also a podium finisher placing 2nd in the 50-54 age group. Karen had the fastest bike split with a time of 56:45. Old time veteran and the oldest athlete to compete at Red Hills; Bob Keller age 78, won 75-79 age group with a time of 2:16:21. Head Coach of Triattic, Sandy Holt placed 1st in the 25-29 age group with a time of 1:22:03. Sandy led her age group from the swim start to the finish line. She had the fastest swim and bike splits and the second fastest 5K run. She opened up a big enough gap on the swim and bike to win her age group by over a minute and a half.

Congratulations to first time triathlon finishers, Al Curry and Carrie Turner. Red Hills Triathlon is no walk in the park for a first time race. Race Website home page reads:
The Toughest Sprint in Florida - Are You Tough Enough?
Clearly these two were!

Another notable finisher in this group was Laura Register. Laura is still new to the sport of triathlon and this was her first time competing at Red Hills. Before this race, Laura struggled with confidence in the water. She has taken the swim portion of triathlon by the reigns!! After finishing this race her facebook status read, “I love triathlons even the swim!!". She was all smiles at this race! Great job Laura on conquering one of your fears and having one of the best days out there!

The last group to send shout outs to is our male 35-39 age group; Michael Holt, Jason Hand and Brian Bazinet. Michael improved his 5K run split from Red Hills 2011 by over a minute for a time of 23:15. Jason coming off and still dealing with achiles injury saw improvements in the sport he can spend the most time – the swim. Brian is another newbie to triathlon competing in his 4th triathlon. Brian blew away his previous 5K time by nearly 3 minutes for a time of 25:42, setting a new 5K PR.

Special thanks must go out to all Triattic supporters and friends. We wouldn’t be here without all the encouragement, help and support you all have given. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Thank you Joan Holt, Phoy Holt, Madison Holt, Cindy Johnson, Joe Johnson, Anna Register, George Palmer, and many more for being on the sidelines and cheering for all of us!

For offical results:
http://www.racesmith.com/results/2012results/RedHillsTriathlon040712ag.html

Race day photos provided by Endurance Imaging:
http://www.backprint.com/view_event.asp?pid=bp%12zNs&eventid=98729