Weather dominates headlines during the Hy-Vee Triathlon

 

 

By Dave Mable

 

Race directors have many things to worry about when hosting an event. They hope they have a unique event, an interesting course, a good looking T-shirt, quality awards, accurate timing and scoring, enough participants, etc. But there is one thing, above all, that can make or break the success of any event, and that is the safety of all participants, volunteers, staff and spectators. Even if everything else goes picture perfect, injuries will have any race director tossing and turning for days.

Changing an event due to circumstances out of our control is an agonizing decision for the director and leadership team, even for a small-town, weekend 5K race. When that decision affects the lives of thousands of participants, volunteers, spectators and sponsors, it becomes even more agonizing.

Mother Nature has a way of reminding us of that. Even though we want to be, we really are not in control when an outdoor event is planned.

More than a thousand kids signed up for the Hy-Vee Kids Triathlon on Saturday, June 12. Some had traveled from nearby states.

The kids’ races were scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m., and about 6 a.m. dark clouds moved in over Des Moines. By 7:30 a.m. those clouds were dumping rain at a rate of two inches per hour. Local flooding resulted from the deluge, including most of the venue at Raccoon River Park. The grassy transition area was turned into a boggy, muddy mess; the beach became awash in the torrents rushing to the lake; and the trails used in the race became flooded in pools of water.

After a delay of three hours was not enough to prep the park to
Throughout the day the Hy-Vee crews laid carpet, woodchips and plywood to create a safe venue for both the amateur and elite races on Sunday. At bike check-in on Saturday night, participants began to grasp the challenge left from the deluge in the morning, as they waded through puddles and navigated mud just getting their bikes to the rack.

The local weather websites must have strained under pressure in the wee hours of race-day morning as participants and race leadership checked and rechecked the regional radar. Areas of rain blanketed Nebraska, Kansas and western Iowa, but a gap between two systems gave hope of a dry event. While the bikes were hanging from racks, wetsuits were being donned, and running shoes were carefully placed, Race Director Bill Burke was on the phone with the local National Weather Service. At 5 a.m. the music on the P.A. System stopped and the announcer called for everyone to pay careful attention, as the race director had an important announcement that would affect the race for everyone involved.

In an effort to get every participant through the water and as far through the bike as possible before an impending storm would hit, the race was shortened and the start would change to a one-at-a-time time trial start. A collective and quiet sigh fell upon the crowd. Nearly everyone was disappointed in the change of course, but no one questioned the decision — which must have been a difficult one. As mentioned above, the one thing that can ruin a good race is an injury or death. Lightning, high winds, hail and torrential rain move the odds in the favor of injury.

The time trial start was easy and quick. The last participant hit the water at least 10 minutes prior to the projected last wave was scheduled to swim, and everyone was out of the water long before a strong thunderstorm descended upon West Des Moines. The race went off without a hitch, and all participants made it safely through the swim and bike portion of the race before the storm hit.

Approximately 75 percent of the participants were able to finish the event before the rains hit, and most gathered their belongings and made haste for shelter. For those still at the venue, all the tents were full of wet, soggy — but happy — finishers.
Iowa athletes faired well in the this national caliber race. Though shortened from the Olympic distances of a 1,500 meter swim, 40K bike and 10K run to a sprint of 400 meter swim, 20K bike and 5K run, the competition between athletes remained. There is still one finish line.

The overall victory went to Gavin Anderson of Illinois in a time of 55:27. The next five were all from central Iowa with Patrick Davis of Ames finishing in second in a time of 56:15. He was followed by teammate Chris Vander Linden of Des Moines. Mark Harms, Matt Mingonis and Mike Morrison, all from central Iowa, rounded out the top six and all finished within a minute of Davis.

In the women’s race, Tami Ritchie of Ankeny was the top Iowa athlete, finishing in second, 1:03:00, only eight seconds behind Christine Anderson of Illinois, 1:02:52 (no relation to Gavin Anderson, men’s winner). Des Moines area hopeful Tanelle Berard just missed the top ten, finishing 11th in a time of 1:06:39.

Iowa City native Becky Witinok-Huber is no stranger to the International Triathlon Union (ITU) Olympic style triathlon but is not a regular on the ITU circuit either. Preferring longer, non-drafting triathlons, Witinok-Huber migrated away from the circuit style racing a couple of years ago so she coul

d focus on her dream of winning the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
Almost by accident, Witinok-Huber found herself on the start list of the Hy-Vee ITU Elite World Cup race on June 13.

Witinok-Huber flew home to Iowa City prior to her second Copper Creek Triathlon race, where she is the defending champion. As she flew home from her current residence in Boulder, Colo., she could only bring one bicycle with her. She chose to bring a time trial specific bike, which is not allowed in ITU races, forcing her to borrow a bike for the Hy-Vee Women’s Elite Cup.

Riding a borrowed bike, Witinok-Huber simply hoped to make it to the start of the 10K run, as any rider lapped by the leaders is pulled from the race. A strong swim put her in the third group of cyclists on the 40K cycling leg of the race. Working with the five other women, the group managed to maintain it’s distance behind the leaders and finished the bike leg without being lapped. Once the running shoes were on, it was every woman for herself — and Witinok-Huber set off to run her 10K.

A 10K time of 42:09 was fast enough to put Witinok-Huber in 36th overall place in a total time of 2:07:43, ahead of Sarah McClarty, who led after both the swim and bike legs of the race.

Witinok-Huber prefers the longer races; her third triathlon ever was an Ironman race in Montreal, Quebec. Doing the majority of her training while volunteering in Africa, then 19-year-old Witinok-Huber finished as the top female finisher. While the 2016 Olympics are a distant dream, knocking off a victory in Kona tops the young triathlete’s to-do list.
The rest of 2010 holds at least three half-Ironman distance events, but no more ITU draft-legal races.
”It was great fun!” said Witinok-Huber after Hy-Vee. “I’d forgotten how much fun the draft legal races were. Having such an important race, and so many incredible athletes, made participating in front of my family and friends that much more amazing! Absolutely, I’ll be back!” She said as she prepared to return to Boulder. “The race was first class, and everybody was just so helpful and friendly.”

TJ Tollakson, 29, from Des Moines, is more at home in races not twice, but nearly four times the length of the Olympic distance ITU events. Placing third in his first Ironman race, the Ironman Louisville 2007, he has dedicated himself to a victory in Hawaii. He has since placed second in several Ironman events: Arizona 2008, 2009, Louisville 2008 and Coeur d’Alene 2009.

In spite of his emphasis on distance events, he decided to race at Hy-Vee because of the home court advantage. Confident that his swim would keep him in site of the leaders, he hoped his strong cycling leg would put him in contention for a top finish on the run.

Tollakson exited the water in the final group, nearly a minute behind the lead pack. While on the bike, he rallied the riders with him to work together to chase the front peloton down, and chase they did.With Tollakson providing the majority of the horsepower, his small group of three grew as they would catch a small group or rider in front of them and sweep them into the chase. After two-thirds of the race, they made contact with the lead pack. Tollakson moved up and tucked himself in for the free ride to the bike-to-run transition, hoping to recover from his impressive effort before the 10K run. Tollakson would post the third fastest bike split of the day, covering the 40K in 57:36, a 26 mph average.

It was during the run when he would pay for his efforts, as he struggled to keep pace with the rest of the field. The cheering home-town crowd would bolster him through on every one of the four laps, but the miles would add up. While Tim Don and the other leaders were celebrating their victories, Tollakson rolled through the grandstand section for one more lap. Knowing he would finish, yet knowing there would be no one to catch, Tollakson struggled around the 1.5K course in nearly 15 minutes, finishing in 60th place in a time of 2:07:27 to the cheers of family, friends and fans.

First year pro and Waukee resident Nathan White has seen a great deal of success in the non-draft legal amateur races, but Hy-Vee was his first ITU draft legal race, where the key is to stay with the pack on the swim and the bike until the run, when it becomes a horse race to the finish.

Crowded into the center of the pack on the starting dock, White was prepared for a fast start but not the chaos that soon ensued. He described it as trying to swim through a washing machine while trying to maintain an 18-minute 1,500 meter pace. White was quickly pushed to the back of the pack, as both sides closed in as they approached the first bouy. After the first lap of the two-lap swim, White had fallen several seconds behind. The second lap was one of catch-up, but the pack, fueled by the promise of a $5,000 prize for the first swimmer out of the water, moved ahead.

In a draft-legal triathlon, the key centers around making it into the lead pack of cyclists. White came out of the water a minute and a half behind the leaders as he mounted his bike for the 40K ride. Again, unable to match the packs speed, he found little hope in making up the large deficit. ITU rules do not allow a cyclist to be caught and lapped by the lead pack, and after several laps alone, White had the lead motorcycles coming up from behind. His day was done.

“I’m disappointed, but I’ll move on,” said White after the race. “It was a really big race to have as my first, but I really learned a lot. I’ve got Canada (Coteau Du Lac Pan American Cup, Quebec, June 26) in a couple of weeks, and I feel much more prepared for that, because of what I learned at Hy-Vee.” n
allow the kids to race safely, the very difficult decision was made to cancel all racing events on Saturday.

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