Race Report: Willard Bay Triathlon

Race Report: Willard Bay Triathlon, Utah

June 5, 2010 – USAT sanctioned event

Sprint and Olympic Distance

By Lora Erickson blonderunner.com

I could not have been more delighted to arrive at the race venue under a clear blue sky. Race events are so enjoyable in beautiful weather and it was certainly that at the first annual Willard Bay Triathlon Sat. June 5, 2010. All the volunteers were workin’ hard finishing setting up the sprint and Olympic distance events offered as part of the Gold Medal Racing Series by On Hill Events. It was fun to see fellow members of the new club Northern Utah Triathletes there setting up their transitions and chatting with friends and listening to the upbeat music playing in the background.

After the race director reviewed the rules and updates about the route athletes headed to the water. Joe (the race director) told me that it was white caps on the other side the night before and a boat had over turned, but not this morning – the water was calm. Also the warm temperatures in Willard had significantly warmed up since the practice swim I had taken just a week earlier (frankly it was surprising to see the water soo much warmer is such a short time!).

Soon the Olympic waves were off. Jason Crompton was the first out of the water leading the men’s Olympic distance event with a great swim split several minutes before another small group of men came out of the water. There were lots of spectators cheering up on the dike and it was easy to see and follow the athletes the entire swim. The sprint distance participants where soon sent off, starting with a men’s wave followed by the women ten minutes later. The water was calm and it wasn’t overly crowed so it was a fairly smooth swim. The transition was set up to the south side of the water and was easy to access.

The bike course was fairly flat and we did have to dismount and remount our bike at an intersection twice for safety reasons. Overall it was well marked and a straight forward rectangle loop. The Olympic distance athletes looped around the bike route twice.

The run was on the gravel road on the dike overlooking the water. This out and back run made it easy to see where you were at in the race as a participant and was also great for spectators. The <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> mosquitoes were not bad at all, so it looks like the abatement team did their job as the race director made all efforts to ensure. I think the race went very smoothly and I would suggest it for anyone looking to do their first openwater event or take on the Olympic distance for the first time. I am happy to report I posted the fastest female run split of the day in the sprint distance (hey they don’t call me Blonde Runner for nothin’). It wasn’t quite enough to get me to the top three so I had to be satisfied with fourth overall female in the Sprint distance event and first female in my division. They provided some sweet prizes with 1^st overall male and female in each event getting a wetsuit from Xterra and trophies for overall three deep with Road ID gift certificates and medals three deep in all age divisions. Thanks for putting on a great event On Hill Events! To learn more visit the event race site at http://www.willardbaytriathlon.com/

Overall Sprint Distance Results:

Male: Weston Woodward 1:01:53

Jesse Dunn 1:04:45

Bryson Garbett 1:07:11

Female: Karen Appleby 1:10:45

StephanieTomlin 1:11:21

Amanda Margulies 1:12:31

Overall Olympic Distance Results:

Male: Jason Crompton 2:04:14

Nathan Baldwin 2:10:30

Tyler Henley 2:15:04

Female: Mandi Janowitz 2:18:28

Amanda Dunlop 2:27:13

Toby Nishikawa 2:36:43

Link to official results: http://www.milliseconds.com/races/detail/1296

Lora Erickson is a competitive runner and triathlete with over 25 years of experience. She ran on scholarship for University of Utah and Utah State University where she was honored as an all-conference runner (top ten of all the Big West colleges). She is the owner of Blonde Runner Health LLC in Bountiful, Utah where she currently resides with her husband and four children and is a USATF certified running coaching. Lora has a true passion for health promotion and loves to see people get started in triathlons. She offers both men and a woman’s complete team training programs. She has also started a Northern Utah Triathletes group. To learn more visit www.blonderunner.com or contact her directly at lora@blonderunner.com.