TRIATHLON UPDATE

The day was set and the athletes were prepared – some more than others. Team Windigo-under 33 led by Elise Dechard is ready to face off Team Windigo-over 33, captained by David Spence. Just one problem, the lake is closed due to failing the water safety test. The organizers decide to change the "Triathlon" into a "Duathlon" (2mi run, 16mi bike, 3mi run). After training several months in the water, swimmers Elise and Cara, now had to run 2 miles! Cara having never ran a day in her life, opted to have Windigo alternate, Mary (David's wife), step in for her. Elise, being the versatile athlete that she is - decides to do the run herself.

At the start of race day at 5:30am the adrenaline was flowing, both teams were fired up - after several cups of coffee of course. Over 250 athletes had showed up to the event, some looking a little more "buff" than others. At 8:00am, the gun is fired and Elise and Mary take off. On the sidelines, the tension was building awaiting the return of the first two competitors. After nearly 20 minutes, Elise comes into sight – barely ahead of Mary who is now sprinting to try and catch up. Greg yells supporting words to his teammate, "you're running too slow!" They both cross the finish line with Elise in front by only three seconds!

Next, Edwin mounts his bike, as Dave and Mary make their transition moments later. This leg of the race, due to its distance, required a bit more patience for the idle team members. Greg decides to do his warm-up at this point and does a quick 1/2 mile run. Pete decides he'll do his warm-up on the course - no sense wasting energy...

51 minutes and 16 miles later, David is back and has passed nearly 50 other cyclists including Edwin. Pete takes off on his 5k run. 11 minutes later, Edwin returns from his ride looking a little frazzled and confused (actually he looks like that most of the time anyway) and Greg begins to run like the wind, knowing that Pete has a considerable lead. Note pre-race calculations have Greg running the 5 k in 24 minutes and Pete in 35 minutes. The odds of Greg winning are in his favor. On paper the 11 minute lead Pete had was not enough to suppress Greg’s speed. The tension at the finish was amplified as every runner passed and every second ticked by. Who's going to finish first?

Pete rounds the final corner (get a doctor, he doesn't look too good!) with Greg nowhere to be found. After running 31 minutes in 95 degree heat, Pete pulled off his personal best on race day – faster than everyone expected including Greg. 5 minutes later Greg – exhausted from trying to catch Pete and hearing Elise at the line yelling "you're running too slow!" – crosses the line, finishing in 24 minutes.

Congratulations to team Windigo >33 winning by 4:24. Afterward, the team donned their post race uniforms and enjoyed a spectacular picnic provided by the City of Bridgeton's Exchange club..

During the Monday morning quarterbacking session however, it was determined that there are still some unanswered questions. Such as, what if the event was still a triathlon? Would Elise have been 4:24 ahead of Cara? Also, can the race winner be determined another way, such as by number of events won instead of overall time? If it is decided by number of events won, then Team Windigo - under 33 is the clear winner, having won 2 out of the 3 events.

Our clients will be relieved to know that the Windigo team is not giving up their day job for triathlons. We'll stick with Architecture. Enough playing, now back to work!

Special thanks to Beth for giving up her morning sleep to provide the photography. She made us actually look good!

Also, thank you to the Spence and Horwitz families for their hospitality and support, and providing all the food, board, transportation, and babysitting!