Kathy Hale opened the 2011 season for the Flyers on a chilly day in mid-April with a 2nd place in her age-group at the Washington Crossing Duathlon. Kathy's splits were 17:50 (2mi run), 2:19 (T1), 38:06 (11mi bike), 1:37 (T2), 26:44 (3.1mi run). Full results can be found here. Great job Kathy!
In late May Gina Calleo completed the Looney – the Jackrabbit Jerseyman Sprint (tri: 0.5 mi swim, 16.4 mi bike, 3.1 mi run) on a beautiful Saturday, followed less than 24 hours later by the Jackrabbit Jerseyman Half (tri: 1.2 mi swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1 mi run) in cool, damp conditions. That same Sunday Nancy Finn braved high temperatures and the toughest 10k in triathlon at the Columbia Triathlon (0.93 mi swim, 25.4 mi bike, 6.2 mi run). Joining Gina at the Jerseyman Half, Peter Christopher and Marc Rothenberg managed to finish before the awards ceremony ended. (Way to go guys.) To be fair to Marc, his bike-split includes changing a flat. Flyers Lee Brush, Lynda Brush, and Gail Cookson volunteered at the Half – keeping traffic in check and the racers on-course.
In June, Peter Christopher and Nancy Finn went head-to-head at the Ironman Eagleman 70.3 (tri: 1.2 mi swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1 mi run). Demonstrating that boys should take nothing for granted, Nancy thumped Peter on the swim and outbiked him as well – averaging 19.35 mph! Ultimately the 90+ degree temperatures took their toll and Peter proved chivalry is dead by narrowly edging Nancy on the run.
Speaking of Columbia, Flyer Cande Olsen appears on their promo video. This is kind of long– she appears at around 8 minutes if you want to fast-forward to her. (By the way, your webmaster appears very briefly at 5:46.)
One week later Bob Sariego scored a fine 4th place in his age-group at the Long Branch Tri Series #1. Especially notable was his 1st place swim and mighty-fast T2. Congratulations Bob. Now get to work on that bike-split!
Later that month Bob scored again, with an excellent 9th place in his age-group at the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon, and Gina Calleo bagged another Big Event, finishing the Tupper Lake Tinman.
On that same weekend Dave and Marian Desimone completed the Doc and Sok Triathlon (results here). Dave had a standout swim – 7th-best out of 247 and they both won their age-groups.
Marcia Postallian kicked off July with a 4th place in her age-group at the RaceVermont.com Sprint Triathlon I (500 yd swim, 15.6 mi bike, 3.1 mi run). Marcia competed in the same age-group as local legend Donna Smyers, (women's 45-49 course record holder at Ironman Lake Placid, and sister of 1995 Hawaii Ironman winner Karen Smyers).
The popular Randolph Lake Triathlon had 11 Flyers (Peter Christopher, Bobi Commer, Freddie Delhaye, Ron Demirjian, Marian Desimone, Nancy Finn, Cande Olsen, Marcia Postallian, Sean Ragiel, Marc Rothenberg, & Bob Sariego) tackling a half-mile non-wetsuit swim, some big hills on a 16.4 mile bike, and an 'interesting' 5k run on a beautiful summer day.
Bob kept up his fine form – with our best bike and run, averaging 20mph and 7:31/mi respectively. Marc came next, on the strength of his Club-best swim. He must have gotten the memo about the importance of transitions, as he had our swiftest T1 and T2.
There were a couple of tight pairings won late in the run: Marcia finished just 11 seconds ahead of Cande, and Marian just 14 seconds ahead of Freddie.
There were several other fine performances: Nancy finished first of our ladies, opening a big (3-minute) gap on the bike that was too much to close. Bobi took 4 minutes off of last year's time – 2 of them with a vastly-improved run. Freddie also took 4 minutes off her last Randolph, with her biggest gains on the bike. Sean had the biggest improvement over last year – 8-minutes (!), taking at least 2 minutes off each split. And congratulations to Ron on his first-ever tri!
One week later 7 Flyers trekked down the Shore for the Long Beach Triathlon & Duathlon Series #2. Members raced in 3 events: Dave & Marian Desimone in the 300 yd/10.6 mi/3 mi short-course triathlon; Gina Calleo and Bob Sariego in the 600 yd/20.6 mi/5 mi run long-course triathlon; and Peter Christopher, Nancy Finn & Cande Olsen in the 2 mi/10.6 mi/3 mi short-course duathlon.
l-r: Nancy Finn, Bob Sariego, Dave "the Situation" Desimone, Peter Christopher, Cande Olsen
Based on average speed, Bob was once again the Fastest Flyer. Gina kept up her string of long-events-as-training, and Dave learned he should do more one-legged drills, as his left crankarm fell off (!) midway through the race. Dave, where do you get your bikes worked on again?
For Nancy and Cande it was their first-ever duathlon, and they made it exciting, racing neck-and-neck most of the way. With the distances skewed towards runners, Cande's better run-splits overcame Nancy's fast bike.
Flyers took part in 2 races on the 3rd weekend in July, and it had to be the hottest weekend of the summer.
Ron Demirjian didn't let any grass grow under his feet, following up his first-ever triathlon with his second in 3 weekends (the New Jersey State Sprint Triathlon: 500 meter swim, 11.5 mi bike, 5k run [results]) in triple digit temperatures.
Peter Christopher, Lou Christou (!), Freddie Delhaye, Dave Desimone, Marian Desimone, and Cande Olsen raced in the the New Jersey State Olympic Triathlon (1500 meter swim, 25.5 mi bike, 10k run [results]) the following day. The heat had abated somewhat, but the low 90s were hot enough!
Lou smoked the run with the fastest split of the bunch. His fast feet kept his glacial transitions from hurting him, and he finished first Flyer. (Finally there's someone who takes longer to put on his shoes than me!) The Desimone family competed admirably: Dave having our best swim and a fine bike; and Marian having the Flyer's next-fastest run. Freddie finished just 1 spot behind Marian in their age-group, Peter had our fastest bike, and Cande won her age-group. As a nice bonus, Ron took photos and the lovely Donna Christou cheered us all on.
Marcia Postallian and Cande Olsen won their age-groups on the first Saturday in August at the Born to Tri Sprint (0.33 mi swim, 12.5 mi bike, 3.1 mi run [results]). Both punched above their weight: birthday-girl Marcia beat all the women in her age-group & the one above by mowing them down with a quick run; and Cande bested two younger age-groups in addition to her own on the strength of a mighty fast bike. Her 19.3 mph bike placed her 2nd among the men!
Emily Lordi and Nancy Marsillo raced in oppressive heat and humidity a day later at the Jersey Girl Triathlon (300 yard swim, 10.5 mi bike, 3 mi run [results]). Both had front-pack swims, and especially notable was Emily's 45 second improvement over last year's run.
Bobi Commer, Gina Calleo, and Marian Desimone raced that same day at the Steelman Triathlon (1.5k swim, 26.9 mi bike, 10k run [results]). Bobi had a solid 4th place in her age-group highlighted by an excellent run. Gina's 9th place in her age-group included a much-improved swim that should give her a lot of confidence leading into Ironman Canada. And Marian took 4 minutes (!) off her 10k time from NJ State just 3 weeks previously.
Bob Sariego kept up his busy summer with a solid top 25% finish that same day at the Nautica New York City Triathlon (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run [results]). After surfing the swift currents of the Hudson Bob suffered a flat on the bike (in the rain), but he followed that up with a nice rally on the run.
Bob Sariego keeps getting faster as evidenced by his fine 3rd place in his age group at the Long Branch Triathlon Series #3 (600 yd swim, 20.6 mi bike, 5 mi run [results]) in mid-August. He took 40 seconds off his time on the same course just one month previously.
Eight Flyers raced in New England on the 3rd weekend of August. On Saturday Jim and Joanne Vanderpoel did their first-ever triathlon(s) at the Timberman Sprint Triathlon in New Hampshire (0.3 mi swim, 15 mi bike, 5k run [results]). Both did a great job, posting nearly identical swim splits, then moving up steadily through the field on dry land. Jim placed 7th in his age-group and will likely be a force in short-course very soon.
On the same day, one state over (VT), Peter Christopher, Cande Olsen, and Marcia Postallian raced at the USAT Olympic Triathlon National Championship (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run [results]). The three were fairly evenly matched, with combined swim- and run-splits within 40 seconds of each other. Peter's "boys" bike-split was enough to get him to the line first, and Cande's balanced race overcame Marcia's quick run. And Cande placed 6th in her age-group and qualified for 2012's ITU World Championships in New Zealand.
On Sunday, back in NH, Peter, Ken Natalie, and Marc Rothenberg raced the Timberman Ironman 70.3 (1.2 mi swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1 mi run [results]). Marc stole the show, being fastest in all 5 splits, finishing the day with an excellent 2:04:45 half-marathon. Peter paid for the previous day's exertions a bit, but wouldn't have had a serious crack at Marc anyhow. Ken completed his first triathlon, and even started in the same wave as 4x Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington. Good for her.
While the rest of us were pumping out our basements thanks to Hurricane Irene, Gina Calleo was racing in the heat and enjoying the beautiful scenery at Ironman Canada (2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike, 26.2 mi run [results]). Gina took advantage of an improving swim, a consistent bike & run, and new big-girl wheels (Zipps) for a solid age-group placing.
What do Clinton, NJ and Beijing, China have in common? Both had Flyers racing on the second weekend of September. In the West, the Skylands Triathlon and Duathlon became two duathlons ("tri": 1.5k run, 14.1 mi bike, 5k run; du: 5k run, 14.1 mi bike, 5k run [results]) as Hurricane Irene made the Spruce Run Reservoir unsuitable for swimming. Kathy Hale raced in the intentional duathlon, and Gail Cookson, Ron Demirjian, Freddie Delhaye, Marcia Postallian, & Bob Sariego raced at the tri-turned-du. Gail, Freddie and Marcia were almost an entire age group, with Marcia taking the win.
In the Far East, Cande Olsen represented Team USA (and the Bedminster Flyers, of course) at the ITU World Championship Grand Final Beijing (1.5k swim, 41k bike, 10k run [results]). She finished 7th in her age-group against athletes representing Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, and New Zealand.
On October 1st, Flyers Cande Olsen and Marcia Postallian won their age-groups in the summer-long New Jersey Multisport Series. Other Flyers in Marcia's age-group were Marian Desimone (2nd) and Freddie Delhaye (7th). I think they're all listed in the wrong age-groups though! Cande's AG can be found here, and Marcia's here. Congratulations all around.
Bob Sariego continued embarrassing the rest of us, notching an age-group win (and an excellent 7th overall) in the Duathlon 2011 at Sandy Hook on a spectacular summer-like day. We're all going to train hard this winter so we can keep up with you in 2012 Bob!
Kathy Hale took an excellent 3rd place in her age-group at the Walpack Wilderness Challenge (6k run, 21k bike, 2k run [results]) in mid-October. Kathy came very close to having the best bike-split in her age-group.
While NJ was receiving an unusual October snow, Marc Rothenberg braved the rain at Ironman 70.3 Miami (1.2 mi swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1 mi run [results]). Marc closed out the race with a stellar 1:58:43 half-marathon.
Peter Christopher closed out the tri-season over Thanksgiving weekend with a finish at Ironman Cozumel (2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike, 26.2 mi run [results]). The bike was tremendously windy with strong rain near the end, and parts of the marathon were flooded ankle-deep. As if the distance wasn't hard enough…