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Race Within the Race...

Friday, 04 October 2013 05:10

By David Moore

As a longtime age-grouper triathlete here in Minnesota, I’ve always loved the Lake Minnetonka Triathlon in June.  In the past several years, I did it as a relay with my Dad (Joe) on the bike and my boy Peter on the run.  In 2012, my Dad was 80 and Peter was 10, giving us the oldest and youngest competitors in the race.  Since there's almost nobody in the male-relay division, we've won twice....

This year my Dad took a pass, so our relay began with me on the swim, now 11-year-old Peter on the bike, and my 9-year-old boy Alex on the run.  Race director Ross Rogney kindly checked in with me after we registered to be certain that I'd be shadowing the boys on both legs.  (Peter rocked a 48:31 for the 15-mile bike, so needed no help from me!)

The remarkable thing happened on the run.  Being the youngest competitor at the race, Alex was getting lots of encouragement from participants and spectators, and was holding his own for a 24:27 over 5k.  With about 400 meters to go, a very fast woman was about to overtake Alex.  But then she saw him, slowed down, and asked him nicely, "are you going to sprint for the finish?"  Alex looked up, a bit surprised, and said he wasn't sure.  Then she asked brightly, "do you think you're faster than me?"  Alex replied "I don't know!"  And then she said, "let's find out!"

So the two of them took off on a sprint for the finish, with spectators cheering.  With about 20 meters to go, Alex's newfound running-mate backed off the pace and Alex came through with the two-up win.  What a wonderful gesture!

We got to chatting after the race, and the mystery woman turned out to be Lisa Lendway, who won her F30-34 age-group and whose sister Heather won women's overall.  This sort of camaraderie and generosity is one of the things I love about triathlons! - DM