SwimBikeRunStLouis

2002 Lake St Louis Triathlon

Aug. 31, 2002   The Lake St. Louis Triathlon was held today and in many ways it was a day of concerns.  The event itself anticipated a field of athletes the size of which it hadn’t hosted for many years. The athletes coped with issues that varied from trivial to profound.   The spectators had significant others to exude moral support towards.   Volunteers would have simultaneous races at one point to coordinate.  Sponsors looked for bang for the buck.  The mayor watched all with civic mindedness. And Mike Bub faced Mark Gowler.

            On a day that weather–wise held all the promise in the world, the 1000 or so athletes and a crowd two times over, convened at the St. Joseph Hospital parking lot to have a go at the big lake this year.  This change of venue brought with it both natural splendor and traffic snarl.  If only we could build an eclectic course with the best features of this site and of the smaller Lake St Louise. 

On the plus side, spectators with rewarded with a swim start vantage point that was spectacular, and a long transition run from water to racks that was viewer friendly as well.  On the downside, funneling T1 and T2 from both races out onto an open service road ultimately created less than safe conditions as the combination of vehicles, bikers, and bi-directional runners jockeyed for position in the south lane and shoulder.   Ideally, LSL could have closed both or at minimum one lane of the service road to cars.

The early morning cool that greeted all was eventually replaced by mid 80-degree warmth, but the weather was not the only thing on the racers’ minds as they set up.  Questions abounded in the nicely fenced transition area like :  Ok, now which way is in and which is out again?  Should I wear my wetsuit?  Will this Mylar balloon help me spot my bike?

Nervous excitement was painted all over the triathletes.  The adrenalin flowed and for good reason.  A little divergence from the racecourse of previous years brought with it a welcomed freshness.  Stronger sponsorship and a continued commitment to the event by the City of LSL brought hope.  Friends and family delivered needed encouragement to athletes who encompassed a wide range of backgrounds and triathlon experience.

After paying patriotic respects with the national anthem, the first wave blasted off to loud cheer.  A lot of the swimmers opted for wetsuits, though water conditions didn’t necessitate them.  I didn’t hear of the water temperature, but I’m inclined to believe that USAT probably wouldn’t have sanctioned the neoprene.

The first wave contained all the serious male race challengers and a few hopefuls.  Mike Bub was in the water looking to defend his two-year rule, Mark Gowler was hoping to carry his winning momentum forward, and Ben Nelms,  fresh off of a 2^nd overall at half-iron distance was ready to make a run.  While those three are indeed excellent swimmers, it probably came as no surprise to any of them that they would eventually be beaten out of the water by 14 year old wunderkind, Kevin Capps.  But with a wealth of experience to draw upon, the trio knew that the race could be lost but rarely won on the swim.

As the first swimmers rounded the last buoy and headed for shore, the waiting crowd lined the chute that led up the long hill and fed into the transition area.  The athletes were helped along this carpeted climb by marvelous calls of support.  At waters edge, however, the volunteers grappled with the task of reading race numbers hidden by wetsuits.   That unplanned for contingency, should be addressed more adroitly next year.

Once out on the bike course, Mark Gowler (photo) immediately went to the front and established a lead.  His preexisting prowess on the bike may have been enhanced this season by a stint on a cycling team.  That’s not what the rest of the field needed.  Mark put his head down and hammered out a three-minute cushion over second.

The chase group shifted around a bit, but when it was said and done, the defending champ was running third and his good friend Nelms was up in second.  That eventually went on to become the finishing order.  Gowler crossed the line in 1:33:19 with Nelms at 1:37:06 and Bub just behind in 1:37:28.

Gowler succeeded in garnering his third local title this summer when added to his wins at Babler and Wood River.  It became in essence a coming to full circle from nearly  two decades ago when Gowler notched back-to-back LSL wins in ’84 and ‘85.  When asked about Gowler’s performance, both Bub and Nelms marveled at the 45 year old’s fitness level.

The lady’s race became a matter of Dee Dee Kohn emerging from the lake in 14^th position, and then proceeding to put on a clinic in biking and running with the two fastest women's splits of the day.  Her 1:43:34 finishing time was nearly 3 minutes ahead of Pam Quarenghi.  This gave Dee Dee two in a row and three of the last four at this event.  Quarenghi (pictured), who is in the midst of readying herself for Ironman Hawaii could have begged off with her focus being on Kona, but I’m certain she wouldn’t have minded adding this trophy to her overall wins at Ironhorse and Rec-Plex this year.  Kohn, for her part at 39 years of age, echoed the theme played out by Gowler on the men’s side by not deferring to the youth movement just yet.   Experience is proving to be meaningful at local triathlons.

The short course saw Eva Gerhardt follow up her Wood River win with a convincing 4-minute margin of victory here.  Sixteen year old Christian Wenger of Louisville, Kentucky led the men out of the water, fell behind on the bike, then recaptured the lead for good with the number two run split in the men’s short course race.

The human drama extended itself beyond the trophy chase.  The combination of Deeds Fletcher and Kyle Olmstead once again proved fruitful as Fletcher mentored the physically challenged Olmstead to an inspirational, second LSL short course completion in two years.  I'm sure there were a hundreds of other less obvious, unpublicized stories of hurdles crossed and barriers broken among the group of athletes as well.

I don't take pleasure in picking at race shortcomings, but it became painfully apparent all too late that volunteers were needed at all of the run turns when more than a few racers headed off course.  Also, the provisional results when posted, underscored the need to utilize Champion Chip Timing when undertaking an event of this magnitude.  The men’s long course race could have proven more interesting but for the absence of Louis DiGuiseppe and Tim Sandfort, perhaps next year.

In the end, the LSL Triathlon provided for most of its participants an opportunity to simply push their bounds of physical and mental toughness.  For a few, it held the promise of a title.  But I think  for all, it offered a glorious holiday weekend to help define what it means to be a triathlete.

Copyright SwimBikeRunsStLouis 2002-03