Second Place Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix!

An amazing day. An unbelievably exciting race experience. An awesome result.

Going into this race I knew the race would be fast, fun and really hard. It was all that but awesome for triathlon, fantastic for elite athletes, and so much more. The vision that Marc Lees has for the Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix will be incredible entertainment for spectators and television viewers. The race format was 300m swim, 5mile bike, 1.5 mile run x2 and no breaks.

The race was in the community of Oceanside at the Pier. It was perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold. There was surf which definitely benefitted those that knew how to read and swim waves and those that felt confident in their swimming abilities. I fell into the later category as I really have not had much experience in the whole wave thing. Apparently I am a quick learner.

The horn blew and we were off – from that moment on it was full on racing. Sara McLarty was phenomenal right from the first swim. She apparently caught a wave that launched just after theturn buoy and rode it practically to the shore amazing spectators. She came out of the water ~40 seconds ahead and maintained that lead for the rest of the race.

The race really became about 2^nd place. Out of the first swim I set the stage for what was to come - I was in second.

The bike course was hotdog shape and we did 8 laps. It was head down, surge out of corners and hard. Coming off the bike Aussie Charlotte McShane launched a terrific speed onto the run quickly followed by Alicia Kaye. I never lost contact but fell into fourth. The ITU racer Takagi from Japan and Ironman superstar Kate Major ran themselves into the race and so our chase pack swelled to 5 women into the 2^nd swim. Richie Cunningham had prepared me mentally for that second swim telling me that it would be super hard but to just get through it. I love a good fight so I did just that. I pushed through a lot of pain and managed to catch up around the buoy. Then a miracle happened – I caught a wave on my way back. I have to say that this was a super cool experience as I had no idea even how to catch a wave. I just kept swimming with it and found myself coming out of the water in second again. Perfect. The second bike was similar to the first in that it was fast and hard. Alicia Kaye caught up to me and we worked together. Kate Major, Takagi, and Michellie Jones were hot on our heels. Getting onto the second run I felt good and my legs were really turning over. I passed Alicia and was running in second up until the last 300m of the last lap. Takagi caught me and Kate and I started to run shoulder to shoulder. Around the last turn though I was in contact with Takagi and I gave it my all. I ran hard, overcame her and sprinted across the line to

take second place. It was absolutely awesome.

The Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix is really like nothing I have experienced before. It was sheer adrenaline from the get go. The coolest part was that it was not just the athletes that had the total high but spectators too. They were on the side cheering their hearts out which spurred each of us on and pushed us to a new level. I can’t thank Marc Lees enough for having such an incredible vision for this race. It takes incredible courage and passion to put on such a class act and Marc obviously has it in spades! Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix 2011 here we come!!!

Acknowledgements for Photos: Sean Watkins Photography, Finishline Multisport, Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix

For Media coverage check out:

http://triathlon.competitor.com/

http://video.competitor.com/2010/11/triathlon/tricenter-super-sprint-tri-grand-prix/?marquee