Congratulations to Steve Wright for winning the West Kennebunk Sprint Triathlon on Sunday and taking the 2010 Northeast Junior Development Series title in the process!

Day 2

Just getting home from Timberman 70.3...

Day 2 was a success!

The short of it:

• Nate Buttrick paved the way with a 4:17 which allowed him to take home the win in the M30 - 34 age group category and place 17th overall including the pros! Nate was the 6th AGer to cross the line in today's race. And how about the 21 min. PR he set! That's what I'd call a GOOD day!
  
• Joel Myers finally hit it out of the park and went 4:21! This was the BEST long course result of Joel's career so far. His time was good for 4th overall in the M35 - 39 age group category and 26th overall (including pros).
• Spencer Tweed was the next man in, securing a respectable 4:34 and 4th place overall finish in the M20 - 24 year old age group category. Now that "Spence" is free from the slave labor he called a day job and can train properly, I'm confident that things will only get a lot better for this hard charging young man!
  
• Craig Lewin finished just one spot behind Spencer and also recorded a 4:34. This is a big rebuilding year for Craig thanks to the broken knee he sustained while training for Clearwater back in '08. It's been a slow road to recovery for Craig, but his baseline form is clearly back and his results continue to improve. Another month or so and he'll be right back to par.
• "Working Man" Greg Guariello had a solid day at 4:55. Not bad for a guy who's more or less been living at his office for the past couple of months.
• Keri Boyle suffered a bike crash around mile 15 of the ride but was okay. Too bad her bike is not! But tweaked handlebars and shifters be damned... she still climbed back aboard her maimed steed and was able to salvage her race. About 10 min. off our goal time, but still very respectable @ 5:21. I have to give Keri credit for not packing it in. She was primed to go top 5 in her AG today but the crash knocked her out of contention. I won't argue with a 7th overall finish in the W35 - 39 AG or the tenacity that she displayed today though.

So that's a wrap on this year's Mt.Washington Road Race/Timberman 70.3 weekend. Perhaps next year I won't have to sit on the sidelines! Watching everyone tear it up has been a lot of fun but I'm starting to get a bit envious!

Timberman Results

Day 1

Day 1 of the big weekend is in the books and good news abounds!

• Assistant tri coach Dave Smith, now recovered from the broken collarbone and separated shoulder that put a MAJOR damper on his early summer campaign (and chances for 2010 Hawaii qualification) returned to racing out in Michigan and chalked up a victory in a local Olympic distance race. Nice way to get the second half of the season underway!
  
• U-19 athlete Steve Wright continues to roll! Fresh off a set of HUGE PR performances at Jr. Nationals last weekend, Steve rolled into Timberman sprint today and nearly pulled off the overall victory by riding away from the field and then laying down a PR run that saw him hold onto 1st place overall until just 1/4 mile to go in the race! Results HERE. I think that it's safe to say that Steve has now firmly established himself as the top Jr. in all of New England and that he will be a force to be reckoned with on the elite regional, and before long, elite national stage as well. Good things to come...
  
• A little further north, we had PRs across the board at the Mt. Washington Hill Climb as Thom, Freddy and Dan all executed their game plans flawlessly and set PRs in the process!

Day 1 in the books. Michelle and I leave for Gilford, NH DARK and early tomorrow morning to catch the 70.3. With a little luck, the rest of the crew will throw down and I'll have some more good news to report.

En Fuego

John Babcock wins AGAIN. It was a very tight race with AG super star Chris Thomas, but this time, John managed to come out on top.

Park City Mossman Tri Results

This has definitely been a huge breakout year for John and the good news is that the kid still has PLENTY of room for improvement. I'm looking forward to watching him develop over the course of the next 3 - 5 years as I expect BIG things.

Wright ON!

Congrats to Steve Wright who had the race of his life out at the U19 National Championship in San Diego today!

A HUGE PR swim followed by a dominating bike split allowed him to move through the field (draft legal mind you!) and exit T2 in 3rd place.

Steve certainly turned some heads today and ended up placing 15th overall by the time the dust had settled. He was also the first finisher from the North East Region in the Men's race.

Just wait until he pulls that run around :)

USAT Elite Jr. Nationals Results

GFT Video Teaser!!!

2010 Gloucester Fisherman Triathlon Race Recap

I’ve been training for and competing in triathlons since 1995. Ever since catching the tri “bug” at age 19, it’s been my dream to host a triathlon of our own here in my home town of Gloucester, Massachusetts. That dream came to fruition last year and once again this past Sunday, as my city and I celebrated the 2^nd annual Gloucester Fisherman Triathlon. It was a ton of hard work to pull the race off, but we did it, and enjoyed a spectacular turn out and some tremendous performances by the best pro/elite field to grace the New England sprint triathlon scene this year.

Helping to create and direct a triathlon is one of the most challenging endeavors I have ever faced. Logistically, you must cover all the bases and think of ways to avert all the things that could go wrong before over 800 athletes swim, bike and run throughout the streets of a fairly busy city such as Gloucester. Being a long time athlete myself, my first and foremost concern for the event revolves around safely as the thought of a fellow athlete being injured on our course is something that makes me lose sleep at night. The myriad of emotions that you face leading up to, and following race day leaves you nothing short of exhausted. I often wondered why race directors complained of being sick post race, and now I know (I’m currently dealing with a nasty cold!).

The GFT serves as a fundraiser for the non-profit group I belong to: The Gloucester Fisherman Athletic Association. The GFAA consists of a group of volunteers who pool their collective resources to create events and fund raising drives that raise much needed funds here in Gloucester. These funds are used to offset the athletic “user fees” that our school system must impose upon its student-athletes due to budgetary cuts. The funds are also used to maintain and enhance the athletic fields & facilities that our student-athletes play and compete upon. As a proud graduate of Gloucester High School and someone who benefited tremendously from my experiences as an athlete, I feel that it my obligation to help out the next generation of GHS athletes and saw the creation of the Gloucester Fisherman Triathlon as a chance to do just that.

It was once again a dream come true as I watched hundreds of athletes pour into Gloucester last weekend. Many of them showed up on Saturday to pre-register for the race, and I had the opportunity to lead a training clinic for many of the first timers in attendance who would soon embark on their first triathlon the next morning! I must admit that, due to the combination of fatigue and stress that I had to endure for the weeks leading into this race, I was nearly overtaken with emotion when I first greeted the group and began my talk. Although it may sound a bit corny, I felt incredibly proud of the fact that these people would soon call the GFT their FIRST EVER triathlon. I was also very grateful for their participation as they were directly helping the GFAA in their fund raising efforts by competing in the race.

Michelle and I were up bright (it was actually pitch black at 4:30 a.m.) and early Sunday morning and on the go all day; helping out on the course, running supplies around, directing athletes as they headed out and in on the bike, handing out awards… if you think that competing in a triathlon is hard, try organizing one!

We had some legendary names on hand and the Women’s race was won by none other than the 1995 Hawaii Ironman World Champion, Karen Smyers. Seeing Karen rip through the streets of downtown Gloucester was almost too good to be true. What made it even better was that she was joined by so many other great athletes like former U23 national champ Ethan Brown and about 100 of my friends and acquaintances from around town.

Check out the Gloucester Daily Times’ online edition for a story on the race and all of the great photography and video content that the good people at Good Morning Gloucester provided as well.

Well, that’s a wrap for the 2010 rendition of this year’s GFT. I’m looking forward to next year already!

Janda

What a Weekend

The Gloucester Fisherman Triathlon has come and gone. More to come ASAP (playing catch up with work today) but check out the awesome coverage that Joey and the rest of the crew at Good Morning Gloucester provided for the 2010 rendition of this year's race!!! Gloucester at it's best!

Time for a quick shout out to the crew:

John Babcock continues to roll. Not only did he win, again, but he shattered Jordan Rapp's course record in the process (by a good 2+ min.) at the Niantic Bay Triathlon

I'll be sure to avoid the races that John enters when I return to racing in 2011 :)

Roll Call at the GFT:

Hands down the most competitive sprint event in the North East region so far this year. I'll let the results/splits speak for them selves

Ladies first:

• BIG props to Kerri Boyle! Former mid packer turned elite age grouper. Keri finished as second OVERALL age grouper! She's one year away from being ready for the elite wave and I can't wait to see the day when she joins that group.
• Maris DiTolla: Currently training for IMWI. Tired legs be damned... she still laid down a nasty bike split and finished 2nd overall in her AG, just outside of top 3 OA amateur status.
• Kat Donatello: Who just last week won the Lowell Olympic distance tri. Today she took 2nd in her AG. Kat's just one month removed from IM Austria yet she's still setting PRs on the short course front.
• Kelli "don't call me a body-builder-anymore!" McDonough: Here's an athlete who goes from pro body builder to top AG athlete in 7 months. That's not supposed to happen! Kelli had another PR day and the aerobic engine just keeps getting bigger and bigger!!!
• Melissa Moeckel: Training for a 70.3 but still holding her own despite the training related fatigue.

Boys will be Boys:

• Props to the comeback kid Craig Lewin who is on the road to recovery after breaking his knee nearly 2 years ago. Craig shared the podium with fellow JRM athlete Jeff Donatello as they took the 2nd and 3rd overall amateur titles. Like Kat, Jeff is just one month removed from IM Austria as well. Looks like the legs are starting to come back around again!
• Nate Buttrick and Spencer Tweed: I recommended that they jump into the Pro/Elite field for experience sake and they both held their own. This was nothing more than a tune up race for Timberman 70.3 in weeks time, but they still managed to place 9th and 18th overall respectively. Not too shabby!
  
• Greg "G-Unit" Guarriello: Not quite the day either of us were hoping for, but sometimes, work comes first and Greg has had A LOT of it as of late. (A LOT of) Lost training time + racing don't mix oh so well, but Greg still managed to hold his own and hang in there on a tough day.
• A quick shout out to my brother who competed as part of a relay team. No TT bike, basic aero wheels and the fastest bike split of the day. Granted... no swim or run to contend with, but I think that it's safe to say that the kid has talent, and A LOT of it. If you know anything about some of the guys (and girls!) that were in the race on Sunday, you know that out-splitting them, any way you cut it, on the bike is an impressive feat.
  

Pics and video to come. I'm exhausted from the effort that went into the race but it's a great event and one that is worthy of the sacrifice. I'll do my part to make it bigger and better in 2011 and beyond.

Double Whammy

It's always fun when the athletes you work with do well... especially when they take home top honors in the same race!

I'm very excited about the fact that both Matt Gentile and Kat Donatello took home the victories at this past weekend's Lowell Olympic Distance race.

Matt had a HUGE breakthrough performance and blew the race wide open on the bike. He bested the field by a large margin here (with 2nd fasted bike split going to fellow JRM athlete, and Kat's husband, Jeff Donatello) and went on to lay down a solid run. This is the performance that I've been waiting for Matt to drop for some time now as he has worked very hard this Spring/Summer and it looks like the hard work is paying off!

Kat, coming off of IM Austria just 1 month ago, took home her 2nd ever overall victory by recording a very well balanced and well executed race. Under instruction to "race aggressively" she went for it from the get-go and took the race by 4 seconds as a result.

Results for the race can be found here.

A great day for sure!

Hopefully more to come this weekend; it's Gloucester Triathlon Race Week!!!