ITU World Championships

Sorry for taking so long on this, but I was waiting for the 'official' results which after almost 3 weeks, we are all still waiting. So here is what I have, without official results:

Vancouver Canada… a great place to visit and a place that made me feel like I was in a foreign town… a little foreign anyway. We rolled in and got set up in a suite at the Sandman Hotel which was about 1 mile from the race venue at Stanley Park. The race was on Saturday and this was going to be the big ITU World Championships. The stage was set and countries form around the world were here to race. It was great to see athletes form around he world, even the elites like Greg Bennett and Vanessa Fernadez. All the phenomenal short course people were there. But I was more focused on my age group race that was slated for a 9:35am Saturday.

The days leading up were cool (40s-50s) and very wet… that means rain. I rode the course in the rain and knew it would be pretty interesting. The bike course consisted of a 10k course that we would do 4 times. Lots of turns and the road surface was somewhat similar to roads on the south hill of Spokane, i.e. bumpy/patchy. I really did not know how in the world they would get that many athletes on the same course without some congestion. But that was the course and that’s the one that I would be racing on.

At 5:30am my phone rang. Who the heck would be calling on race morning at 5:30am? It was Mark, and he had driven all night to come and watch the race. How cool was that? I know he came up to support me but also be there for Jessi and Emma too during this crazy time. That’s one long drive for a 2 hour race, but he’s one good friend too.


Race morning did not disappoint. It was cool, but dry. However, the wind that picked up race day morning was nothing but amazing. It made 2007 IM Cda swim seem like calm water… seriously. Remember, this was in the Pacific.

It was cold and I was at the race site 1 1⁄2 hours before my race start. I wish I would have been wearing more clothes because it was just too long to be in that cool weather. I have to say a big thank you to Jessi, Mark and Emma for bearing this weather too and not complaining. They just wanted to make sure that I had what I needed. I know they were cold, but they wanted me to be comfortable.

We watched some of the swim and watched the more ‘mature’ women age groups tackling the swim that was shortened to a 1000 meter swim (from a 1500 meter) because of the waves. I was not too excited about that, but again, it’s just the way it goes. Before I headed over to the race start, I was notified that all the starts had been pushed back 1 hour. Crap. That totally messes up your nutritional plan. Not to mention, what happens in an hour? What else will be changed? There were definitely people hypothesizing. One theory was that they were just buying time to figure things out. Other thought they were going to cancel the race and hold it tomorrow morning. I was having flashbacks of the USAT Natz in 2005 in Kansas City, MO, when they cancelled the race because of rain. Not a good feeling.

As my race time was getting closer, I started to head over to the swim start which was about 3⁄4 of a mile from transition. On the way, I ran into some guys in my age group from Team USA that said that the race has been changed. They have cancelled the swim altogether, and now it would be a duathlon in the format of a 3k 40k 10k. My jaw dropped. I could kick the dirt, throw my hands up, yell and scream, but nothing would change. Again, it was what it was. Just like in Treasure Island when they cancelled the swim because of an oil slick, you have to look at what this race ‘looks’ like now. How you can be best prepared for it. You don’t have time to piss and moan. Along with the change in race, they also slid back all start times from 1 hour back to 1 1⁄2 hours back. Since it was so cold, Jessi and Emma went back to the hotel room to get some arm warmers for me. Mind you that the hotel was 1.5 miles away and they were walking. I also needed to think about what I was going to do for nutrition since I was sitting in the cold for an extra hour and a half. It really changes the dynamics of things.

On a side note, I have to say that this was a pathetic decision made by the ITU… just like in Kansas City when USAT made a similar decision they regretted. Because people were not prepared for a swim, it negatively impacted the rest of the age groups. Call it sour grapes, or a negative attitude, but hear me out. They canceled the swim because athletes ‘claimed’ they were suffering from hypothermia. Folks, the water temp did not drop from what was stated in information that was sent to the athletes 6 months prior to the race. We all knew it was going to be a cool swim. It’s the friggin’ northern Pacific in June. And the swim was now 1000 meters. You don’t get hypothermia in 10 minutes in 56 degree water when you are wearing full wetsuits… you just don’t. Do you get cold? Probably. But not hypothermic. I guarantee that if they would have started the male or female age groups in the 20-40 year age groups, the race would have gone on. I think some people’s pride got cold and needed a scapegoat. All of the women/men that ended up doing the whole course said that the water was cool, but not horrible. Nothing different from Oceanside or any other race using the Pacific. This isn’t an everyday triathlon. This is the World Championships. The people racing should be seasoned athletes prepared for all conditions. Argh! I think people got cooler on the bike than on the swim. Okay, there is my rant.

As I sat there with Mark, we hung out with some other TIMEX guys, Ian Ray and Chris Thomas. Two stellar guys that are great athletes. It’s always nice in these situations to kibitz with other people. I think it also dropped down the walls a bit from athletes from other countries. We all now had something to complain about or joke about. We were all triathletes… not duathletes. So we were all a little on our heels and everyone was trying to figure out all the logistics.

Eventually my time was coming, and like every other race, I found myself scrambling 10 minutes prior to my race start with clothes, bathroom, etc. Even with 1 1⁄2 hours of extra prep time, I was still rushed.

I quickly cruised over to the start where many people were waiting for the start of the 35-39 year old age group. Team USA quickly found each other and started making small talk… typical scenario in the ‘pre race’ environment. I was able to find Emma and Jessi on the sideline and give them both a kiss.

Soon the gun went off and we were underway for the first 3k. It started off pretty fast but people were not too aggressive as to where they wanted to be other than this guy from Ireland who was literally grabbing people’s shoulders and pushing people to the side so he could get through. It was literally way too much… he was being an ass and was an embarrassment to their triathlon federation. Other than that, people found the pace they were comfortable running. Ironically, the guy from Ireland was panting like an overweight dog after about 1000 meters and seemed like he was running in reverse. I wish I would have gotten his number to see where he finished, but why waste the time. As we approached the turnaround, things were in a straight line and people were where they were going to be. I made a few more passes and closed in on a few more in the front. I ended up coming in about 30 seconds behind 1st and was 13th into T1. I came out of T1 and started the bike in 7th. So I guess I had a pretty good T1 and a fast mount. But then again, the difference between 8 places was about 8 seconds. Every second counts :)



I started the bike pretty aggressively and thought I would push the pace a bit. I was working hard and dodging people and potholes and hit the first hill at about 4 miles and thought that I was setting a pace that would be tough to follow. Nope, as I hit the hill, 4 guys came around me. What? Are you kidding me? I asked one of the Team USA guys (Jason Schott) if all these guys were just sitting on my wheel. He said, ‘yup.’ Great, I have been pulling these guys from Great Britain, Mexico and other places for the past miles. I thought I would let some of these other guys set the pace for a bit and maintain a ‘legal’ distance back. I wanted to see where these guys were riding… what kind of pace they were capable of. I settled in to their pace and felt that it was not what I would normally ride, but I did not want to go to the front and drag them along for 3 laps. In all honesty, I really did not feel any resentment to the Team USA guys (Jason and Chris) since they were setting the pace as well, but the guys from Mexico and Great Britain just sat on our wheels. It was really frustrating. Once we were into the 3rd lap we caught the leaders who were Craig Greenslit and Andriy Yasterbov. Andriy won IM Wisconsin as a pro and placed in the top 3 at many other IMs while riding for Team TIMEX the last few years. I was surprised to see him racing as an age grouper. Once we caught them, Andriy jumped on our wheels (literally) and sat there. I would not say that if I did not see it for myself or have pictures of it. Kind of frustrating to have a successful professional in the same race as amateurs and then have him sit on our wheels… and my wheel to boot. As we approached T2, and were about 3 miles out, Andriy passed us all and rode away. Craig said that was Andriy, a pro, and had been sitting on my wheel the last lap. What a disappointment. Regardless, we headed down the hill and were about into T2. I could see Andriy approaching the dismount and slowing down. I decided to maintain a little speed and get my feet out of my shoes. In doing so, I passed Andriy and was into T2 before, and incidentally, was first in my age group into T2… cool. There were a few more behind me and we all headed out. I was second out of T2, behind Andriy. And that would be the last I saw of him :).


I was in second and felt my running legs settling in. After about a lap, Craig passed me… then Jason… then Chris. So I was in 4th place at that point. I was running steady and Jason and Chris were not flying away, just running a bit faster. We had to run 3 laps of this course that had multiple out and backs. There were tons of people on this course and you never really knew where you were. People would pass you, but you did not know what lap they were on. Regardless, I was running hard and felt good about what I was doing. I FINALLY was on my 3rd lap and was heading for the finish. As people made the turn for their other laps, I went right on by and headed for the finish. It was great to see that blue carpet which indicated the finish. There were a couple of guys ahead of me, but as I got closer to them I could see that they were in an age group younger than me. When they saw me coming, they sped up in fear that I was in their age group… I wasn’t. In all actuality, I was actually 10 minutes ahead of them :).

I figured after all was said and done, I was in about 6th or 7th place. But after the ‘unofficial results’ were posted, I was in 9th. The results are/were all screwed up because some people only did 2 laps… like the guys who ran 22 minute 10ks and the one guy who ran an 11 minute 10k. That’s faster than people ride! I have combed over the results and splits time and time again, and after looking at them, and knowing where I was in the race and how it unfolded, I feel VERY confident about my assessment. When, and if, the ITU and their timing geniuses get things figured out, we might solve the mystery. Really, it’s not a big deal to me. More frustrating than anything else. To spend as much money as we had to, and to be racing at the World Championships, you would expect that the timing would be something that was dialed in…not a work in progress. This might have been the last ITU World Championships I go to. Thank goodness it was in Vancouver and I did not waste all this time and money going to Australia or Germany or Switzerland. I cannot imagine the frustration that is being felt by those other countries right now. To be a triathlete and to have traveled across the world to race a duathlon where the placing and timing was all screwed up would be too much.

For what was presented, I think I did fine. A little out of my element, but I think I made the best of what was. I could not really push things on the bike and get the gap I needed because of drafting, so I adjusted my plan and hoped that I would be able to run better off the bike. But instead I learned that I run the same even if I go hard on the bike.

Thanks to all the people that came to support me or were out on the course cheering my name. Also, thanks to all of you that were back at home, or anywhere else in the nation, sending texts, voicemails, and emails wishing me well. They were fuel for my soul. Also, a HUGE thanks to Mark for making the trek and the financial commitment to come join in on the fun. And, of course, Jessi and Emma who made this all possible. Without their support, I would be at home :). I love you all!