12th annual Triathlon going strong

Times Reporter   

 

The 12th annual Strathmore Women’s Leaping Dog Racing triathlon was a success for participants and organizers alike. Overall, the event went smoothly according to event coordinator Deanne Jabs.

“It was bit of a disco fusion, especially when you start something new (the duathlon) when you are used to a certain system,” said Jabs

“The duathlon added a new dimension and we did change the run course to allow for more bike paths. The ladies really liked that with less residential and running on sidewalks.”

The only real concern for the event was getting enough volunteers with the racers but they came through and the credit goes to them for all their efforts.

“We had phenomenal help. You can’t say enough about the Town of Strathmore, they really embraced us,” said Jabs.

The race got some international attention with participants coming from Europe and Asia.

“We had participants from Kuwait and France. The Kuwait person had found it on a Google search and planned their vacation around this event,” said Jabs.

“The girl from France is an exchange student that wanted to do the race and she found out that when they picked her up the airport, she entered that morning.”

The girl from Kuwait was appreciative to be in the race that she showed her grate fullness to the volunteers.

“During her run, she was touching every volunteer and thanking them. She was so full of gratitude and being sincere with handshakes,” said Jabs.

Out of all the racers participating, about half of them are new to the triathlon scene.

“I think we had over 70 first timers. Out of 208, 70 first timers is pretty good,” said Jabs.

The race was a great success but like other events can always improve and do some adjustments.

“It was a huge success and we might be switching the race (to) the end of June next year. We are kind of doing some planning right now thinking of doing it a bit earlier,” said Jabs

Hosting the event in Strathmore as opposed to the big city was a benefit to the organizers and athletes because there is less congestion and more track-friendly routes.

“It is not the big city, it does not have a lot of congestion and there is really no problem with traffic. The town starts to embrace it and they enjoy people coming from all over,” said Jabs.

The 2015 race is tentatively slated for June 28.