March 2009

        In the Bitterroot Athlete Valley

While driving back and forth to Darby switching out clothes at The Right To Bare Arms, I took a few more pics of our beautiful Valley.  Today is a bit drab- rainy and gray Sunday, March 29th.  But, I am sure the upper elevations are getting some good snow!  A great day to be indoors in Hamilton...working on web pages! (Cowie by my side. Finally got him to lay beside me instead of half on my laptop helping me type or on my right arm.)  It is also a good day for making soups. I have a good fat-burning soup recipe for you if you are interested, click here. 

New Walkers Group Tuesdays @ 6:00 PM

March 31st was the beginning of the walkers group.  The chilly weather may have kept some away, but there were four of us to begin: Nikki, Susanne, Judy and I. And I forgot to take a picture!  We had a really nice walk and got pretty warm doing it. We went 2.6 miles in just under 38 minutes and burned 423 calories according to my Garmin. Everyone enjoyed it and said they will be back next week. So next week we expect more people and we will continue the "lively" pace.  Please see the Walkers' Page on the Antara Sports Website under Community.

Saturday Runs @ 8:00

After all the Snow Joke training, the runs have decreased mileage for some.  Elk sightings during one run.  Steve, pictured here-back right, is back to coaching track along with all the other coaches in the Bitterroot.  The chilly spring season sport... I had a great run with runners training for a 5k and 1/2 marathon while visiting family in Stockton, CA.  Talk about not sleeping in, their group meets at 7:00AM on Sunday mornings!  (pictured right-sister & friend Jen) We ran by some beautiful areas...but California still has the traffic, we do not. (Also swam at University of the Pacific's outdoor pool, twice, and worked out at two different gyms, saw niece and nephew's musical comedy production 2.5 times--all in 3.5 days,)

Then while we were running the hills of Hamilton, Matt Guzik was off to his last continental destination marathon, Antartica.  As in the last newsletter showing some Antartic marathoners, Matt experienced the harsh terrain and spring weather of 32 degrees. (Sounds like Hamilton.) It must have been like training here because he came in 3rd overall with a time of 3:19:00.  Good job Matt!   

Other Events

The Roxy fund raiser of The Devil Wears Prada movie was a nice girls gathering with a few familiar vender faces: The Bella women, Claire and Mary; Leslie Drake and Chris Janke selling their own crafted jewelry; Naomie and co-worker from the Boxxe Store; and Peggy from Serendipity... and Antara Sports was there with a display too.  More events will be forthcoming via "Heather" at the Roxy in Hamilton.

There was also the State Masters' Swim Meet at the University Griz pool.  A number of Bitterroot swimmers participated and placed in the State event including Anne & Richard Weber, Tim Miekle, Susie Thomas, Michael Montgomery, Scott..., Norma..., Don Livoni, John Croft and others.  Thirteen people from the Canyons Athletic Club participated. (No pics yet and no good website review....)

A Brief History of Triathlons*

The triathlon season is just beginning to gear up for another season. You will be hearing more about this, since there are a number of triathletes in the Valley.   There is quite a buzz around town when we have the annual (in its 4th year now) Bitterroot Classic Triathlon in Hamilton.  So if you don't know of your orthodontist or local store owner being in the race, your insurance agent probably is.  Next month, I will have a story on Dr. Kirk Crews and Bill Halden who are currently training for the Ironman in Couer d'Alene, June 27th.  Thus, to give you a little background on that upcoming piece, the following is how triathlons came about.

It began in San Diego with Jack Johnston, age 37. He was running to lose weight and had previously been a swimmer in college. He tried a unique event at the time, a "Biathlon," in order to keep motivated. It was a 4.5 mile run and 1/4 mile swim. He came in 14th and really enjoyed the event. The next year he came in in the top ten. Everyone enjoyed it so much so that he thought there should be more races like this. He decided he had to get them going himself. Being a member of the the San Diego Track Club, they helped advertise his "goofy" run and swim race, but suggested he might partner with Don Shanahan. Don had his own ideas and wanted to add a cycling leg to the mix, which didn't thrill Jack since he never biked and didn't own a bike, but welcomed Don's help and input.  The event was a run-bike-swim as opposed to the now swim-bike-run order.   The run was 5 miles, bike-5, and a 600 yard swim.  Forty-six athletes participated in the "Mission Bay Triathlon" on September 25th 1974 and the Triathlon was born.  Results at the bottom**.  (This San Diego Mission Bay sprint triathlon happens to be open for registration now if you might want to sign up for, Oct. 4, 2009.)

In 1978, four years later, the question was endurance...who has the stamina and fitness level to complete three of the longest events in the US and complete them in one day? John Collins (35th-first triathlon) took it to Hawaii.  Three events were combined: The Waikiki Rough Water Swim (2.4 miles), The Oahu Bike Race (112 miles) and The Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles). They became the Ironman Hawaii. Fifteen athletes competed in the first Ironman and 12 crossed the finish line.  In 1982, Julie Moss crawled to finish in 2nd place and interest in the sport exploded.  (A You Tube view of Julie Moss.  She doesn't really like these pics of her, but it sure sparked the public's interest.)

  Antarctic Marathon Official per Matt.

Have a great month and happy fitness.

*Info from:

http://www.dailymile.com/events/5536-mission-bay-triathlon

http://www.runtheplanet.com/resources/historical/triathlonhistory.asp

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/history.htm

**Mission Bay Triathlon, September 25, 1974

1st Bill Phillips 55:44, 2nd Greg Gillaspie 56:49, 3rd Dave Mitchell 56:57, 4th Jim Young 57:05, 5th Gordon Lutes 59:40, 6th Jack Johnstone 62:18, 7th Richard Fleming 64.01, 8th Bob Letson 64:14, 9th Tom Rothhaar 64:26, 10th John Garty 65:31, 11th Dale Larabee 65:44, 12th Bill Lee 66:04, 13th Pain and Gervais 66:04, 14th Ed Gookin 66:04, 15th Joe Bruce 66:41, 16th Pete Negaard 67:29, 17th Mike Welch 67:38, 18th Armen Johnson 67:40, 19th Rubin Collins 68:18, 20th Rick Sacory 68:25, 21st Ed Stalder 68:49, 22nd Ron Sandvick 71:23, 23rd Eileen Water 71:43, 24th Steve Parson 72:44, 25th Dan Abbott 74:05, 26th Greg Holmes 74:39, 27th Bob Holmes 74:40, 28th Flo Squires 74:45, 29th Herman Platzke 75:29, 30th Judy Collins 77:21, 31st Richard Fromen 78:02, 32nd Gail Hanna 78:12, 33rd Kristin Collins 78:56, 34th Michael Collins 79:10, 35th John Collins 79:19, 36th George Moore 79:27, 37th Bob Potthof 81:16, 38th Arne Dixner 81:47, 39th Jim Waters 84:03, 40th Jerry Mailhot 86:15, 41st Donna Gookin 86:52, 42nd Mayanne Garty 89:14, 43rd Joanne Bartlet 89:25, 44th Karen Gookin 90:20, 45th Sharon Buntrock 90:30, 46th Barbara Stalder 94:51.