Running & Triathlon Updates From Around the Country

Number one on the list is Mike Weinpress completing the Cooperstown Triathlon and finishing first in his age group (60-65)! Congratulations to MW for completing an 800m swim in the 58 degree waters of Oneida Lake! I can only imagine the body parts that froze off as Mike climbed onto his bike. This race was held on June 3.

On June 4 Lou Katz completed the Pittsford Triathlon. It was a cold, rainy day in the Rochester area, the kind of day you can get scared applying the brakes during the bike leg because the roads are so slick. At least this triathlon began with an indoor 300m swim before heading out for the bike and run. Lou finished 6/11 in his age group (60-69), but was actually 3rd in the 65-69 group.

On the opposite side of the country, Forest Grove, Oregon, Jan and I ran a 5k race. It was 85 degrees when the race began at 5pm on May 28. A huge crowd of 71 people showed up to race. I think The Let Freedom Run 5k needs a bit more publicity. I averaged 8:08 per mile and finished 9 overall. Jan was 13th place in 27:58. Kind of slow times to finish that high up in the standings, we both started to wilt in the last mile. The race is almost entirely organized by high school students. They did a great job with the course and volunteers, but forgot about having water on the course, which considering the heat would have been a welcome sight. It was professionally timed, amazing considering the size of the crowd. The race supported awareness of youth trafficking in the greater Portland area.

Exciting news on my return to work; I got a new locker in our college gym! Instead of being in the main locker room with possible overcrowding during semesters with students, I get a more private space. Sometimes being nice to people, such as the equipment manager, can work out well.

Now my locker is so big I can hide inside! It's also in a closed off portion of the locker room so only 25 or so lockers are in there. Most of the time I will have the space to myself, which is cool. The space is supposed to be for visiting teams, but the manager said most of them don't use the area. I get the feeling most students, even the athletes, choose not to shower at school.

Cooperstown, NY

On May 25 Eileen competed in the Cooperstown Triathlon, adding another age group victory and trophy to her awards collection. Eileen and her baseball loving husband visited the Hall of Fame. Below are notes from the trip;

 

Eileen and I went to Cooperstown last weekend for her tri, the Baseball Hall of Fame and hanging out together in a pretty town. It was the Weinpress trifecta. I noticed some similarities between runners and baseball fans/players.

       1.      Both love statistics, records, and data, data, data.

2.      We’ll wait in awful long lines to see our heroes perform or to meet them and get an autograph.

3.      We’ll wear our heroes gear around town except for the pants. We won’t wear baseball pants or the Nike shorts unless we are competing ourselves. Hats, shirts, jackets, etc. we’ll wear anywhere.

4.      We all seem to like adult beverages after our competitions.

5.      Our Halls of Fame are like holy shrines even though it is just a game.

6.      Was anybody as good as “we used to be”?

7.      The older athletes think the new ones “got it made”.” When I was a kid I ran in Converse All Stars and didn’t complain about my shins being fractured in 5 places.”

8.      Our “stuff” is getting more and more expensive.

9.      We waste a lot of money on “stuff” we don’t need.

10.   We all love to run to home.