On the evening of Aug. 17, Ken Kruger, four of his Karate North Taekwondo students and two other friends met at City Beach to compete in an informal triathlon.
The seven competitors taking up the challenge ranged in age from 15 to 50 years old. The race consisted of a 350-meter swim, a 10.5-mile bike ride and then a 4.4-mile run.
The swimming leg of the competition was about half of the planned distance due to the heavy wind, which could easily have pushed the competitors off course.
During the bike leg of the race the athletes rode from City Beach out to Tilson Creek and back. The ride out was a quick one, but on the way back they had to face the high winds and it was slower going.
As the racers got back they had to jump off their bikes and quickly head out on foot to “Almost Lindy’s” where they turned around and ran back to City Beach.
The fastest race finisher was Linda Belanger, who ran the race in one hour and 29 minutes. She has competed in several triathlon events and “took it easy” last week to help and encourage the other athletes with the biking and running. Ken Kruger finished second a few minutes later, with Soren Olesen coming in at third place a minute later. The other racers were Gary Hultman, Angelica Moffenbier, Cooper Hedtke and Chad Belanger.
The racers agreed that having another annual triathlon like the Bad-Mo-Gator Triathlon, which was held here for several years in a row about 15 years ago, would be a great addition to the community events that are already held annually.
