Copperman Results and Photos

Better late than never. The Copperman Triathlon 2007 is now in the books. Early in my event planning for the year, I was worried about how I would respond to doing a sprint triathlon only 13 days after a 1/2 ironman. Much to my surprise I felt pretty good.

That said, I still approached this race as a fun or training opportunity. I was not out to have a PB (personal best) swim time or run time. And given the hill in furthest reaches of the Upper Peninsula Michigan, a PB on the bike was not expected. So onto the results.

The swim was in Lake Fanny Hooe. Water temps was probably high 60's low 70's. This race had about 300 total participants, with just under half competing as teams. I finished the 1/2 mile swim in 16:01, which placed me 28th out of the 112 total male competitors.

As anyone who knows the Keweenaw Peninsula of the UP, it is anything but flat. To a flatlander from Illinois, these were hills. That made for an interesting experience on the bike. It was very nice change of pace from the mostly flat courses around here. One striking observation was the shocking amount of "drafting" that was occurring on the bike. This was not a USA triathlon sanctioned event, but it was startling how much occurred. I myself ended up drafting a little bit if for no other reason that I got boxed in about 4 to 5 times, and didnt have room to clear out for over a mile. I finish the 19 mile bike ride in 53:29, which placed me 29th out of 112. The good news is that averaged close to 21.5 MPH, a personal best, despite the hills.

The 5 mile run course was an excellent combination of gravel trail running with some pavement. Like the bike, it also had its share of hills. I felt relatively strong, so I though I would try to see if I could hold an 8 minute per mile pace. There were not many mile markers, so measuring pace was a challenge. I finished the 5 mile run in 38:10 (~7:51 min/mile), which placed me 31 out of 112.

As you can see in the photo at right, I had a little extra motivation at the end of the race. E came along for the last 25 yards! At the end of the day, I finished the race in 1:47:39, which placed my 21st overall, and 8th within my age group (out of 35). It was a fun race. The people we nice. The camping added an interesting twist to pre and post race activities, but for a sprint tri, it worked out wonderfully.

Peace

full race photos and results can be found here