Triathlon Meeting Friday July 25
A triathlon committee meeting will be held on Friday, July
25th at 6PM at the Chamber of Commerce office. (This is
a date and place change!) This is the "two weeks to go" meeting,
and we'll be reviewing the courses and volunteer assignments.
Of course, we still need volunteers! Especially if you're planning
on racing, please recruit a volunteer (or two). You'll thank
yourself later when you're on the course, wondering why you do it,
and your friend gives you a boost by cheering you on! Contact Fred or Matt as soon as possible.
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Hash Review
On June 17, Striders and Riders hosted its fourth Hash House run.
Pappa Don't Preach was our first live hare and the pack was
constituted of Nuclear Seaman, Just Robert, Just Dave, Just Laura,
and Virgin Evelyn. The pack managed to get very confused, which
delayed them for a while but finally managed to find their way back
to the site of the Spoke 'n' Word, which will be Socorro's new bike
shop.
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Trash Cleanup July 29
Due to the difficulties we've encountered in cleaning up our
adopted section of Hwy 60 (first low turnout, then rain), the
members present at the July meeting voted to try again on July
29th. We'll meet at the east end at 7PM and make our way
west.
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Regular Rides and Runs Around Socorro
These are not SSR-sponsored club events!
- Cycling (Road): MWF 11:30 AM, meet at the IRIS Parking Lot.
- Cycling (MTB): Friday 11:30 AM, meet at the IRIS Parking Lot.
- Running: Sunday social run, meet at Tech pool parking lot, 7AM Sundays.
Like to start a new regular run or ride? Contact Matt Perini to get it listed
here.
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Weekend Results
- 5430 Triathlon
EP and Matt raced the 5430 Triathlon last weekend, a half-ironman
distance race in the Boulder, CO area. (5430 is the elevation of
Boulder in feet.) We expected a large race, probably because of the
media attention any race in triathlon's Mecca generates, but we
discovered a relatively small and personal race of 300. It's also
held three weeks before the more popular, olympic distance, Boulder
Peak Triathlon, and many were probably making plans for the shorter
race instead.
EP's wetsuit zipper broke, and so he was one of the three people to
go without wetsuits on the two-lap swim, which was broken up with a
100 yard run on the beach. The bike course was an out-and-back
ride, following the foothills of the Front Range for about 15
miles, then flat for a while with hilly out-and-back sections
interspersed, and then we returned to Boulder along the
foothills. It was nice to ride on smooth roads for once, but the
volume of traffic was impressive, and cutting across two busy lanes
can be a race in itself! The view of the mountains from the course
was amazing, and made the 56-mile trip worth it. We arrived back at
the transition area for the two-lap run around the Boulder
Reservoir within 25 minutes of each other.
Matt's hopes of breaking 6 hours died on the first lap of the
half-marathon, as the lower-90's heat built up and he discovered
hills on the supposedly flat run course. Both of us trotted through
the course, taking time to rehydrate and cool down at the
well-stocked aid stations, which were placed every mile on the
course. Toward the end of the race, the normal afternoon cloud
cover came up, reducing the dehydration, and we were able to run
more. Former World Champion Siri Lindley was announcing finishers,
cheering each of us on; Matt's final time was 6:25, and EP's was
7:25. Other New Mexicans in the race included John Stermer of Las
Cruces, who won his age group in 5:18, and Taz Shurman of El Prado,
who won her age group in 5:13.
We both came away from this race happy and satisfied. We were
disappointed when the Clydesdale division was removed at the last
minute, and Matt had his usual grumbles about drafting and
unauthorized assistance on the course, but both of us would do this
race again.
- Burn Lake Duathlon
Robert Abernathy and Mike Montoya raced the Burn Lake
Duathlon, a 5K/28-mile/5K race in Las Cruces on
Saturday. Mike won the male elite category with a time of
1:57; Robert finished in 2:32.
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