Sunday, Jan. 13th’s V.I. Duathlon Championship event was a great way to kick off the racing season. There were 41 competitors in total, including 10 women, five teams and at least six off-island athletes. The headwind on the North Shore and the hills on the South Shore were probably quite a shock to visitors.
The race commenced with a one-mile, out-and-back run, lead by a speedy pack of local triathletes. Around the 13-mile east end loop they rode, all vying for the title of V.I. Duathlon champion. Troy Holloway and Wayne Nichols arrived first back at the transition area, with Scott Fricks just 40 seconds behind. Sue Brown was the first female and fifth overall at this point. The next female, Julie Sommer, was over two minutes behind.
The final leg of the duathlon revealed a surprise. Arland Macasieb, a swim coach for Montclaire State University in New Jersey, jumped from fourth place overall to first place during the last loop of the 5K run. His finishing time was 1:08:13. Troy finished in second (1:08:52) and Scott was third (1:09:38).
Sue Brown kept her distance from Julie and they finished first and second, 1:13:18 and 1:14:15 respectively, in the women’s division. Sissel Holloway, posting the fastest run times for individual women, was third in a time of 1:16:23. The relay team of Ana Gutierrez Wittmann and Tom Guthrie was first in their division with a time of 1:10:57.
Some other competitors are worth mentioning as well:
– Whitney Kemper, the oldest competitor in the race, finished 15th overall.
– The youngest competitors of the morning, Cooper Crowther (10year) and Valentino Gario (14year), formed a relay team and both attend the Good Hope School. They were the 2nd place team. Go Falcons!
– David Defour and Glenn Massiah are "pure" cyclists who came out to try something different. We’re hoping that they caught "the bug."
– Jennifer Andrews formed a team with her father-in-law, Mike, and posted a kick-butt cycling time. It’s worth mentioning because Jen is primarily a swimmer.
– Ten Duathletes in Sunday’s race also competed in the Dolphin’s Sea Swim on Saturday.
– Troy Holloway and Sue Brown were named the 2013 VI National Duathlon Champions.
– VITF members Mervin Mills and Julie Sommer were the winners of the raffle prizes.
– The VITF welcomes five new members to the group: Wayne Nichols, Steve Horness, Luke Defour, Shawn Lewis and Bob Dolehide.
The V.I. Cycling Federation will hold its first race of the 2013 season — the East End Loop Time Trial – at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 20. The 13-mile race starts and finishes at Solitude (or whatever it’s called now).
The Virgin Islands Pace Runners will also hold an event at 6 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 20. The MLK Jr. Fort-to-Fort run (25K) starts at Christiansted and finishes in Frederiksted.
