Crystal River Sprint tri Victory
The Crystal River Sprint Triathlon took place on the Saturday following the 4th of July. 227 athletes registered for the 2nd race in the series and the entire day went very smooth. Everyone had fun and we saw some fast times at the finish. Nat Faulkner from Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada wasn’t bothered by the heat as he took a significant lead during the bike, averaging 26.5 mph, and turned a scorching 56:54 for the course to win the Overall Male Title.
After the great Canada Day celebration… I drove to Albany, (fyi googling Albany airport and driving there will result in a regional jet-free airport, luckily I was far enough ahead of schedule that I could turn around and drive the Albany International Airport) and flew off to Florida for some warm weather training, and a sprint triathlon. Also I
wanted to double check my training venues, and do a little dry run to make sure things would be looking good for September training down here. Of course being able to hang out with Kristen was a bonus.
July 5 there was a 227 person strong sprint tri down in Crystal River that I’d signed up for. I kinda won the swim, usually this is a yes or no type deal, but the first guy skipped a buoy, I caught his feet - he exited the water first, but I ran past him on the beach and was first over the timing mats. Pretty cool.
The bike was flat - which is all able finding a rhythm and going, so I went, turned and came back.
One of the coolest things about triathlons is coming into a completely empty transition area. Sean “that is not a real drumlin” Bechtel gets to do this regularly, but me not so much. I felt great on my tempo run the day before, but after the bike it’s a little harder to keep the pace up. After the first mile things start to roll along a little better, and I had a good tempo on the way home.
Of course I missed the course record by less than a minute, it’s held by 3x world champion Spencer Smith, who did the race with full TT gear… hopefully I will get to take on Spencer at some point.
I got interviewed at the finish, mentioned c3online.ca, gears bike shop, specialized, thanks to Epiccyclesusa.com for lending wheels for me to ride on…. but does he mention those things?
It was really cool seeing dolphins diving around while waiting for the start.
That won’t happen at the Chatham Tri, see you there!
Canadian man wins CR Sprint Triathlon
By Larry Bugg
Nat Faulkner was on fire swimming, biking and running his way to a 56:55 time. The race was at Fort Island Gulf Beach.
“I was hoping to break an hour so I am definitely happy,” said the Bracebridge, Ontario resident. “I like it (at Fort Island Gulf Beach). I like courses where it is steady, like not a lot of short ups and downs. I am used to
swimming in lakes. Seeing dolphins is awesome. I spent 10 years as a professional bike racer. Last winter, I got into triathlons. My goal is to be the top amateur at Ironman Triathlon (in HawaiI) which I qualified for.”
Tampa’s Andres Munera was second with a 59:33.
“I did good,” he said. “This is my fourth year. I have won it. Running is the best part of my competition. I like this race.”
