Triathlon Racing

This past Saturday, the following seven bovines competed in TBF's first mountain bike duathlon of the season. About 160 athletes competed. There were 50 men in the 30-39 age group; 29 men in the 40-49 age group; and 18 women in the 30-39 age group)

Congratulations everyone. Not a bad way to start off the new year! Also, thanks to Jean-Marc (with wife Diane), Bill Carey, and Tom Work for showing up to volunteer, and to lend support to the herd.

Jackie Wheeler was our lone bovine at the inaugural Stanford Treeathlon sprint-distance triathlon. The format was a 500m Swim / 12 mi Bike / 5k Run. Jackie finished 12th in a field of 40 individual female competitors and 1st of six in her age group. The UCD Women's team took 1st place out of five collegiate teams, and the UCD Men's team took 4th out of five collegiate teams.

Congratulations to Jackie, and to both UCD teams!

Juli Clark was the lone bovine competing in the Strawberry Fields Triathlon in Oxnard. The format was a .25 mi Swim / 12 mi Bike / and 3.1 mi Run.

Juli had an outstanding race as she placed first in her age group (out of 15) with six minutes to spare over the second place finisher.

There were a total of 509 individual competitors including 191 females. Juli finished 29th out of the 191 females and 158th overall.

Alan Schmeiser, took first in his age group (70-74) last weekend at the Tucson Triathlon. The format was an 825 yd Swim / 12 mi Bike / 3 mi Run. Alan was 106th of 154 male competitors and 154th of 325 overall.

In the year's first major qualifying race stateside, we had four Mad Cows who represented us very well. About 1885 athletes toed the line in Oceanside on Saturday in what started out to be very balmy weather.

There were 199 in Chad's age group which put him in the top 2.5%, and top 2% overall. There were 312 in Mike's age group which put him in the top 12.5%, and top 10.5% overall. There were 36 in Cary's age group which put her in the top 17%, and top 39% overall. And, there were 247 in Marvin's age group which put him in the top 72%, and top 65% overall. Very nice representation from everyone! Congratulations to all of these athletes.

About 179 toed the line resulting in the following: Photos courtesy of Paul Dayton - UCD Tri Team.

Long Course: More than 1700 individual competitors participated in the long course at Lake San Antonio on Saturday. We fared extremely well. Lydia won her age group and Steve Caswell finished in the top 6% (18 of 295) in his age group and top 4% of all the amateurs who finished. This course is a tough test. Around 125 did not finish. All five of our athletes had strong finishes. There were 22 in Lydia's age group, 81 in Farran's, and 54 in Juli and Kristen's.

Short Course: More than 2650 individual competitors participated in the Olympic distance race at Lake San Antonio on Sunday . We fared extremely well. Cary won her age group , Denis Honeychuch finished 2nd in his age group, Dennis Prizmich finished in the top 6% (18 of 286) in his age group and top 3% of all the amateurs who finished, and Mike Pugh finished in the top 3% (5 of 193) in his age group and top 2% of all the amateurs who finished. Awards went five deep with half of our athletes taking home awards. There were 51 in Cary's age group, 177 in Pam's, 130 in Elise's, and 32 in Denis' .

Congratulations! P.S. I thought there were others who were planning to race, but didn't see results for them. Let me know if I've missed someone.

This event was held on Saturday. The format was .5 mi Swim / 15 mi Bike / 4 mi Run. There were 47 in Drew's age group and 228 men overall who finished.

Last Sunday was the inaugural race for this event. Approximately 130 athletes finished. One of our newest members - Matt Roper, is a former UCD swimmer and All-American Masters swim champion; and it certainly showed on Sunday. Matt had an amazing 20:42 swim split. Our stalwart - Jan Elsbach, had a predictably strong race. He easily took his (new) age group and 2nd overall. We also had a relay team that finished 1st among eight teams: Sinclair Yeh (run); Paul Dayton (bike); and UCD triathlete Cater Ortolano (swim) produced a 4:46:21 time.

Welcome to the Herd Matt; nice race Jan; and congrats to Sinclair, Paul, and Cater. Hopefully, more members will consider supporting this local race next year. The Belgian Biemar's (Fred and Daphne) relay team 5:50:08.

For those of you who were unaware, the swim for this race was cancelled due to high-water levels, 48 degree water, and debris in the lake. Therefore, a 3k run kicked things off Saturday followed by the usual 56 mi bike and 13.1 run. From my vantage point at the Mad Cow Mile 9/11 aid station, all of our athletes looked to be in pretty good shape. Although, they may tell you differently. Approximately 332 individual participants, including a small pro field, finished this race; and 18 relay teams were in the mix as well.

Farran Briggs and Melia Barnum made their way to Florianopolis this past weekend to race IM Brazil . This race has been growing in popularity over the years, and may be something to consider in the future. Both Farran and Melia had solid performances. Approximately 1100 started this race with fewer than 900 finishing. It must've been a warm one. Of those who finished, there were 26 in Farran's age group and four in Melia's age group.

Congratulations ladies!

Rancho Seco was loaded with bovines this past weekend to kickoff the Tri-4-Fun and Tri-4-Real series. You already know about Saturday's happenings. Here is was went down on Sunday: More than 240 athletes completed this Olympic-distance race which produced four individual Mad Cow podium finishers.

The number of finishers in each age group was the following: 27 in M30-34; 28 in M35-39; 16 in M45-49; 4 in M50-54; 17 in F30-34; and 9 in F40-44. Last, but not least, the Belgian Fries (aka Fred and Daphne Biemar) coed relay team finished in 2:37:40 which placed them 3rd in the category and 107th overall.

The Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. The format for this famed race was a 1.5 mi Swim / 18 mi Bike / 8 mi Run. The swim was from a barge perched along Alcatraz Island to the Marina; the bike was a hilly ride through the streets of S.F.; and enough of the run was on the beach so that your legs got starched. One sure bet: you'll never see me in that water...

Olympic-distance event

With 66-degree water, 4500 feet of climbing on the bike, and a scenic distraction of a run course, Cary Craig had a nice race in Nice (sorry, couldn't resist) finishing second in her age group and 506 of 1100+ who finished this race. There were 10 finishers in her age group.

Congratulations Cary!

Three Mad Cows were among the more than 1700 competitors who hit the water Sunday morning in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. There were 269 in the M30-34 age group, and 266 in the M40-44 age group.

Tiffany Swan made her way north this past weekend to compete in the Pacific Crest Olympic-distance triathlon in Sunriver, OR. There were 50 in her age group and 463 overall.

A few of our teammates stormed into Lubbock over the weekend and left their mark. Diana (pictured at right) will be heading back to Kona and both Audrey and Marianne finished in the top of their respective age group. Unfortunately, Mary had some health issues, but still managed to persevere and finish which is a testament to her toughness. There were 810 who toed the line with 751 who crossed the line. Diana and Audrey had 41 in their age group while Marianne and Mary had 33 in their age group.

The format for this classic event by J&A Productions was a 1.25k swim; 40k bike; and 10k run. It drew more than 1000 individual competitors in addition to relay teams, and over 100 individual collegiate ompetitors. We had Mad Cows representing a few of the race categories. Justin Hurd turned in a very stellar performance. Dennis Prizmich's relay team came strong, and the athletes representing UCD showed very well. UCD also finished 3rd of 4 teams in the combined team division.

What a racing weekend we had, Ranch Seco was awash with Holstein print! Kelly McDonald had a phenomenal performance at Tri for Fun-- 2nd OVERALL finisher! Special congratulations to Janie for her first race, Karin's first Olympic distance and placing 3rd in her division, and Shannon's first triathlon ever! Craig, Lydia, and Jennifer continued to put in award winning performances. Good job everyone! There were 379 finishers.

1286 Finishers

Kristen Nichols ventured east to do this race on Sunday. About 2000 toed the line. Kristen placed 1199th overall and 44 of 93 in her age group.

The Mad Cows were in full force at Sunday's Half-Vineman in Santa Rosa. There were some excellent performances from the Herd. Over 1800 athletes began this race with 1211 male finishers and 501 female finishers. We had six top ten finishers within their respective age group including two on the podium:

The format for this inaugural race held this past Sunday was a .75mi Swim / 16mi Bike / 4mi Run. Five Mad Cows took part with three on the podium. Of the 116 that finished the race, 72 were male and 44 female. Here's how we fared...

More than 400 athletes braved the heat on Saturday to compete in the last installment of this race series. We turned in some fine performances with five of our six Mad Cows taking podium spots.

"Crazy Cows" Brian, Janie, and Steve (left to right) finished a comfortable 7:30 in front of the second-place team, and Paige finished just under nine minutes ahead of the second-place finisher in her age group.

Ron was the lone bovine at this event on Saturday. Around 47 completed this 3-mi. Run / 14-mi. Bike / 3-mi. Run format.

More than 170 turned out on Sunday for the last installment of this race series. Three Mad Cows took podium spots...

5430 is the altitude at which this half-Ironman race takes place, in Boulder, CO. Diana represented us well in her preparation for Kona. There were 554 who crossed the finish line.

Just think what could've been done at sea-level... Nice race Diana!

There were 32 guys who showed up to do this, and 19 gals.

The Davis Kids Triathlon took place on Sunday at the UC Davis Schaal Aquatics Center. All decked out in Mad Calf gear, Anna Park torched the course, and missed first place by five seconds in the 7-8 girls division. There were 111 in the age group. Several other Mad-Calves also raced.

Eric Glaus competed in this classic race over the weekend. This race is a tough test. It consisted of a 1.5 mi Swim / 2.5 mi Run / 13 mi Bike / 7.5 mi Run. The swim was from Alcatraz Island to the Marina; the bike was hilly, and the final run segment took on the infamous "sand ladder." There were close to 250 who finished.

1.5K Swim - 40K Bike - 10K Run

The Herd went nuts early, and often last Sunday. There were bovines everywhere you looked around Lake Natoma. We had the overall inner, seven podium finishers, and finished second in the team competition. Not to ention, everyone looked great in their race gear.

A few things were learned as well. For example, Jen Aguilar proved that a minimalist approach to training can get you on the podium. Bill Carey's fortitude to endure two flats was impressive. Kudos to those who raced injured, or at least, not in race shape all for the benefit of the team. Steve Sexton is a stud. A lot of our athletes appear to have a bright future in the sport. Around 460 finished this race.

Juli Clark competed in the long-course this past Saturday. The format for the long-course was: 1 mi Swim / 34 mi Bike / 10 mi Run. More than 680 crossed the finish line.

There were two Mad Cows who made the trek north for this very popular race in Penticton. About 2245 athletes toed the line on Sunday with 2056 finishing before the 17-hour cutoff.

We had a great showing at the Olympic-distance race this past weekend. Approximately 1116 finished this race.

We had a great showing at the Sprint-distance race this past weekend. Approximately 435 finished this race. The format was .25 mi Swim / 12.4 mi Bike / 2 mi Run.

On a day when close to 400 didn't finish, Steve Caswell hung in there to finish in the top 11% of the 1678 who crossed the line. This was a tough day of racing with unseasonable heat (low 90's) in Madison.

Nice way to end a long season Steve. Now get some rest. Congratulations!

These Mad Cows had great crowd support throughout the day while turning in very respectable performances. Around 138 finished, and 47 did not.

Co-ed Relay:

With perfect weather Saturday, several Mad Cows put in stellar performances in the half-Ironman race. About 301 finished.

Juli Clark competed in this Olympic-distance event where 252 crossed the finish line.

LeAnn Nienow took on the Santa Cruz surf in this classic Olympic-distance race. There were 852 who finished.

Last Saturday, in Incline Village, new member Bob Glynn competed in this race. The format was .5 mi Swim / 21 mi Bike / 3 mi Run. 213 athletes finished this race.

Congratulations Bob, welcome to the Herd!

Last Sunday, this women-only race produced by our friends at TBF Racing, took place in Rancho Seco Park. The format was a .5 mi Swim / 16 mi Bike / 3 mi Run. Our teammates did very well against a field of 305 (including relay teams) who finished this race.

The scene for the coolest event in sports was quite lively last Saturday on the Big Island of Hawaii. More than 1800 competitors took to the water for a swim in the gorgeous waters of Kailua Bay, rode through an unusually calm, but hot, bike ride along the Queen K highway, and ended the day with an exposed run in temperatures close to 90 degrees.

Both Diana and Lydia performed very well ending up with top finishes in their respective age groups.

Another Mad Cow, Paul Deits did not finish the race. However, we were proud to see him toe the line and give it his best effort.

Congratulations Diana, Lydia, and Paul!

Last Sunday, there were a handful of podium finishes from the crew that we had competing in this event at Sacramento's Discovery Park. The format for this race was .5 mi Swim / 15 mi Bike / 3 mi Run with approximately 331 crossing the finish line.

Matt Bunn raced in Panama City on Saturday. There were more than 2100 athletes towing the line at this race.

A handful of bovines made their way to the Bay Area over the weekend.