Triathlon mystique comes to Springfield
By Marilyn Osgood-Knight
Of tha Emerald
There’8 more than frost on the
pumpkin to look forward to in
October.
On Sunday, at least 120
athletes, including University
students, faculty and staff, will
compete in the second annual
Oktoberfest Triathlon at the
Willamalane Park and Recrea
tion Fitness Center in Spr
ingfield. Athletes in various
stages of physical conditioning
and mental toughness will face
what many enthusiasts claim is
“the ultimate challenge" — the
triathlon.
This “mini-triathlon,” as
Rich Saxton, event director,
calls it, starts at 7:30 a.m. when
the first heats of a “loop swim”
in Willamalane pool begin the
“final frontier for the aerobic
athlete.”
As Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t
over till it’s over.” Try telling
that to the men, women, and
kids (12 and over) who will
swim a half mile, then grab
their trusty 10-speeds for a brisk
10-mile bicycle race before
climbing into racing flats for a
final 3-mile run along Spr
ingfield streets.
Entrants will chum along a
flat, fast course, dotted with
course marshals and uniformed
police officers at turns and
intersections.
Volunteers are still needed for
each segment of the triathlon,
says Fitness Center attendant
Cathy Hendon. She adds that
any student wishing to cheer on
a friend may call 726-4368 to
volunteer. Each volunteer will
receive a short-sleeve T-shirt
with official emblem from the
event.
This triple-fitness sport has a
special appeal to the student
athlete, who may already be
swimming, biking, running arid
lifting weights, trying to fight
college-induced stress.
In the past four months. Lane
County has seen the Oregon
Triathlon (Cottage Grove in Ju
ly), the YMCA Track Capital
Triathlon (Eugene in August),
and now the Oktoberfest
Triathlon. About 250 in
dividuals and 50 teams took
part in the Y’s open-swim, bike
race and run, according to Rae
Jean Larson, YMCA triathlon
director.
The granddaddy of triathlons
is the Ironman Triathlon World
Championship, which drew
some 3,000 applicants this fall.
About 1,250 athletes competed
in Saturday’s endurance contest
in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
That grueling 2.4-mile swim,
112-mile bike race and
26.2-mile run will be scaled
down considerably for the
Oktoberfest event. Local en
trants, from seasoned profes
sionals looking for personal
bests, to fledgling triathletes
hoping only to finish on their
feet, will become part of the
growing triathlon mystique.
Some say that the triathlon is
rapidly gaining on the
marathon as the “challenge of
the ’80s.”
Triathlons are gaining some
international attention also.
This year’s Ironman in Hawaii
featured, for the first time, an
Eastern Bloc athlete (Vaclav
Vitovec of Czechoslovakia), as
well as entrants from 46 states
and 31 foreign countries.
The course record for last
year’s Octoberfest contest was
1:03.9, set by Jeff Stone of Cor
vallis. “We had a lot of Univer
sity students taking part last
year in our first meet,” says
Hendon. “We think 1984 will
be even heavier for student
athletes.”
Willamalane Parks and
Recreation District is sponsor
ing the triathlon, aided by
Oregon Triathletes and backed
by three commercial sponsors,
including Nike Eugene. The en
try fee is $12 and includes a
long-sleeved shirt as one of the
awards, Hendon says.
Hendon says hardshell
helmets are mandatory for the
bicycle race, and that no sup
port crews will be allowed to
assist any entrant. “Only
triathletes and officials are per
mitted in the bike area (the tran
sition area near the pool exit),”
Continued on Page 6
WW-,
Emerald file photo
After completing a half-mile swim loop, triathlon participants
must finish a ten-mile bike race before the final three-mile run
to the finish line.
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