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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2015)
12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 1, 2015 Polk County Sports Mini: Organizers expect large turnout Continued from Page 10A The race is set to start at 11:30 a.m. July 4 in front of Monmouth City Hall, where entire families and individu- als of all ages are expected to participate. Because July 4 fell on a Saturday this year, Cable is anticipating a big field — and plenty of support from people already lined up to see the parade. He said that is one of the best aspects of the Mini-Marathon. “The cheering crowds along the way and the weather is usually just per- fect,” Cable said. For those who like to do things at the last minute, there’s still time to register for the race. Online registra- tion is available at www.eclecticedgeracing.co m until noon on Thursday. On-site registration will be available on Saturday from 7 to 10:30 a.m. out- side Monmouth City Hall on Main Street. The cost is $15 for adults and $5 for children 10 and younger in advance and $20 for adults and $10 for chil- dren for race-day registra- tion. Age categories range from 9 and younger to 80 and older, so the Mini-Marathon is an event anyone can expe- rience. “We’ve got kids as young as 8 and 9,” Cable said. “It’s such a relatively comfortable distance and is all downhill, so we’ve had runners into their 80s.” Cable ran in the inaugural Mini-Marathon and several years afterward. That ended when he became the coor- dinator, but Cable would like to have the event so well-organized that he could join the field one of these years. “It’s a nice little course and just within my dis- tance,” he said. LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file The Monmouth-Independence Mini-Marathon attracts runners and walkers of all ages. Cause: Triathlon a great accomplishment Continued from Page 10A Sure, it was “just” a short one, but let me tell you: combining swimming, bik- ing and running back to back is tough. Maybe you have to be a little bit nuts to enjoy push- ing yourself physically. My muscles ached. I felt my full weight. I lost my breath and then found it again. As I crossed the finish line, I was pleased with my time, and more pleased with the fact that I didn’t feel dead. Quite the opposite. It all started as a casual throw down to sports editor Lukas Eggen. Hey, Lukas, I said across the newsroom, I’ll train for that triathlon if you will. A brief moment of silence followed before I heard, “Um, OK.” And that was it. We were committed to doing this thing. Our fellow reporter Jolene Guzman promised to show up to take pictures — she can’t swim, so couldn’t join in the fun this year (though she said she’d learn to swim so she can do it with us next year). Couch to triathlete, that was essentially the goal. Was it possible? Lukas and I both found out that it is, and in eight weeks or less. My bike had been propped up against the gar- den shed for two years, and hadn’t been ridden since 2002. I didn’t own a helmet. So off to Veal’s Bikes Plus I headed for a tune-up — and some other improvements — and to get a helmet. I jumped in the water and started swimming laps. I hated swimming. I still don’t like it or enjoy it, but some- where in my training I stopped hating it. Once my bike was ready, it was just a few weeks be- fore the event. Lukas said we were supposed to be brick training — combining two or more of the three events into one workout. Just for fun, I rode 10 miles and ran one and thought I might die. But I didn’t. And that’s one of the things I am most grateful for during this experience. I have run half marathons be- fore. I have hiked out of the Sierra Nevadas in one day when it took us four to hike in. I have done things I didn’t think possible, but training for and completing my first triathlon ranks among the top five toughest physical things I have en- dured. I can’t wait to do it again next year. Independence Sprint Triathlon PHOTOS BY JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer TOP LEFT: Melissa Huber and her son, Gabe Huber, look to finish the 15-mile bike ride strongly during the Inde- pendence Sprint Triathlon. TOP RIGHT: Riley Olson finishes his bike ride during the Independence Sprint Triathlon on Saturday morning. Olson finished the triathlon in 1 hour, 45 minutes and 1 second. LEFT: James Dunning sprints toward the finish of the sprint triathlon. Dunning placed first overall at the In- dependence Sprint Triathlon, finishing with a time of 1:07:06. The sprint triathlon raised money to make improve- ments at the Independence Pool House. Organizer Brian Joynt said the event raised more than $1,000 for improvements. This year’s event featured 25 individual finishers and one relay team from the Monmouth-Inde- pendence YMCA. For full results, see Page 11A. Survive: Finishing leaves smiles all around Continued from Page 10A Once we started the bike ride, I realized the triath- letes I was attempting to keep up with were on a pace far faster than I had ever done. My adrenaline gave way to my legs getting much more tired than they should have been feeling. I realized I had my own battle — find a way to finish. The bike ride did offer one solace. Sprinklers were going off near the road in one of the fields. There was no way I was missing this chance to cool off. The first splash hit me and I felt a refreshing cool- ness. What I failed to notice was there were six or seven more sprinkler heads, re- sulting in my eyes opening just in time to get multiple blasts of water in them and the hope that I wasn’t about to steer off the road. When I finished the bike ride, my legs were tired but I was hopeful. Only 3.1 miles separated me from the finish. For the briefest of mo- ments, I felt a surge of ener- gy and determination enter my body. Unfortunately that surge left as soon as I started to run. My legs felt like weights. I called on the spirit of my cross-country days to help. What can I say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Unsurprisingly, that didn’t work. If the spirit of my cross- country days still exists, it was laughing at me. I didn’t so much finish the run as I did survive it. But, despite being ex- hausted, turning the final corner toward the finish brought another new feeling — exhilaration. There is nothing quite like hearing a crowd cheer for you. Upon crossing the fin- ish, there was an immense sense of pride coupled with the thought that I need water now or I might fall over. Unofficially, my time is 1 hour, 56 minutes and 40 sec- onds, a mark I’m more than happy with. More importantly, the feeling when you finish is unlike any other, almost ad- dicting. And it left me want- ing more. Organizer Brian Joynt did a great job putting on the event and ensuring there was enough water and food for participants after the race. He raised more than $1,000 to help restore the In- dependence pool house. Training for this sprint triathlon has been hard. Sat- urday’s race was more phys- ically draining than pretty much anything I’ve ever done. Yet, it was also ex- tremely gratifying to finish and the sense that you’ve just entered a spot in a club that not many people get to experience. And while the experience led me to question whether I was still a sane human being, leaving the triathlon left me with one last thought — let’s do that again.