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.