Thursday, October 2, 2008

USAT Nationals


It was a bit of a gloomy overcast day at Hagg Lake near Portland but with light winds and cooler temps the athletes were pretty happy about the conditions. As for the photogs some better light would have been great but like the athletes we make due with what the day brings.

I had a chance to run the 10K course and swim the 1500m loop the day before the race. The run which is on the 2 loop bike course had 4 meaningful hills in each direction of the out and back route. The water temp was low 70s and they used the mega sized buoys which was awesome for sighting. The water level was significantly lower this year so there was a pretty steep and long run up from the lake to T1.

With everyone racing in their respective age group waves it was hard to track all the athletes I knew but I managed to grab a few shots of some of them and have a 100+ image slide show posted here.

Local athletes Curt, Cathy and Brian had excellent performances, Curt with a 2nd AG finish and capturing the fastest bike split for a second year in a row. Brian was 2nd Master and in the top 10 overall. CY won her AG and posted the 2nd fastest women's time! Also Madison's Mark H and Cindy B had a podium AG finishes plus Cindy had this really huge bag of chocolate trail mix that kept us fueled during the pro races.

I captured a few of the sights and sounds on video below for your viewing pleasure. Off to Dallas this weekend for the Toyota US Open then Kona next weekend to watch the "Big One".

Train safe.