Race Coverage

Stevie's Words...

Tuesday, 12 July 2011 03:30

opted for Graniteman in Clearwater. It's a little bit of a drive but I have a friend in Monticello that I stayed with to make it a shorter drive in the morning.

As soon as I stepped out of my friends house that I stayed at I knew this could be an interesting race. The clouds looked ominous and it appeared that something close to "The Nothing" (fancy term from the movie the Never Ending Story) was on the horizon and coming straight towards me. I proceeded to say a quick prayer for good weather and start the drive north to Clearwater. Along the way I kept thinking how images/stories/steve-clock.jpglucky I've been that in nearly five years of racing I've never been rained on more by than a mist on the bike. Just then the rain started. Luckily it was only 6:15 and I thought well, better now than later. Sure enough the rain stopped just before I got to the race. Now it was just a matter of keeping the rain away. Fortunately the rain held off and the race went off without a hitch.

I had no idea who was going to be there besides my friend Ross Weinzierl and Nate Hoffman who were picked to podium. I had a fantastic swim and found myself in second position just a mile or two into the bike. There was a strong cross/head wind that never seemed to give any help. It was hard to get any kind of rhythm but I figured everyone had to deal with the same conditions. As I kept pushing I just couldn't seem to close the quarter mile gap with the guy in front of me. This was a little concerning as I haven't run well this year and my bike is my bread and butter. Slowly but surely I started to reel him in at about mile 6. At mile nine I made the pass and gave him a big "nice work". As I came into T2 I thought the guy in second was Nate Hoffman. If that was the case I could be in trouble because Nate can flat out fly on the run. Luckily I found my legs right away and felt fantastic on the run. At the turn around I had at least 30-40 seconds and I figured I whoever it was hadn't gained anything on me. I pushed hard through the finish and was closely followed by Marcus Stromberg. We congratulated each other and then saw Taggart Downware cross the line for third. Marcus and Taggart had monster races and they really made me work for it.

Another big reason for choosing Graniteman was that I met the race Director Bill Corcoran a few times at other races. Bill is ultra cool and isn't just a race director/triathlete. Bill is a fast race director/triathlete. It's always nice to have a race director who knows the ins and outs of the course. Bill did not disappoint. He ran a nearly flawless race. From the great point to point swim to the most interesting way to give out door prizes I have ever seen to the AWESOME awards nothing was overlooked. Thanks for the great race Bill! - SS

ED. G-Man-Clearwater was Steve's 2nd victory of this season and the 6th of his career.