Race Previews

Locale Flavour...

Friday, 16 July 2010 15:40

Triathlon turns 25

By Brenda Erdahl Staff Writer

Judy Bowdin has competed in every Annandale triathlon in the event's 25-year history except one.

It wasn't the year she sprained her ankle a few weeks before race day that marred her perfect record.

She still managed the half-mile swim and 22.5-mile bike ride before dropping out prior to the five-mile run.

Nor was it the year a small but noisy thunderstorm took organizers by surprise.

Bowdin (was in the water on the second half of the half-mile swim when a loud clap of thunder and display of lighting shook the sky directly over her head.

"I missed one, but I can't remember why I missed it," she said.

On Sunday, July 18, the 65-year-old Annandale woman (lady in blue in photo) will compete once again.

A member of a three-woman relay team, her job will be to complete the quarter-mile swim, which is the first leg of the race.

"This year will be the easiest I've ever had it," she said.

The first wave of wiry athletes will pour into Pleasant Lake at 8 a.m. Sunday for a half-mile swim.

From there they will transition into a 21-mile bike ride around the countryside followed by a 5.3-mile run ending back at Annandale Municipal Park where they began.

Those taking on the short course will face a quarter-mile swim, a nine-mile bike ride and a 2.5-mile run.

Since the Heart of the Lakes Triathlon got its start in Annandale a quarter century ago, it has earned a reputation as one of Minnesota's largest and favorite races.

Each July it attracts more than 1,000 athletes from around the world, including top-of-the-line runners, swimmers and bikers as host of the Minnesota State Championships.

25-year anniversary

On Sunday, it will celebrate its 25-year anniversary with special artwork and commemorative clothing, race director Jeff Holmberg said.

Snooty Fox Gallery & Gifts in Annandale will also feature the work of artist Jim Rataczak through Labor Day in honor of HOLT's birthday.

Rataczak has designed the famous bird T-shirts and posters since the very first race.

Returning to the course this year with Bowdin will be Tony Schiller of Chanhassen, who's been competing in the Annandale race almost as long as Bowdin.

Schiller held the long course record for 14 years until David Thompson of St. Paul shattered it last July.

Jan Guenther of Long Lake is another famous name among the elite runners in Annandale. She has won the long course title eight times and will back to try her hand at it again this year.

Bowdin was a familiar runner in Annandale before the triathlon even got its start.

Although she was living in Minneapolis at the time, her parents had a cabin on Cedar Lake, and she would visit each August to participate in the Annandale 10K run.

In 1986, Annandale became part of the Northfield Fit-Fest.

According to past Advocate articles, Fit-fest was a series of competitive and non-competitive running, biking, swimming, rollerblading, walking, aerobic and multi-sports events that took place around Minnesota.

Fit-fest organizer Don Haugo thought Annandale, with its lakes and scenic beauty, would be the perfect place for a triathlon, and the tradition was born.

During those first years 300 or 400 athletes participated, said Bowdin, who had no idea how the event would grow.

Over the years she has done the long course, the short course and for the last seven or eight years, she has divided up duties with her relay teammates Laurie Doherty and Renee Wyffels.

She has taken home her share of medals and trophies but said her goal hasn't been to win, just to not come in last.

Sprained ankle

Some of her most memorable races came early in her career, like the time in 1987 when she sprained her ankle in a home plate collision during a softball game a couple weeks before the triathlon.

She still managed to complete most of the race that time to the amazement of her husband, Jerry. She was even quoted in the Advocate afterward, saying "He (Jerry) thinks I'm crazy. He can't understand any of this."

In the 1990s she helped a blind man train for and finish his first swim-run-bike event in Annandale.

Halfway into the quarter-mile swim, Bowdin, who was sticking close to her charge, had to turn them both around because the water was so choppy and he "couldn't see the waves coming at him," she said.

Sometime later they ran across the finish line with him holding onto her arm for guidance.

Bowdin has always been interested in staying physically fit. She started out as a dancer when she was 4 years old and by the time she was a teenager had discovered the joy of running.

She completed three marathons and many other races before deciding to stick mainly to triathlons, the Annandale triathlon in particular.

"I like competition, and I feel better when I can get out and do something," she said.

These days Bowdin feels she still has a few good competitive years left in her.

When she's 70 she might abandon the relay gig and try to take on the entire short course by herself again, she said.

And, who knows, maybe one day she'll give up racing and offer her services as a triathlon volunteer.

Either way, she hopes to be involved with the Annandale event for many years to come.