The Triple T Chronicles, Volume V: The Shawnee Redemption

Greetings and happy Memorial Day, readers. Welcome to the long overdue final installment of the 2009 Triple T Chronicles; I know that you have been waiting with bated breath to hear about the fate of your beloved Spartan racers, so let's get right into the update.

When we last left our intrepid group of triathletes, Saturday evening bedtime was quickly approaching and, while three of the four races of the weekend were in the bag, there was still a decent amount of trepidation about Sunday's challenge. And for good reason; the Triple T website contains the following disclaimer: "Two time Solo Champion, Gordo Byrn, described the last day of the American Triple-T Ohio as the most difficult course he’d ever been on in his career." With this statement from the co-author of Going Long bouncing around inside our skulls, we all slept like fallen angels and awoke early Sunday morning, checked out of our hotel, and headed to the fog of Shawnee State Forest for the final time. The mood in transition on Sunday morning was a smidge different than Friday afternoon (namely lacking in humor, happiness, and talking in general), but after setting everything up and heading down to the beach there was nothing left to do but our cheer and one last race.

When we finished our cheer on Sunday morning, some joker responded with, "Go Buckeyes!" I proceeded to go playfully shove him around a little bit and he popped me in the mouth with his forearm. Typical Buckeye fan behavior.

On Sunday morning of Triple T weekend, the racers cover 69.8 miles (1.2 mile swim, 55.5 mile bike, 13.1 mile run); I won't provide any more description of the race than that because it is impossible to convey the singularly unique place that everyone is in both mentally and physically for the entirety of Sunday's race. One of the bikers I rode with for a little bit probably said it the best; after I said something to the effect of "I forgot that this is a 'do what you can' race", he responded with the following wisdom: "Get to the line, man." There are no words to fully describe the feeling of immense accomplishment, relief, and humility that occur when you finally do get to the line, but it probably comes close to this:

If you don't understand this reference, shame on you.

In the end, the weekend was a huge success; all 14 racers completed every single race and many even won hardware for being top three in their age group. Here are the times and some photos from the final race:

Tim Fredricks ~ 5:26:05 (43rd)
Clemens Drenowatz ~ 5:39:05 (60th)
Greg Boyd ~ 5:58:20 (92nd)
Team McCallum (Josh Mc. & Jeremy) ~ 6:30:33 (161st/162nd)
Team Hollywood (Josh Ma. & Alex) ~ 6:31:23 (163rd/164th)
Team Misfit Toys (Scott & Eric) ~ 6:51:28 (197th/198th)
Team Squid Butter (Nancy & Alissa) ~ 7:17:48 (235th/236th)
Julia Jones ~ 8:09:23 (288th)
Team Triathlon is Our Victorious Secret (Renee & Kate) ~ 8:39:35 (298th/299th)

Scotty P., Matter, Douglass, and Tingwall heading down the finishing chute.

Nancy and Alissa just after completing the Triple T.

Nine of the fourteen Spartan triathletes who completed the Triple T and their hard-earned hardware.

A huge thank-you goes out to all who came down and supported us this weekend; your cheers and consciousness on the drive home were very much appreciated. I am tremendously proud of everyone who raced this weekend; we all showed the triathlon community (or at least this small, bat-sh*t-crazy sector of the triathlon community) what MSU Tri is all about. That's it for the 2009 Triple T Chronicles; the big question: Will you be a part of the 2010 version?