KP St. Patty's Day Challenge Swim/Run/Swim Duathlon
Great job to all who came out and competed in the first ever KP St. Patty's Day Challenge Swim/Run/Swim Duathlon! It was a fun event and a great workout. A little change of pace is always good. The handicap system worked pretty well, with Mark "The Neo Pro" Ellis working hard through the first two rounds to narrow the gap to the hard charging John "The Brit" Magee. Mark started at the back of the pack, with Mr. Magee going off in the first wave. The first wave went off, then four more waves went off within 11 minutes of Wave 1.
If you missed out on the fun, here is a brief recap of what we did:
Saturday, March 17th - The KP St.Patty Day Swim/Run/Swim Duathlon
We started by setting up a "transition area" for the swim/run transitions. After the transition area was secure, everyone got in a good warm up swim. The Pre-Race vibe was pretty relaxed until John Magee arrived. He came ready to bring his "A" game and not even a young buck like Mark Ellis would deter the confident Magee. Magee is British, but he felt this St. Patrick's Day was his day to shine! An 11 minute head start helped as well, but he used every minute to hold off all challengers for two rounds of a 500 yard swim, followed by a 2 mile run. By the start of the third run, "The Neo Pro" Ellis had taken a narrow lead. Not one to give up a good fight, "The Brit" went out charging on Run #3. The race was incredibly close by the time the two leaders were on there way back on Run #3 (helped by Mr. Ellis waiting at the turnaround), Mr. Magee wasn't about to give in. The two came charging into the finish shoot, with Mr.Magee taking the race at the line in a photo finish. If Mr. Ellis hadn't stopped within steps of the finish, it was sure to be a tie! Mr. Magee was given a $50 Gift Card to Bike Outfitter for the narrow win, while Mr.Ellis took home a $25 Gift Card to the B.O. for 2nd place. Many more "Pots of Gold" were found out on the run course, some with physical challenges, some with sweet treats and some with Gift Cards to Starbucks. The Lucky Leprechon of the day was Balco "Lucky" Stolberg, when his "pot of gold" had a KP Punch Card in it! A nice $150 value! Rumor has it that one "pot of gold" is still out on the trail! Great job to all who came out and joined the fun!
Total race distances: 500 swim/2 mile run x 3 = 1,500 yard swim/6 mile run
***After the Mini Race we went on a 23 mile easy spin ride out to Almaden and back. Just a good spin to shake the legs out.
***Many of the KP Team went over to Bo "not Chavez" Perez's place for a St.Patty Day BBQ. A fun time was had by all. Thanks for being a great host BO!
And of course we have the Prize List Compiled by the Illustrious John Magee:
After asking around I managed to compile a list of all the prizes won. If anyone had any I missed - please email me so I can complete the list.
- A FREE MONTH of Kain - apparently you get December "free"!
- Tempo Running with Mark Ellis - one full hour
- 10 laps of butterfly - with the pool covers on
- Free Entry to UVAS Triathlon (relay only - swim leg)
- A month of PreMasters Swim - Swim from 4.30-6.00 am - a sure fire winter hit
- Free Entry to IronMan Alviso
- Men Only: Getting your BUTT kicked by a girl - Hill Climbing with Tami - hill repeats on 9
- Prevent Chafing - Pete's Vaseline (partly used) - own your own (partly used) World Champions vaseline - dip your fingers where only the world champions have been - a once in a life treat
- A 10 lb bag of Cyto-gu-rade muscle Milk- (sorry only halibut flavor left)
- Licking the melted chocolate coins out of all 12 pots.
For the person who thought they had won of the special lucky prizes in the blue plastic baggies - I am sorry to tell you they were not official Kain prizes but merely contributions to the nitrogen cycle from the Canine population of Los Gatos - I think Rob Pennel - picked up at least three of these thus affecting his run time
Sunday, March 18th - KainIron + 1/2 Iron Team - Time Trial
The KainIron and 1/2 Iron Teams met in Santa Cruz on Sunday, March 18th and completed a 50 mile Time Trial up the coast and back. It was an individual effort, with an aid station at the turnaround at mile 25. Everyone did great battling a tough headwind up the coast, then flying back down the coast. A great tune-up TT for all racing in Oceanside in a couple of weeks. A short run off the bike finished off a great weekend of training and "racing".
