Wednesday, June 11, 2008

NORSA Dominates Yorktown Sprint Triathlon

Yorktown, site of America’s final victory over tyranny and injustice in the Revolutionary War. Now Yorktown is the site of the NORSA Triathlon Team’s victory as well. On June 8, 2008, Setup Events sponsored the eighth triathlon in the Virginia Triathlon Series in Yorktown, VA, on the historic battlegrounds where Cornwallis surrendered. NORSA triathletes Steve and Tom Saffell represented the NORSA Triathlon Team in this event.

The night before the race, lodging in Richmond, VA, was provided by friend and fellow NORSA member, Andrew Latimer. Despite the all-night rap-battle dance-party that happened in the street outside Latimer’s apartment, Steve and Tom were able to get in a solid hour of sleep or two before the race. Waking up at 4:30 a.m., the racers prepped their gear and headed to Yorktown together only to arrive just in time to get their ChampionChip timers and pins for their bibs.


The race began at 7:00 a.m. with a 650 meter swim near the Coleman Bridge which spans the York river, a brackish body of water that meets the Chesapeake Bay. The swim followed the shoreline and cut back to shore where the competitors ran back to the transition area to mount their bikes and hit the bike course. The bike course followed the road alongside the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station and later went through the Colonial National Historical Park. Total mileage was 11.36 miles according to Steve’s bike computer although official race distance stated that the course was 12 miles. The race ended with a 5 kilometer run along the river’s edge with a brutal hill situated just before the halfway mark. By 8:15 a.m., the sun was a 97º slap in the face to the runners and the humidity drained their energy like salt on a slug.


Tom and Steve both finished the race, a feat accomplished by only 525 of the 600 registered racers (73 no-shows and 2 folks were unable to finish). Steve beat his previous year’s record by two minutes with a time of 1:15:06. Tom did well for his second triathlon, finishing up with a time of 2:03:50 – an admirable accomplishment considering he was forced to use the only bike he owned to complete the race which was an old, beat-up mountain bike. Check out the race results at the link provided for the website of the Yorktown Triathlon.


6 comments:

Steve-o said...

In the name of correctiveness, I feel the need to clarify that statement about 527 of 600 people finishing the race. 600 people registered, 73 people didn't show up. Only 3 people who began the race actually failed to finish and an additional 7 were disqualified after running the race.

Steve-o said...

In the name of correctiveness, I must correct my above comment - It looks like only 2 people failed to finish the race and 1 woman lost her chip, but had an end time.

Tom said...

Still, those 73 people didn't actually finish the race - since they never came to participate in the first place. I still mention the DQ'ed people and the woman who lost her chip as finishers. If anything, I should say that only 525 finished the race since I actually give credit for finishing for those who started and failed. Therefore, your comments are more in the name of detail than of correctiveness.

Tom said...

Instead of just replying to your comment in an assholey fashion like I did, I fixed the post to reflect why certain people didn't finish the race, too.

Adam said...

Thank God the zippers on the Team jerseys go down that far.

Tom said...

I'll say! In my defense, however, not only am I a total stud, but also it was hotter than Satan's balls on the surface of the sun that morning.