The annual Turtle Tri took to the oceans, beaches and roads of Grand Cayman on Sunday, drawing large crowds of participants and supporters alike.
Adam enjoyed Cayman Photo: Eugene Bonthuys |
Although the weather was cool and breezy by local standards, the many visitors who came down to participate in the race certainly did not experience it as cool.
With many basing their frame of reference on current winter temperatures in Canada and the US, the weather was truly sweltering.
Heading into the race, a tough battle was expected in the men’s division, with Marius Acker, Jasper Mikkelsen and David Walker favourites to push one another all the way to the line.
The question on everyone’s lips was whether the local contingent would be able to challenge visiting Canadian triathlete Ben Adam.
In the women’s field the weight of local expectation rested on first time Olympic distance competitor Marlene West, with another visiting Canadian triathlete, Kristina Schultz, widely expected to lead the way home.
As defending triathlon world champion in the 35 to 39 age group, Schultz was widely expected to give some of the faster men a run for their money.
A large field took to the water in a single mass start, with sprint distance and Olympic distance athletes taking on the same triangular course, with the Olympic distance group completing the circuit twice.
As in previous editions of the race, the field started breaking up rather quickly as the faster swimmers started to distance themselves from the rest.
With top local swimming talent leading the chase, only the very best could keep up. However the speed of the swimmers seemed to present no challenge to Adam, who made the first group and stuck with them for both laps.
Adam exited the water well clear of all the other individual Olympic distance competitors, almost two minutes ahead of the second swim pack, which contained Acker, Johan Heath, Schultz and another visiting Canadian athlete, Lindsey Affeld.
Walker and Mikkelsen left the water pretty much together, approximately two minutes down on Acker. West exited the water another 90 seconds down on the Walker group, leaving her more than three minutes back on the leading women.
The action shifted to the road as competitors began stalking their prey on the bike course.
The lightning quick transitions of the visiting athletes meant they gained a lot of time in what is often seen as the fourth discipline in triathlon.
Adam built on his lead on the bike leg, carrying an almost four minute lead over Schultz as the top athletes started their second loop on the bike course.
However, Acker was only seconds behind Schultz and hanging on to third place on the road.
Mikkelsen had already managed to make up a bundle of time, trailing Acker by a mere 20 seconds and looking set to have the local lead by the end of the bike leg.
Walker was another 40 seconds back, with Heath steadily losing ground another 30 seconds further behind.
The second lady, Affeld, was a further three minutes behind Heath, with West some five minutes back in third.
Unsurprisingly, Adam was the first individual into transition, almost five and a half minutes in front of Mikkelsen, who had overtaken Schultz and Acker on the second loop of the bike course.
Schultz was hot on his heels, only some 30 seconds back, with Acker another 15 seconds back. Walker was next into transition, a minute back on Acker, with Heath a further three minutes back. Second lady Affeld was five minutes behind Heath, leaving her almost 19 minutes adrift of Schultz.
Although Acker unleashed his usual powerful run, it was Adam who crossed the finish line first, with Acker cruising home as the first local athlete some two minutes back.
Schultz came home as the first lady and third overall, four and a half minutes behind Acker, who had managed to run her down on the final leg.
However, Schultz was no slouch on the run, as she overtook Mikkelsen, who came home as the third male home some 30 seconds behind Schultz.
Affeld ran well to hold on to her second place in the ladies division, crossing the line some five and a half minutes behind Schultz, with West coming home as the first of the local ladies at four and a half minutes back on Affeld.
Race winner Adam found the Turtle Tri a great experience.
‘It was beautiful – definitely one of the best triathlons I’ve ever done. The scenery was amazing. Beautiful weather, great competitors, and everybody’s so friendly,’ said Adam.
Adam and Schultz were sponsored by Niklas Group, a property development company in Canada. They earned their trip the hard way, winning the Lake Chaparral Triathlon in Alberta and thereby earning an all expenses paid trip to race in the Turtle Tri.
‘I am still a student so I wouldn’t be able to afford to come here and do this under normal circumstances so being sponsored to come here to this race is awesome,’ said Adam.
Schultz also made the most of her trip, even attending Taste of Cayman the day before the race.
‘The volunteers were really friendly, the competitors were really friendly, it was a nice relaxed race. I though the race was very well run, and everything was laid out really nicely. All the race goodies were awesome,’ she said.
Acker was happy with his second place finish, as he was aiming for a time of 2:05 for the race and made it in spite of the strong winds.
Even though he suffered a bee sting early in the cycle leg, Acker still managed an excellent ride, leaving himself with little enough work to do on the run leg, at least as far as local competition was concerned.
‘I saw the Canadian just before halfway and realised chances was slim of catching him. My first thought was to take it easy and relax but then decided to just keep running at the same pace,’ said Acker.
In spite of a couple of blisters to remind him of his triathlon efforts, Acker is still intent on defending his half marathon title next month.
Second place woman Affeld was happy with her performance.
‘It was my first Olympic triathlon, but I had a great time. I am a former swimmer and I thought I would give it a try. I’ll be back, and hopefully there is room for improvement,’ she said.
The event was sponsored by Butterfield Bank, Gatorade, Red Sail Sports, Flowers Bottled Water, the Department of Tourism, Progressive Distributors and CayRock 96.5.
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