CYCLING SANCTUARY - Spokes Magazine

Local clubs turnout
As usual, the early-season Columbia event attracted a
huge, sell-out field of over 2,000 athletes. Numerous
clubs from the Mid-Maryland Triathlon Club, to the
Annapolis and D.C Tri Clubs, to the Delaware Swim
and Fitness Center and the new, Gaithersburg-based
Moco Multi-sport Club pitched tents and set up postrace
buffets.
Chip Warfel, president of the Mid-Maryland Triathlon
Club, said membership there has just risen over 300
for the first-time ever.
“This is pretty much our ‘home’ course,” Warfel said.
“We had about 80-85 members racing today. We set
up for 120-125, including friends and family. We had
members out here at 4:30 a.m. getting ready.”
Warfel noted that Mid-Maryland attracts members
from not just Howard County, but into Baltimore
and Montgomery County as well. He expects big
Mid-Maryland turnouts for the upcoming Eagleman
Triathlon in Cambridge and the annual late-season
IronGirl race.
“We’ll also have a smaller group doing the Liberty
to Liberty race (New York to Philadelphia) and the
American Triple-T, a three-day race in Ohio,” said
Warfel, among other events.
Warfel said that his main focus over the past two years
as president has been organizing more club training
opportunities. Currently, Mid-Maryland weekday rides
are held every Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, they
put together a run-bike-run session, and on Thursday
mornings they hold open water swims on the Magothy
River in Arnold.
Saturdays and Sundays, they offer long runs and long
bike rides, respectively. And Warfel said, members
contact each other regularly via e-mail and chat and
organize smaller two and three-member workouts,
including swimming at Sandy Point.
The Columbia Tri is also a big event each year for the
Maryland Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma
Foundation’s Team-in-Training. Julie LaFee, a spokesperson
for TNT, said that they brought 26 athletes
to Centennial Park this year, including about 20 who
were attempting their first-ever triathlon. LaFee said,
as a group, those 26 participants raised $95,000 for
the foundation.
“We’ve been doing Columbia for about seven years,”
LaFee said. “We did the Frederick triathlon and have
18 or 19 doing Eagleman. Our biggest event is the
Baltimore Running Festival in October. We also do
the Seagull Century and the Marine Corp Marathon.
And we’ll be back here for IronGirl.” LaFee added
that several TNT slots are still available for most of
those races, some of which are otherwise sold out.
Eric Suro, 29, was one of the Team in Training rookie
triathletes. He said that several co-workers at Black
and Decker in Towson talked him into attempting his
first triathlon. He’s dropped 10 pounds since training
started and said he definitely wanted to tackle more
tri’s, probably sprints, this season.
“I had no idea about how to train for a triathlon and
Team in Training really helped in that regard,” said
Suro, who bought his first road bike shortly before
beginning their regimen seven months ago. He also
added that the fund raising, initially, seemed as daunting
as tackling the triathlon, but the Leukemia and
Lymphoma Foundation helped him get a strong start
there as well.
Washington, D.C., grabbed second, third and fourth,
respectively, among the amateur men.
Lou Cookson, 60, of Hampton, N.J., in 2:37:43, won
the Grandmaster’s title on men’s side, and Cathy
Wilson, 56, of McLean, won the Grandmaster’s title
on the women’s side in 2:45:50. James Courtney, 19,
of Woodbine, Md., was the top teenager, and Matthew
Shanks of Odenton, won the 20-24 age category. Dan
O’Connell of Herndon, won the 30-34 age group.
David Cascio of Reston, and Cal Biesecker of
Barboursville, Va., took first and second, respectively,
in the 45-49 age group. Thomas Stroup of Great Falls,
won the 55-59 category. David Adams of Gaithersburg,
and Larry Atkins of Washington, D.C. grabbed first
and second, respectively, in the 60-64 group. David
McNeely of Glenn Arm, Md., and Joe Amato of Ellicott
City, went one-two, respectively in the 65-69 group.
On the women’s side, Kristen Andrews, 28, of
Bethesda, won the 25-29 age category, Andrea Williams
of Annapolis, won the 35-39 age group, and Cheryl
McMurray of Fairfax, won the 40-44 group. Leslie
Knibb and Lange Carter, both of Washington, D.C,
went first and second, respectively, in the 45-49 group.
Top local finishers
Other local top local finishers included Lindsey
Jerdonek of Washington, D.C., who took eighth
among the professional women. Connie Chow Dowler
of Kensington, Md., finished fourth among amateur
female athletes, in 2:23:32. Kyle Hooker of Annapolis,
Chip Berry of Springfield, and Zachary Britton of
June 2009
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