Craig with Triathlon Club of San Diego friend Rick Wade (4th place in men’s 65-69 age group).
On April 7th I raced the Carlsbad 5000 for the 9th time in my career. The last time was 20 years ago in 2004 when “young Craig” ran 16:41. The Carlsbad 5000 has always touted itself as the World’s Fastest 5K. Long before moving to San Diego I remember seeing this race featured each year on ESPN’s Running and Racing. I did the race every year from 1992 to 1999. My very best time was 16:13 in 1996.
Running the race this year was sort of a last second idea. I registered on April 1 – No Fooling! Earlier in the year my Team Wade friends ran a virtual 5K. I posted my 5K time on January 16th – I ran 18:41 all by myself on the ¼ mile loop around my neighborhood of Portico. About 11 laps came out to exactly 5K. So going into the Carlsbad 5000 I figured I’d be able to run faster as I’d have lots of competition. As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend!”
I had a very good race at the Carlsbad 5000. I ran 19:16 (6:12/mile) and placed 9th out of 129 men age 60-64. This was the 1st time I’ve ever cracked the top 10 at this race! My previous best placing was 25th. The course is basically an out and back along the Coast Highway with beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean. The way out is slightly downhill and the way back is slightly uphill. Pretty flat, but not as flat as Portico.
This means the Carlsbad 5000 is no longer the World’s Fastest 5K. The Portico 5K is now the World’s Fastest 5K.
Laurie and Craig after the race.Team Wade friends from L-R: Craig, Steve, Doug, Wade G, Wade H, Troy, Lindsay and Laurie.
On October 22nd I raced the Ironman 70.3 Arizona in Tempe, AZ. I had completed the race once before in 2020, placing 2nd in my age group. I tried the race again in 2022, but due to heavy rain the day before the race, they cancelled the swim. 2022 was not meant to be anyway as I had mechanical problems on the bike, leading to a rare DNF (did not finish). I wanted to make certain to finish the 2023 edition, especially since Ironman has said 2023 would be the last time this race will be held.
We had a beautiful day for the race. The temperatures were in the high 60’s at the start, but were going to heat up to the low 90’s by the time I would finish. The water temperature in Tempe Town Lake was 75 degrees, just below the 76.1 degree cutoff, enabling us to wear wetsuits.
The race started at 6:20am with a rolling start, meaning the athletes would self-seed with the faster swimmers starting first. I started the 1.2 mile swim at 6:30am alongside long-time friends Troy Cundari and Denise Ingram. The earlier, the better. Not only for the temperatures, but also having to swim into the sun. My timing was perfect as I was able to see where I was going the entire way. My swim went well. My split was 37:36 (34:23 in 2020), putting me in 9th place.
The 56 mile bike was going to be some uncharted territory for me. I had used Tri Bike Transport to ship my racing triathlon bike to/from Spain in September and it had not been returned to me prior to Arizona. I knew this was a possibility and that I might have to resort to racing on my much slower road bike. This was my 328th career triathlon and only the 2nd time I had to race on a road bike. I do love my road bike, but the longest ride I had ever done on it was 45 miles. I predicted my bike split would be 3:50 or worse, so I was pleasantly surprised to complete the course in 3:12:04 (17.6 mph), compared to 2:44:50 in 2020.
The 13.1 mile run was going to be more uncharted territory. Due to injuries, my run training was severely limited. My 2 longest runs in the previous 6 months were 9 miles each on 7/23 and 10/15. I knew going into this race that I would need to ration my energy and walk parts of this run course. My 1st goal was simply to run as deep into the race as possible before I had to take walk breaks. My 2nd goal was to keep those walks very brief (less than 30 seconds), so I could keep my head in the race. It was just as tough mentally as it was physically. But I did a good job of “staying in the race”. The walk breaks started after 4 miles. I was really on fumes in the final 3 miles, but I’m proud to say that all 13 miles were completed in less than 10 minutes/mile. And most were done in less than 8:30. My run split was 1:53:20 (8:23/mile) which was the 4th best run on the day. My 2020 split was 1:43:54. My finish time was 5:53:08 (5:10:25 in 2020). I placed 11th out of 49 men age 60-64 and 297th out of 1,179 overall finishers.
It was a fun day for Laurie, as well. She teamed up with my Team Wade friend, Wade Grow. Wade did the swim and bike, while Laurie did the run for Team Gross Anatomy. They completed the course in 5:31:21 and placed 13th out of 58 relay teams. Very solid!
Other friends doing the race: Troy placed 3rd and Rick Wade 5th in men’s 60-64. Doug Morris placed 1st and Steve Wade 6th in men’s 65-69. Denise placed 5th in her age group and Lindsay Harding 11th in her age group in her 1st ever Ironman 70.3. Welcome to the club Lindsay!
Craig on the run course in Pontevedra.Craig welcomes Laurie to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
On September 24th I raced the ITU Olympic Distance Triathlon World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain. This was my 26th time racing for Team USA at a World Championship.
To say I raced is really a stretch. I really just cruised through the course. I had a lot of issues (2 of them major) in the month leading up to this race, so I am very thankful to have even started this race, let alone finish. The 1st major issue was a strained soleus muscle. In the 4 weeks prior to the race I tried to run 4x’s and I could not complete any of those runs. My total run training in those 4 weeks was a very feeble 12 miles. The 2nd major issue was catching Covid for the 1st time on September 13. The only good news about Covid was that I would not have to worry about catching it during the trip.
The combination of numerous stresses in my life made me very panicky in the 3 days leading up to the race. The jet lag, lack of sleep and Covid really exacerbated my anxiety and panic attacks. The worst was at midnight, 9 hours before my race. I sat up in bed and told Laurie how scared I was, that I really did not think I could do the race. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. Laurie said all the right things and really calmed me down. I got about 5 hours of sleep and was reasonably OK the next morning. I asked Laurie to walk with me to the race venue 1 mile from our hotel. She stayed with me until I entered the swim start corral. It was a beautiful morning – clear, sunny skies and 65 degrees.
The 1.5K (0.93 mile) swim was in the Lerez River. The water temperature was 67 degrees. Because I was a bit stressed, it felt cold to me. I eased my way into the flow of the swim and did OK. My swim split was 27:46 (1:35/100 yards). I did better than I figured and that put me in 43rd place.
The 39.5K (24.2 miles) bike course was 2 laps of out and back. Because I was a little chilly coming out of the river, I put on a long sleeve jersey – that was the right move as I know some of the other cyclists were envious. The road tilted up on the way out and down on the way back. My Garmin data said it was 1,305 feet of climbing. Not too hilly, but enough to challenge us. The road surface was mostly very good. My bike split was only 1:28:26 (16.5mph), but I did not care. I just wanted to finish. I had the 65th best bike split.
I really liked the 10K (6.2 miles) run course. It was 4 laps of 2.5K each and very hilly on classic, narrow, cobblestone European streets. The spectators were on either side of the course for much of the run and because it was so narrow, they were right next to us. And the best thing happened – I was able to run the entire 10K. My split was only 50:29 (8:16/mile) as I was very cautious. But I was thrilled. I was going to finish this thing! I had the 47th best run split. I finished in 2:58:04. I placed 60th out of 73 men age 60-64.
The other very significant part of this trip was Laurie’s 5 day hike of the Camino Portugues. She hiked at least 20K (12.4 miles) each day from Vigo to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. She hiked on Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Sunday she had a rest day spectating at my race. Laurie did the hike in honor of her Mom who had passed away a few years ago. It was perfect as she finished on Wednesday 9/27, her Mom’s birthday. There are multiple Camino trails that converge on the Cathedral, so every day there are a few thousand pilgrims (just like Laurie) who complete their own personal journeys. She had a great experience and definitely wants to hike another segment in the future. If you would like to learn more about the Camino, I would highly recommend you watch the 2010 Martin Sheen movie, The Way.
Fresh Start breakfast with Debbie and Cindy.Bohner Lake boat ride with Joe and Shannon O’Malley and their daughters Cailyn and McKenna.Team Wade from left to right: Barkley, Becky, Laurie, Craig, Steve, Wade, George, Doug.Craig at the city limit sign of Ney, OH – population 301.
On August 5th I raced the USA Triathlon Olympic Distance National Championships in Milwaukee, WI. This is the 6th time Milwaukee has hosted this event and I’ve raced in 5 of the 6 events. Milwaukee is, by far, my favorite venue for Nationals. My goal was to place between 15th and 20th and qualify for the 2024 World Championships in Malaga, Spain. I did have 1 other minor goal and that was to beat a new friend named Rob Thomas. We have split our previous 2 meetings in 2023, so Nationals would be the tie breaker. Honestly, I was putting my money on Rob for this race.
We had great weather for racing – air temperatures about 75-80 degrees, Lake Michigan water temperatures about 67 degrees. Of the 3 sports, the swim is the discipline where I have weakened the most as I’ve aged. I no longer train with a masters swim group, so I have no top end speed. I’m really A-OK with that. My shoulders both can be moody, so it is probably best that I just cruise my swim workouts. I’ve really come to enjoy that anyway, just for the meditative benefits of swim training. The 1.5K (0.93 mile) swim course was 1 big clockwise loop. I swam 27:37 (1:51/100 meters) which put me in 41st place. That was a good, efficient swim for me.
The 40K (24.8 miles) bike course was the exact same as in 2022. There is 1 bumpy section for 1 mile around mile 16, but beyond that it is a good, smooth course that is mostly flat, but with a couple climbs sprinkled in. It is mostly a north-south course, but we do go all directions. I felt pretty good, but it did seem like I was biking into the wind no matter which direction I was going. I’m sure that was all in my head. I cycled well for me as my time was 1:11:54 (20.81 mph). That was the 53rd best bike split (right in the middle of the field) and it dropped me down to 46th place. This was good, but I needed to throw down a good run.
The 10K (6.2 miles) run course is all flat and mostly right next to Lake Michigan. Laurie was out there spectating and cheering me on. That always helps. I ran well and was picking guys off the entire run. I did not know it at the time, but Rob had a 7:11 lead on me to start the run. I finally caught him in the final mile and finished ahead of him by 59 seconds. I had the 3rd fastest run split – 41:56 (6:43/mile). I picked off 29 guys to finish 17th out of 103 men in the 60-64 age group with a finish time of 2:25:51. I placed 589th out of 2,011 overall finishers. I was 28 seconds faster than 2022, but 2022 offered much tougher conditions – warmer and more humid.
The 2024 Team USA slots will be allocated based on our ages on 12/31/24. Using the “age up” results I placed 21st. There will be 18 slots for Malaga per age group, so I am very confident I will get 1 of those slots. Malaga will be my 26th time racing for Team USA at a World Championship. I met all my goals and am very happy.
Laurie and I crammed a lot of wonderful experiences on this trip. We started on 8/3 by enjoying “Thursday Night Out” with my niece Katy, Jeff and Ethan Emerson in Oak Park, IL. We enjoyed live music while eating my favorite Giordano’s pizza among the masses in downtown Oak Park – perfect! 8/4 began with breakfast at Fresh Start in Elmhurst with my sisters Cindy and Debbie – wonderful! 8/4 concluded with a boat ride and home made pasta dinner at Bohner Lake, WI with my nephew Joe, Shannon, Cailyn and McKenna O’Malley – Epic! That dinner really set me up to succeed the next day. 8/5 post race was spent in Milwaukee enjoying the company of my Team Wade friends (Wade Grow, Steve & Becky Wade, Doug Morris, George Van Meter and Barkley) and settling beer bets from the race. 8/6 began by watching Wade, Steve, Doug and George race the Sprint Triathlon – it was so good to watch those guys knock themselves out! 8/6 continued by having lunch at The Abbey in Lake Geneva, WI with my sister Cindy, Jim, Jay, Amber, Morgan and James O’Malley – very relaxing! 8/6 finished by having dinner at Giordano’s Glen Ellyn with my close friends Bruce McNair and Chuck Carey – delicious food and great company! 8/7 was spent driving to Ney, OH to spread my Mom’s ashes on the farm where she grew up. I have an infinite number of fond childhood memories of Ney. It had been 40 years since I was last in Ney – it meant a lot to me to reminisce and show Laurie where my Mom grew up. This was 1 great trip!!!
Men’s 60-64 Podium: Rob Thomas 1st, Craig Zelent 2nd, Rick Wade 3rd.Brunch at The Breakfast Bar with Randy and Susan Powell, Laurie and Craig.
On July 16th I raced my 325th career triathlon at the Legacy Triathlon in Long Beach, CA. I’ve done each of the 4 versions of this race dating back to 2019. Sadly, this will be the last time this race will be held. Thankfully I ended on a high note.
Laurie joined me on this trip to be a spectator. She is always such a good vocal supporter at these races – cheering for me and everyone else. She had a great time as we knew 20+ athletes in the race. This race is ideal for a spectator with it’s multi-loop format. She saw me finish the swim, then 2x’s on the bike and 5x’s on the run. She was very entertained as she saw a friend go by her every minute.
The 750 meter swim was wetsuit legal in a protected salt water bay. The 2022 race had a strong current, but this year there was no detectable current. I had a good swim exiting the water in 13:20 (1:39/100 yards) putting me in 5th place.
The 2022 bike course was 19K, but the 2023 course was only 17K (10.6 miles). My Triathlon Club of San Diego (TCSD) friend Rick Wade was in the race and I knew he’d give me a significant challenge. I knew I’d see Rick zip by me at some point on the bike, but hoped it would be well into the course. He passed me within the 1st 300 meters – ruh roh! He’s an awesome cyclist so I knew right away he’d put a lot of time on me. The bike course was 2 mostly flat loops. I biked pretty well for me, but it was only the 11th best bike split. My time was 31:28 (20.5 mph) dropping me down to 8th place.
The 5K (3.1 miles) run course was 2 loops and it was starting to get warm, 75+ degrees. At the beginning of the run, Laurie gave me my time behind Rick – 2 minutes. I was not very optimistic about catching him, but I gave it everything I had. This race was super entertaining for me just because of the challenge of trying to chase down Rick. At the 1st turnaround I was down 1:45. When I ran by Laurie again my deficit was 1:10 and at the half way point it was 55 seconds. I knew I had a chance! At the next turnaround I was down by 40 seconds. When I ran by Laurie the final time it was 15 seconds and I could see Rick and George Serbia, another guy in our age group. With 400 meters to go I caught both Rick and George. My run split was 19:29 (6:23/mile), the best on the day. My finish time was 1:08:46, good for 2nd place out of 30 in the men’s 60-64 age group, 51st out of 555 overall finishers. Rick’s run was 2nd best and he finished 12 seconds behind me in 3rd, 19 seconds ahead of George in 4th. That was close! 1st place went to Rob Thomas, 53 seconds ahead of me. I had beaten Rob 3 weeks earlier at San Diego International Triathlon which really favors my run skills. The tie breaker will be at Nationals on August 5th.
The best memories of these races are of the friends we share the experience with. The night before the race we had dinner with 2 other couples – my long-time friend Wade Grow (6th place) and his girlfriend and volunteer extraordinaire, Rebecca Pratt. Also joining us was another long-time friend Susan Powell (10th place) and her husband Randy. I’ve coached Susan since 2015. We also had a delicious post race brunch with Susan and Randy at The Breakfast Bar.
Men’s 60-64 Podium: I was 3rd place while Stephen Parker was 2nd place.
On June 25th I raced my first triathlon of 2023 – the San Diego International Triathlon. This was my 18th SDIT. SDIT is 1 of my favorite races as the proceeds benefit Father Joe’s Villages (St. Vincent de Paul) where Laurie and I volunteer each month to serve dinner to the local homeless people.
The 1K (0.62 miles) swim takes place in Spanish Landing, right across the street from the San Diego International Airport, formerly known as Lindbergh Field. I’ve put in adequate pool time this year – routinely 3-4 swims per week. But the quality was not there as all my pool swims have been very slow. Being able to put on a wetsuit and the adrenaline from an actual race make a huge difference for me. I swam better than expected. My split was 15:34 (1:37/100 yards) putting me in 6th place.
The 30K (18.6 miles) bike course takes us west up to Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma. The first 3 miles are flat, then we climb for the next 1.5 miles. From there it is gentle rollers for 9 miles over a 2 loop section before we descend back to transition. The 1st time we went by the Monument my friend and age group rival Rick Wade passed me. Thankfully I was able to keep Rick in my sights until the half way point of the ride, when he completely dropped me. Hopefully the run would be long enough, so I could catch him. I had the 8th best bike split dropping me down to 8th place. My bike split was 54:22 (20.57 mph).
The 10K run is point to point and all flat from Spanish Landing to Sea Port Village. There are 2 out and back sections where I was able to spot Rick. The 1st was at 2 miles where I could see he was up by 1:45 on me. The 2nd was at 3.25 miles where I could see he was up by 1:00 on me. I was encouraged that I’d catch him, but he’s a really tough competitor, so I’d need to hold it together. I finally caught him around mile 5. I hung on for the fastest run of the day and moved up to finish 3rd out of 19 men age 60-64. The 2022 National Champion Sean Richardson was 1st, Stephen Parker was 2nd and Rick was 4th. My run split was 41:27 (6:40/mile). My overall time was 1:55:30 putting me in 45th place out of 363 overall finishers. I got chicked 3x’s. No shame in that as at 61 years old I could be their Grandpa.
If my memory is correct, then in the previous 17x’s I’ve done SDIT, I’ve always done a post race warm down 3+ mile run from the finish line at Sea Port Village back to the transition area at Spanish Landing. I had every intention of doing that again this year, but after 5 steps I decided to “play the old man card” and take the shuttle bus they offer. An hour later as I was driving back to Sea Port Village for the Awards I saw Rick doing the post race run that I had skipped. That immediately made me nervous that maybe I’m not training hard enough.
Laurie and Craig at the finish line the day before the race.Our travel companion Yummi enjoying our finisher medals.Dinner in New York with Laurie’s Dad on the left and Father Chadwick on the right.Giordano’s dinner in Glen Ellyn with Keith Rojc and Bruce McNair.
On April 17th I ran the 127th Boston Marathon. The #1 goal was to start. The #2 goal was to finish. The #3 goal was to qualify for next year’s Boston by running under 3:50:00. This year was my 19th Boston finish and Laurie’s 27th Boston finish. This was my 36th standalone marathon finish to go along with 14 full Ironman finishes, so now I have a total of 50 marathons. 50 pales in comparison to Laurie’s total of 289, but I’m still proud of my accomplishment. We are both truly blessed!
The marathon distance is really getting difficult for me. I don’t consider myself a marathon runner. I consider myself a triathlete and to a lessor extent a 10K runner. It’s getting harder for me to stay healthy during the build up of miles in the 3 months leading up to Boston. This year’s injury that I needed to overcome was an achilles tendon. I hurt my achilles on an easy 36 mile bike ride on March 18. I made the decision on that day to do no more bike training until after Boston and I had to really limit my run training over the next 3 weeks. My Kinesiologist, Dr. Mike White played a key role over the final 4 weeks in getting me ready to start the race. There was no way I could have finished without Mike’s help.
My favorite part of Boston Marathon race day is pretty simple – I really enjoy riding 1 of the 300+ yellow school buses with Laurie from the Boston Commons out to Hopkinton. This was our 17th ride together over all the years. Sometimes we snooze and sometimes we chat. But it is always a special occasion that I get to share with my wife. Once the race starts we are on our own. We were really on our own this year as Laurie’s race started at 10:25am, while mine did not start until 10:50am.
There was a light drizzle in Hopkinton when the race started. The temperature was 49 degrees, so it was a bit chilly for me. My hands often get cold when it’s wet, so I used hand warmers in my gloves. By the 4-mile mark it had stopped raining and I was pretty hot, so I stashed them in a pocket. At mile 12 I was feeling really tired as I just wanted to sleep. I was not surprised by that at all as my training had been so limited in the final month. The caffeinated gels served up at the aid stations helped me to rally. By the 17-mile mark it had started to drizzle again and my hands got cold, so I pulled over to the side of the road to have a volunteer help me put the hand warmers back in my gloves. That was 30 seconds well spent as my hands could function once again.
Going into the race I was pretty confident I’d be able to run to the 17-mile mark, but beyond that it was going to be a big unknown. For the first time ever I actually carried a credit card in this race as I knew it was entirely possible I’d have to Uber back into Boston. The Newton hills go from 17-21, so I feared that would be rough on my achilles. Miraculously the climbs up to 21 all went well.
It’s downhill from 21-24 which sounds easy, but everyone is beat up from all the hills earlier in the race. I was no exception. This is where Boston always gets hard for me. Mind over matter. I kept running and the miles slowly ticked by – Boston College, Brookline, Boston University, Fenway Park. Less than a mile to go and then Boston gets easy as the crowds won’t let you stop. The crowds are so loud in the final half mile as you make the right hand turn onto Hereford and then the left onto Boylston to the finish line.
I really made a point to enjoy Boylston Street as there is no guarantee I’ll ever get to do this again. I cruised my way into the finish line in 3:47:22 (8:41/mile), so I met all 3 objectives. Praise the Lord! I placed 494 out of 1,110 men age 60-64. I placed 10,782 out of 15,175 male finishers. I placed 16,711 out of 26,597 overall finishers. My bib # was 19864 which was my ranking going into the race, so I was very pleased to “beat my bib”. Rick Lee, the guy who won my age group finished in 2:47:10. He dusted me by 1+ hour! 6 guys in my age group broke 3 hours. Who are these guys!
There was a lot of remembering and celebration of life at this year’s race as 2023 was the 10 year anniversary of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing. Boston Strong!
The day after the race we took the train to New York to visit Laurie’s family. We had dinner Tuesday with Laurie’s Dad and Father Chadwick, the man who married us 20 years ago. We had another dinner Wednesday with Laurie’s Dad, brother Kirk and his 2 boys.
On Thursday I flew to Chicago to visit my family and friends. Friday morning my sisters and I spread our Mom’s ashes at our old house in Glen Ellyn. Friday I had my favorite food – 2 Giordano’s pizza meals – lunch with fraternity brother Chuck Carey and then dinner with Glenbard West friends Bruce McNair and Keith Rojc. Saturday morning was breakfast with neighbor friend Paul Winans, brunch with cousin Randy Jacob, a visit with Faith Lutheran Church friend Ken Tyznik, and finally dinner with sister Cindy, her husband Jim, their son Jay and his family. Sunday morning was a 6 mile run and breakfast with my nephew Joe O’Malley, freezing my tail off at Patrick O’Malley’s Little League baseball game and then a dinner to warm me up with my sister Debbie, her husband Bill and Joe’s family. It was 1 great trip!
Craig on the 10K run course.Craig and Rick Wade on the podium.
On September 10th I raced the San Diego Triathlon Classic. This would be my 6th time doing this race. I was 2nd in my age group in my first 4 attempts and I finally won my age group the last time I did this race in 2014. I wanted to keep that winning streak going.
This was supposed to be a triathlon (swim, bike, run), but because of the rains that came with Tropical Storm Kay the day before the race, the swim portion was wisely cancelled due to the risk of bacteria run off. The day before the race I really thought they’d have to cancel the whole thing. But when I went to bed the night before the race the forecast had only a 10% chance of rain the next morning. So you’re saying there’s a chance.
Race morning was 74 degrees with 80% humidity and the roads were amazingly dry.
The 1.5K swim was replaced by a 0.6 mile run. We were started 1 athlete at a time by age group about 3 seconds apart. I figured my primary competition would come from my TCSD friend Rick Wade. Rick started just ahead of me. I had the best initial run (3:44 which was 6:13/mile) and a really fast T1.
The 40K (24.8 mile) bike is 2 laps from Liberty Station up to Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma. I figured I’d see Rick whiz past me on the bike during the 1st lap and that’s exactly what happened around mile 10. I was pretty happy at the turnaround in Liberty Station that he had not put too much time on me. I felt like I did really well on the 2 climbs up to Cabrillo, but I’m sure I gave back some time on the descents. I learned after the race that Rick was a former professional motocross racer so it’s no surprise that he is so good on the bike. Rick taught me the term “holeshot”. Rick was the motocross guy with the most guts who would always try to get to the 1st turn 1st. He was the holeshot. I am a lot more timid on the bike, especially on the descents. I’d be something more like the “slowshot”. My bike split was 1:17:33 (19.23 mph). This was the 3rd best split and it put me in 2nd place, 1:15 behind Rick.
The 10K (6.2 mile) run is 2 laps around a 5K course. The humidity was a killer. I was sweating like crazy. Each mile on the run it seemed I had to fight off a leg cramp. None of the cramps stopped me in my tracks, but I knew I had to be careful. I caught Rick just before mile 4, but staying ahead of him was no sure thing. I was so glad to cross the finish line with the fastest run on the day – 41:57 (6:45/mile). I did manage to hold off Rick, but he was only 46 seconds behind me. I placed 1st out of 13 men in the 60-64 age group and 31st out of 258 overall finishers with a time of 2:05:13.
From left to right: Doug Morris, Wade Grow, Steve Wade, CraigMen’s 60-64 Podium – Craig is in 10th place.
On August 6th I raced the USA Triathlon Age Group Olympic Distance National Championships in Milwaukee. This was the 5th time Milwaukee has hosted the event and the 4th time I’ve raced here. Milwaukee is my favorite venue for Nationals. It’s close enough to Chicago so I can visit family and friends so I love that part of it. And as a standalone racing venue for all 3 triathlon disciplines I really like Milwaukee.
The highlight of these trips is getting to see the people I love. For this trip that included my 2 sisters Cindy and Debbie and their husbands Jim and Bill. Also my buddies Bruce McNair and Chuck Carey as well as my Team Wade racing friends Wade Grow, Steve Wade and his wife Becky, Doug Morris and George Van Meter.
The men’s 60-64 age group was Wave 19, so our race did not start until 9:22am. The temperatures were in the 80’s, and very humid. I like racing in the heat, but I was sweating more than usual before my race started. Possibly the hardest thing I did all day was put on my wetsuit. That was a real struggle with my sweaty skin. The 1.5K (0.93 mile) swim was in the 62 degree Lake Michigan. They let us jump in the water about 8 minutes before our race started. That cool water felt so good! This was an in-water start while holding onto the dock. The clockwise swim course was the exact same as all the other years. My swim was slow, but I think everyone was slow this year. I swam 27:58 (1:52/100 meters) and that put me in 30th place. I was happy with this.
The 40K (24.8 miles) bike course was a bit different this year. It still had 3 out and back sections, but 1 of them was a bit longer than the past and 1 was a bit shorter. There was 1 crash on the bike that nearly impacted my race. It happened around mile 11 and I’m guessing the single rider went down about 45 seconds ahead of me. There were 4 other athletes that stopped to help the down rider. I figured there was nothing I could do to help other than say a prayer for the athlete so I steered around the group. Even though I’m a guy, I can multi-task – ride and pray. When I went through this section again about 15 minutes later there was no sign of any crash, so I took that as a good sign. I was sweating for the entire ride and especially so over the final 10K as that section had a tail wind. My hands were so sweaty that I had to be careful I did not slip off the handlebars. I made certain to drink my entire Gatorade bottle on the bike to hopefully set up a successful run. My bike split of 1:10:21 (21.19 mph) was pretty good for me. It was the 33rd best bike split and it kept me in 30th place to start the run.
The 10K (6.2 mile) run was going to be a major challenge due to the humidity. I made certain to take in as much fluid as possible at each of the 5 aid stations. Laurie was spectating and cheering for me. I heard her voice 2x’s on the bike. And I heard/saw her 3x’s on the run. Her support always helps me so much! I passed my Team Wade friend Wade Grow sometime after mile 1. I saw my friend Doug Morris at about the same time, but figured he had too big a lead on me to catch him. I saw my friend Kyle Welch just after the 3 mile mark for me and around the 5 mile mark for him. Much to my surprise at mile 4 I caught Doug. I had the 2nd best run split 42:33 (6:51/mile) to finish in 2:26:19. I was 10th out of 98 men in the age group, 445th out of 1,912 overall finishers.
I was thrilled with my run split and overall race. The podium at Nationals goes 10 deep, so I would get to stand on the podium at the Awards later in the day. 11th place was only 20 seconds behind me. I probably passed him in the final 600 meters. The top 18 finishers in each age group would qualify for the 2023 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain. I gladly accepted my slot.
My friends in the men’s 60-64 all had good races. Kyle was 3rd, Doug was 14th, Wade was 33rd, and Steve was 43rd.
Craig with long time triathlon friend Andy Bailey.Craig on the podium (2nd place) with TCSD friend Rick Wade (3rd place).
On July 16th I raced the Legacy Triathlon in Long Beach, CA. I’ve done all 3 editions of this race and had fun every time.
The #1 highlight of this year’s race happened the day before the race. On my drive up to Long Beach I stopped in Laguna Beach to interview my long time triathlon friend Andy Bailey and his wife Jeri for Medals4Mettle (M4M). Earlier this year Andy donated a bunch of his finisher medals to the San Diego Chapter of M4M to award to kids fighting debilitating illnesses.
Andy is a special guy. He is in his 80’s and has overcome 2 major challenges. The 1st started in 2006 when he was washing his car. A delivery van hit his car injuring his leg. 14 months later in 2008 Andy had the leg amputated below the knee. In 2010 Andy returned to racing triathlons at The Desert Triathlon with a prosthetic leg. I was there racing that day and I’ll never forget it. Such a triumph!
The 2nd happened 6+ years ago when he had a bike accident. Andy broke his neck, damaged his spinal cord and became a quadriplegic. Somehow he found a way to bounce back from that injury in 2018 as he began competing in virtual 5K’s. He uses the parallel bars on his deck to complete 900 feet per day and after 18 days the 5K would be complete. It’s hard to hold a good man down. Andy’s medals are very inspirational for the kids who get them. If you look up the word “mettle” in the dictionary, you would see Andy’s picture.
On race day I walked into the transition area with my TCSD buddy Andy Seitz. Over the years Andy and I have probably split our races. He wins half the time and I win the other half. Today might be interesting. Race day offered excellent racing conditions. Temperatures were in the high 60’s and foggy out over the ocean. It was so foggy over the water that you could not see the far end of the swim course. The 750 meter swim was in a protected bay with an ankle deep in water start. My age group was the 6th wave. I watched 2 previous waves and noticed there was a left to right current. About 10 of us figured this out. When the gun sounded the 10 of us actually ran laterally on the shore about 50 meters and then dove into the water. That was the right decision as the current took me right to that 1st buoy for the right hand turn. My swim time was 11:56 (1:35/100 meters) putting me in 4th place.
I made a minor mistake in T1 as I followed the directions of a volunteer directing the earlier athletes out onto the run course. My TCSD buddy Troy Cundari was right behind me and he also went the wrong way. We figured it out and jumped over the fencing and ran back to our bikes. The mistake only cost us about 20 seconds, but that is usually precious time in a sprint triathlon. I saw my Team Wade friend Wade Grow get out of T1 way ahead of us.
This year’s race was a 2 lap 19K (11.8 mile) bike course. It was very flat with only 23 feet of climbing. Troy got out of T1 ahead of me and I never saw him again until the run. My TCSD friend Rick Wade passed me like a hot knife through butter late in the 1st lap. I wondered if I’d be able to catch these guys on the run. I finished the bike with the 9th best split – 33:57 (21.97 mph). This dropped me to 7th place.
The 5K (3.1 mile) run course was 2 laps. All my friends were ahead of me and I had some catching up to do. During the 1st lap I moved all the way up to 2nd place. I maintained hope that I’d catch Andy. I had the fastest run on the day – 19:42 (6:21/mile). My finish time was 1:10:56, good for 2nd place out of 32 men in the 60-64 age group and 49th out of 543 overall finishers. Andy had an outstanding day as he crushed me by nearly 4 minutes! Oh well. I still had a lot of fun.
tricraigz 