Pine Belt Pacers Forum

Good Luck to all the Pacers/ Hattiesburgers going to compete in the 30th Annual Heart O'Dixie Triathlon tomorrow. 1/2 mile swim- 27.5 mile bike- 7 mile run of heat and hills. ("I think I can, I think I can!")

from my blog ( http://hubcitytri.blogspot.com/2009/07/ ... eview.html )

I registered last week – I will start 419th. Last year I started 325. The good news is that my friends Nester and Tony will be starting 430 and 431 respectively (Tony is last) – maybe we will go have some breakfast before the race (I’ll be starting about 35 minutes after the start of the race).

Great race - Raul, Susan, Becky and Ben - I had a great time with all of you!

All the Hattiesburgers that raced the 30th Annual Heart O'Dixie Triathlon today did a great job! Congratulations to Raul Anzola, Susan Davidson, Becky Ryder, James Daniels, Ben Hughes, Mike Landers, Keith Hilpp, Lauren Hill, and Chad Hill. Heat, hills, and fun were had by all!!!

2009 HEART OF DIXIE TRIATHLON RESULTS -->

http://www.besttimescct.com/results/Heartodixie09.txt

As James and Ben said... we had a great time in the Heart of Dixie Marathon. Becky, Susan, and I did better than we were expecting in our respective relay legs (The official race report written by Becky and some pics of the event will be posted tomorrow in the PBP webpage). We finished the relay competition in 3:13:24. James and Ben did it in 2:13:46 and 2:38:25 respectively. PBPacer and GCRC race director Leonard Vergunst won the Grandmasters category in 2:12:45.

I swam the half mile in 20:32 and broke my PR. Well... in fact, I did not break any record since it was the first time I was swimming such distance -- As it happened in Meridian 2 weeks ago, I hardly believe there were 33 people slower than me -- I completed my workout for the day by running the final 7 miles of the event just for fun.

James, Ben, Susan, and Becky... keep the good work! I will take a little vacation from training for a couple of weeks... (or months)

See you guys in the EagleMan Triathlon!!

This is a tough race but I had a great time - here is my race report (on my blog):

http://hubcitytri.blogspot.com/2009/07/ ... -2009.html

Heart O’ Dixie Triathlon Relay Report

Raul Anzola - Swim - .5 mile
Susan Davidson - Bike - 27.5 miles
Becky Ryder - Run - 7 miles
Hollie Ryder - Driver

The fastest Colombian in Mississippi once again worked his magic and recruited a couple of other crazy Pacers to complete a relay team for the Heart O’ Dixie triathlon. As usual the manana attitude prevailed in that the team was finalized and the entry made at the very last minute. And, once again, we had a really wonderful experience.

We drove together to Louisville on Friday afternoon. After picking up our packets (minus t-shirts, number, etc due to registering so late), we got our body marking done. This was a first for me and I was wondering what it the world people would think when they saw my age of 64. I found out later, I should have had them make it 65 as that is the way it is done in the world of triathlons.

We then drove to Kosciusko where checked into our motel and then went to eat. Hollie and I managed to bore Susan and Raul with stories about my coaching experiences and some of the athletes that I had coached. Those were the good ole days. After a very short sleep, just after 5:30 am we were headed back to Louisville for the event.

The fastest Colombian chose to do the swim segment. This was good in that I did not bring my nose clips nor my flippers or arm floaties and I certainly did not want the Colombian to attempt the bike segment. Many of you may recall that over the years he has had a few accidents while attempting to ride one of the many bikes which he has borrowed from other Pacers.

Since we were among the last to register and the swim start were based upon when the entry was made, Raul was almost last in the water. Contrary to his usual training program, in preparation for this event, Raul had been in the pool a total of five times in the past month. Needless to say with such preparation, he was able to overtake 12-15 people who had started ahead of him.

The star of our team was Susan Davidson who covered the 27.5 mile distance much faster than she had anticipated. She had thought she would average about 14 mph, but she was able to do 15.7 mph on a very hilly course.

Boss Ryder completed the team. Thank goodness Raul and Susan had given her a good lead. At this point in her training, Becky is a really fine hiker, but not so much of a runner. Even in her sad physical condition, she still managed to pass 25 people on the 7 (really only 6.6) mile run, with a 10:11 per mile pace. That’s not saying much since all but one of those people that she passed had already swam .5 miles and biked 27.5 miles.

After the race, we hooked up with Ben Hughes and James Daniels and drove them back to the start to get their transportation. We then stopped at Huddle House for breakfast/brunch. On the ride back to Hattiesburg, Susan and I were both feeling pretty pitiful, but the Colombian kept Hollie awake by relating some of his experiences while living here in the US.

In summary, the is the second relay that I’ve done with Raul and it is really fun to see how much he enjoys organizing and participating in team events. If you ever get the opportunity, you should sign on with him. I certainly want to thank him for allowing me to participate and for all the planning and research that he does with such races.

Congratulations to James, Ben, Leonard and the Dream Team for great performances in the Heart of Dixie Tri. It was a great race. The finish was a little different than I expected. It ended at the Neshoba County Fairgrounds horse track. What was weird is that people who finished the race, along with others hanging out, mingled on the track where active runners were coming in for their victory lap and finish. I wondered if that bothered any of the runners. Even with that, it was a great event.

I felt very privileged to be on a team with a legend as well as the fastest Columbian in Mississippi. Both continue to amaze me. I think we're planning to hook up to do the race again next year. This time, we're gonna register early. We'd love to have others join us.

A special thanks to Hollie who got us everywhere we needed to go in style.

James -- great race report. You are an inspiration to me. Good luck as you press on toward the Ironman!