This event is actually two competitions. Most of the competitors took on the grueling Olympic triathlon challenge. This race includes a swim of 1500 meters (0.9 miles) followed by a bide ride of 24 miles, and finishes with a run of 6.2 miles. Unbelievably, this is the shorter event. A smaller number of even heartier competitors took on the challenge of a ½ Ironman triathlon. This event consists of a 1.2 mile swim, which is followed by a 56 mile bike ride. The race concludes with a 13.1 mile run.
The swim portions of both events are held at Lake Monticello. The run portions of both events are also held within the confines of the Lake community. The bike events are held over the country roads of Fluvanna and Albemarle counties.
This event is already attracting top athletes from out of state. In the ½ Ironman event., 92 men and 40 women made up the field. The top two finishers on the men’s side were both from Carlisle, Pa. Rick Fesler was the winner, with a time of four hours, thirteen minutes and 58 seconds. Josh Beck was next, finishing about four and a half minutes later. The third place finisher was Bart Forsyth of Arlington. He finished approximately ten minutes behind Beck.
For the women, in the ½ Ironman, the first to finish was Katie Thomas of Stephens City. Her time was four hours, forty-four minutes and 22 seconds. She was tenth to finish overall, besting over 75 of the male competitors. The second woman to finish was Christine Taranto of Surf City, North Carolina. She was closely followed by Melissa Vess of Severn, Md. They were both nearly half an hour behind Thomas, but were still in the top twenty five finishers overall.
The top finishers in the men’s Olympic triathlon competition were: Peter Ronco of Horseheads, New York, Ashley Sollenberger of Landisville, Pa, and Kory Jessen of nearby Broadland. Ronco completed the race in two hours, nine minutes and 23 seconds. The second and third place finishers were 22 and 27 seconds behind.
On the women’s side the top three finishers in the Olympic event were: Rachel Beckman of Alexandria, Elizabeth McGrath of Arlington and Leonie Campbell of Annapolis Md. Beckman was the eighth competitor to finish, an excellent result. Her time was two hours, thirteen minutes and five seconds. McGrath was four minutes slower. Campbell was eight minutes behind McGrath. The men’s division of the Olympic event included 225 competitors, while there were 126 women in the Olympic distance competition.
Surprisingly, this competition is not dominated by younger athletes. In the ½ Iron man, the top three men were in the 30-34 or 35-39 age group. Of the top women’s finishers only Taranto was in an under 30 age group. The same was true in the Olympic event. Ronco was in the 40-44 year age group and Sollenberger and Jessen were in the 30-34 age group. For the women, Beckman and McGrath were in the 30-34 age group and only Campbell, of the top finishers, was under 30.
The Monticelloman Triathlon is organized and run by Charlottesville Multisports. These results were found on the Monticelloman website.
