Musselman ITU Pan American Cup
On Friday July 13th, I set out for Geneva NY - site of the 2007 Musselman ITU Pan American Cup. Despite traveling on an unlucky day, my luck in the event turned out to be mostly good and I finished the race with a 13th place position. Although the door was open for a top 10 placing, I am very happy with the result.
In the week leading up to the race, I kept my eye on the start list - trying to anticipate how the race might unfold and how I might fare. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the top 20 finishers earn ITU points (provided the racers also finish within a time of 5% of the winner's time). Looking at the start list was a scary thing to do! It was generally accepted that this was the most competitive continental cup race so far this year. Among the registered starters were past Olympians, future Olympic hopefuls, regular attendees of the world cup circuit and other talented athletes. Before the race I had decided that I could place 17th with a solid race, so that became the goal.
My luck began at the start line. I was the 25th ranked athlete heading into the race and was therefore the 25th guy called to the line. I was worried that I would be forced to take a spot in the middle of the group (which is the real hell zone in triathlon starts). Instead I got a spot on the outside, right beside Doug Friman. The gun went off and I tried to get on Doug's feet but seemed to struggle in the early going and slipped back a little bit. All the male athletes were forced to wait in the "athlete holding area" for about 40 minutes before the race while the women started. I tend to start a lot better when my warm up is closer to the start - having such a long gap with no activity makes it hard to start off with any sort of intensity. So it took me a few hundred meters to get the arms going and then I was able to maintain my position from there.
I exited the water somewhere around 15th or 18th. I was expecting to swim a little closer to the front but it didn’t matter too much because I could still see all the top guys just up ahead. The first lap of the bike was pretty quick but soon I was up in the lead pack and things became much easier. After everything settled, we were a lead pack of 20 guys. I felt pretty good about that because I knew there were a few people in the group that I could outrun. So I felt pretty confident about picking up points. But then I started to see other groups closing in on us. So when the opportunity presented itself in the 6th lap to break, I jumped up in the group. I didn’t expect our break to stick but I think the pack was OK to let us go because the 5 of us in the break were not known as runners or race favourites. We only managed to pick up about 30 seconds by the end of the bike but it meant an easier time in transition and it meant I could start the run off a little more comfortably.
At one point in the run (just before the 1km mark) I was running in 2nd place. Too bad the race couldn’t have ended there! But suddenly the top 3 guys went blowing by me. There was such a difference in pace that there was no possibility of hooking on. Gradually guys passed me on the run. However, I noticed that I wasn’t being passed quite as often or as quickly as I had expected. I wasn’t running fast at all, but it seemed that most guys weren’t. I tried to pick it up a few times but the legs just weren’t there. It’s too bad because my last 3 races had gone so well in the run. If I could have run even a minute faster it would have placed me a lot higher up in the standings. That is why I say that the door was open for a top 10 placing, but 13th would have to do. Generally I am very happy with the race in Geneva. I was really glad to pick up some points. (Coincidently, my 13th place finish, the day after Friday the 13th, gave me enough points to become the 13th highest ranked Canadian on the ITU list - hmmmmmm...)
On a side note, I would like to offer my thanks and congratulations to the race organizers. It was a superbly run event! The course was really a lot of fun and crowd support was amazing. They really put on a great show. If you get the chance to race the Musselman triathlon (either sprint or 1/2 IM) I highly encourage you to!
