IM70.3 Texas and East Texas Showdown kick off packed April
Olympian Cody Miller gives a hot take on the San Antonio's Northside Swim Center.
Hello endurance athletes,
Things have definitely started heating up in endurance sports and a couple of big races went down this weekend with nice, if a little warm, conditions.
Let’s get right into it.
Galveston 70.3 gets tri season underway
The wind showed up as usual for Ironman Texas 70.3 in Galveston last weekend. Tailwind out, headwind back on the bike. As usual, when you have a strong headwind you see complaints from athletes about drafting. On such a long, straight, flat course like that, there’s going to be drafting, intentional and unintentional. But beyond those complaints, it sounds like it was a good day for most out there.
Frustratingly, Ironman doesn’t list the state athletes are from in their results, so I can’t see who the top Texas finishers are. The top overall finishers are Brian Reynolds, who appears to be a Michigan athlete, finished with a 4:01:29. Kayla Bowker, a triathlon coach from Spokane, Wash. was tops for women in 4:25:40.
As usual, lots of great photos from the event.
Everybody wants that Scott Flathouse shot on the bike.
In somber news from Galveston, Ironman announced on Facebook that a competitor died after needing medical help during the swim portion of the race. Daniel Winkler, 46, of Arlington, Mass. died after needing medical help during the swim portion of the race.
From the Chronicle:
The Globe reported that Winkler was a husband and father to two young girls, and worked at a company called 6 River Systems, where he served as software engineering vice president. Winkler’s family expressed shock at his death and shared remembrances in a statement, describing his “positive energy, love for his family, and drive to harness all that life could offer,” according to the Globe.
He was discovered underwater and people who responded provided CPR, the Globe reported. Winkler was pronounced dead Sunday morning at a hospital, according to the Globe.
East Texas bikepacking race is a beast
Close to 100 riders took off from the Bullet Cafe in Point Blank Friday for this test of endurance cycling. The East Texas Showdown is a 380 mile self-supported ride with 15,900 feet of elevation gain, on 60% gravel, 40% paved roads, mostly through the Sam Houston and Davy Crockett National Forests.
The East Texas Slowdown Route is 280 miles with 11,528 feet of climbing and 65% gravel, 35% paved roads in the same area. Lots of dogs and wildflowers on both routes.
The race is hosted by Bikes or Death podcast host Patrick Farnsworth from College Station.
The men’s winner for the Showdown was Kuya Takami who finished in under 24 hours(!) with a 23:54. Takami is a scientist from Austin.
Ashley Carelock won for the women in 31 hours and 32 minutes, and look at that grin. Carelock lives in Colorado now, but grew up in East Texas near the race starting point near Lake Livingston.
For the Slowdown course, the women’s winner was Alison Carey in 28 hours 8 minutes. For the men, it was Mike Buenaventura in 22 hours, 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a first for the Showdown, Ry Schulz finished the race, and then turned around and did it backwards from his first go-round to yo-yo the course. He finished in 3 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes. On a single speed.
Farnsworth is recording a podcast episode with him, so we’ll be ready to download that the day it comes out.
The complete results are available here. And the podcast is available here.
Finally, I can’t embed it, but this video from Dennis Lasochkin from the race is terrific. Lots of struggles and a DNF because he was forced to take outside help from the race directors, but he soldiered on to finish.
Meme of the Week
Featured Events
Brazos Bend 50 | 100K, 50M, 50K, 25K, 10K, 5K trail runs | Brazos Bend State Park | April 9
Snapping Tortuga | OWS 1250M, 2.5K, 5K | Lake Conroe | April 9
Gran Fondo Texas | 88, 67, 31 mile ride | Montgomery | April 9
Gator Bait Adventure Race | Adventure Race | Huntsville State Park | April 23
Ironman Texas | 140.6 triathlon | The Woodlands | April 23
Jailbreak 100 / Jailbird 55 Gravel Challenge | Gravel ride 100 or 55 miles | Huntsville | April 23
Wild Canyons Ultra | 100, 75, 50, 25, 10, 5 kilometer trail runs | Caprock Canyon | April 23-24
Cal Tri San Antonio | Variety of multisport events | New Braunfels | April 24
Gator Bait Trail Race | 5K, 15K, 13.1 trail runs | Huntsville State Park | April 24
Texas MS150 | 2-day ride, various routes | Start from several cities, end in Austin | April 30-May 1
Texasman Triathlon | Sprint, olympic, X-50 distance triathlon | Valley View | May 1
Texas Switchback | 26.2, 13.1, 10K, 5K trail run | Johnson City | May 7
Gravel Locos | 30 - 150 mile gravel grinder | Hico | May 12-14
Texas State Time Trial Championships | Individual and team trial race | Hempstead | May 14
Bike MS: Round Up Ride | 2-day ride, various routes | Frisco top Texas Motor Speedway | May 14-15
Buffman & Squeaky Triathlon Festival | Olympic, sprint, kids triathlon | Ransom Canyon Lake | May 15
Sylvan Beach Triathlon / Duathlon | Olympic, sprint, tri and du | La Porte | May 15
OTB Cyclery Enduro at Cameron Park | Enduro bike race, various classes including e-bike | Waco | May 20
Possums Revenge | 69M, 52M, 56K, 17M, 8M AND 4M trail runs | Possum Kingdom Lake | May 21
Fort Worth Triathlon | Olympic, sprint, relay tri and du | Forth Worth | May 22
CapTex Triathlon | Olympic, sprint, super sprint, tri, relays, aquabike | Austin | May 30
Texas Trail Running Festival | 26.2, 13.1, 10K, 5K, Youth 1 mile trail runs | Krause Springs | June 4
Rattlesnake Gravel Grind | 111, 66, 32 mile gravel grinder | Sweetwater | June 17-18
Cypress Tris & Trails Fest | Tris, trail runs, MTB, youth and doggie splash and dash | Cypress | July 23-24, 30
Blazin’ Saddle 75 | 75M, 100K, 40M, 20M ride | Granbury | August 6
WRATH 24/48 Texas Endurance Runs | 24 / 48 Hour timed run | Forth Worth | August 12-14
Hotter’N Hell 100 | 100M ride, crits, gravel, MTB, more | Wichita Falls | August 26-29
Media We are Consuming
Cyclists push for safety following hit-and-run in South Austin (Fox 7)
Woman Completes 1,000th Marathon After Running Irving Marathon (Irving Weekly)
Beloved Boston Marathon dog will likely return to race route following cancer diagnosis (Boston 25 News)
Bike team cycling through El Paso to bring awareness about Alzheimer's (KFOX)
The Running Event Introduces New Peer Mentorship Program for Run Specialty Professionals (Endurance Sportswire)
Apple Fitness Plus now includes post-childbirth exercise routines (Mashable)
Get Out There
I haven’t watched this yet, but Cody Miller’s videos are always good and we’re sad we couldn’t make it to SA last weekend for the pro meet. Our kids started their swimming careers with Alamo Area Aquatics Association during the time they were raising funds for the amazing pool there. We really want to go swim there some time, and now that Cody is giving it high marks, we are totally stoked to go back.