173 take part in Hightstown’s first Sprint Triathlon

Princeton Junction man finishes first

By Kyle Moylan, Sports Editor
    HIGHTSTOWN — Although all of the 173 competitors had a chance to view the layout of the Hightstown Sprint Triathlon in advance, Christopher Bright and Ryan Rosenberg were among those with a distinct advantage. They live on the race course.
    “After having a chance to race on them, I’ll never look at the streets the same way again,” said Mr. Bright, the first Hightstown resident to finish and the third overall in Sunday’s inaugural event.
    Mr. Bright, a science teacher at the Peddie School, added that he got particularly emotional once the race course took him to the school’s campus.
    “I was racing on the streets I walk to work on every day,” he said. “Running through the Peddie campus and seeing the students out there was very special.”
    While Mr. Bright got a chance to race past several of his students, Rosenberg, a borough councilman, said he was thrilled to see many of his Hightstown constituents out on the streets. Not even a steady rain could drench his enthusiasm.
    “I love this town and I wanted other people to experience it as well,” he said. “It was great to show people every part of Hightstown. We went from Peddie to the historic district. To get a ten-
mile bike race in a one-mile town, we touched every corner of Hightstown.”
    Actually, they did it twice. After the competitors swam 400 yards across Peddie Lake, it took two loops on the bike race to cover the needed 10 miles. Competitors, ranging in age from 14 to 66, then finished up the race with a 5K run.
    The event was held to raise funds for proposed skateboard park near Hightstown High School.[vmo: how much: ]
    Mr. Bright finished the race in a time of 57 minutes and 36 seconds. Mr. Rosenberg clocked in 58th in a time of one hour, 15 minutes and 21 seconds.
    “I just wanted to finish,” Mr. Rosenberg said. “It was my first triathlon and I just wanted to show people that politicians can get out there. In every event you should have some sort of representation from your local government. I thought this would be a great chance for me to do that.”
    While Mr. Rosenberg trained for about two months to make his debut to triathlons in his hometown, the race also had its share of veterans of the sport.
    Larry Chevres, 38, of Princeton Junction, saw this event as a great way to conclude his competitive season. He recently competed in an Ironman competition in Madison, Wisc. that featured a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike and then a full marathon (26.2 miles). Races that long usually take Mr. Chevres between 11 and 12 hours of continuous action to complete.
    So the 55 minutes and 31 seconds it took him to win the Hightstown event seemed like . . .?
    “This was kind of a fun race for me,” he said. “It wasn’t easy, but it was a good way to wind down the season. I also like to do every local race I can.”
For more on this story and photos, return here later this week and read this Friday’s edition of the Herald.