Close to 175 in race; hundreds look on
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, Mr. 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 10-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 a proposed skateboard park near Hightstown High School. Just more than $9,000 was raised, organizer Darek Hahn said Thursday.
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.”
Mr. Chevres, a former swimmer at Princeton University, got out of Peddie Lake in first place and never looked back. Well, he looked back but he just never saw anyone.
After coming out of the water, he put on his helmet and sneakers to prepare for the bicycle portion of the race.
”I looked back after a few turns on the bike and I didn’t see anyone,” he said. “There are so many turns, it’s hard to tell.”
Especially since not all the competitors started at once and were racing more against the clock than each other. According to Mr. Chevres, the light rain throughout the race was no factor in the swim and quite pleasant during the run. But the bicycle race . . .
”You had to be careful,’ Mr. Chevres said. “Some people just don’t know how to handle the wet conditions because they don’t go out (and train) in weather like this. You brake going into the turns to be safe.”
And there were a lot of turns.
”I know the roads, but it was still a surprise whether it was left or right,” Mr. Chevres said. “There are a lot of turns. I was just taking the directions from the volunteers.”
In addition to the greatly needed volunteers pointing the competitors in the right direction, hundreds of people came out in the rain to watch the action. And if they waited long enough, they were bound to see someone they knew.
While thanking the borough for all its help, Mr. Hahn said he was very gratified at the large turnout of onlookers, especially given the dreary weather.
David Pennenga, David Golembieski and Suhas Kumar, all seniors at Hightstown High School, entered the race as a team. Mr. Pennenga did the swimming, Mr. Golembieski the biking and Mr. Kumar finished up with the running. They ended up being the top relay team out of the nine entered, with a time of one hour, two minutes and 30 seconds.
”We saw it on the Internet a couple of weeks ago and we just decided to go for it. We could have all made it on our own, but it would have been a lot slower,” Mr. Pennenga said with a laugh. “I swim (for Hightstown High), he (Mr. Kumar) runs, so it worked out.”
All except for the time the race started 7:30 a.m.
”I got up at about 6:30. My parents were a little too sleepy to get up. Hey, it’s Sunday morning,” he said, laughing again.”
The time and day of week were picked to minimize the impact on traffic.
Robert Greaves, of West Chester, Pa. placed second in the race with a time of 56:55. The top three female finishers in the race were Robynn O’Kane, of Garrison, N.Y. (1:03.37), Susan Hrabchak. of Princeton (1:07.16). and Carrie Craft. of Delran (10:09.57).
Mr. Rosenberg is already looking forward to the second annual Hightstown Sprint Triathlon, probably to be held on a Sunday morning next fall.
”It was very successful, so I don’t know why we wouldn’t do it again,” he said. “I’ll do it again next year.”
He has 365 days to study the course.