A crowd of more than 50 participants, dressed in their finestwork-out gear, began to gather long before the appointed meetingtime of 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning, ready to race.
University Recreation sponsored the annual Tiger TriathlonSunday, opening it to people of all ages. Participants’ agesranged from 16 to 50 or older.
A triathlon consists of a 5-kilometer run, a 20-mile bike rideand a 500-yard swim and can be run as a team or individualevent.
As the crowd stretched and ran to warm up their muscles, smilesand chatter reflected their good spirits and anticipation of thetriathlon as they prepared to begin in the Special Olympics poolparking lot.
Before the race, runners wrote their assigned numbers on theirarms or shoulders in thick, black marker.
The weather was cool and clear, and many brought chairs and satin the sun together, watching the finish line for the friend orfamily member they were there to see.
The runners lined up on South Stadium Drive. After a dramatic”take your marks,” a University Recreation worker sentthe runners off with a gunshot.
The runners were off and a large digital clock began keeping thetime.
After about 25 minutes, the first runners returned to theparking lot and rushed for their bikes. The second part of the racehad begun.
As the first bikers took off, some pedaled one-handed or with nohands as they hastily buckled their helmets under their chins.
Spectators hurried to their cars and drove to theUniversity’s Natatorium, where the athletes would arrive,toss down their bikes and jump in the pool for the final portion ofthe race.
The last runner reached her bike about 40 minutes into therace.
The first swimmer entered the pool 78 minutes into the race.During the next hour, more followed.
The first man to finish the entire triathlon did so in 92minutes, 50 seconds.
After the swimming portion of the triathlon was over, everyonejourneyed back to the parking lot for the awards presentation.
At the parking lot, students from the Massage Therapy College ofBaton Rouge were on hand to pamper the athletes, and donuts,muffins, water and Powerade were provided.
The awards ceremony followed soon after. A representative fromthe Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association, which raisesawareness for what is more commonly known as “LouGehrig’s disease,” presented a special award to LisaBrenskelle, a chemical engineering graduate student.
Brenskelle raised more than $3,000 for the association by askingfamily and friends to pledge money while she ran the triathlon.
The Tiger Triathlon’s overall male winner was JohnDeshetel, with a time of 1:18:32 and the overall male runner-up wasNorman Nolan, with a time of 1:23:32.
The overall female winner was Erica Namba, with a time of1:34:35, and the two tied runner-ups were Nancy Kuhlmeier and RobinFerguson.
The winning team consisted of Jennifer Jeansonne, Mitch Evansand Nancy Legoria with a time of 1:29:29.