With the season now well underway and warm weather following a coolish spring, more bikers and runners will be out there. Let's share the roads and paths, be vigilant and be courteous to one another. Sadly, another local triathlete died on the roads recently while bike training. On May 12, Mike Fisher left home on a morning training ride on country roads. Unfortunately, he hit a patch of slippery road and crashed into a stone wall. Mike died instantly. He was the husband of Christina Cahillane. Both ran with the Montgomery County Road Runners Club.

It's been just about a year since my on-bike encounter, on the hurtin' end of a hit-and-run, with what I believe was a Ford Explorer or Expedition in downtown DC. My left shoulder has lost a good deal of mobility as a result. Still, I'm here, but it seems an increasing number of bikers and triathletes across the country are not. Although Mike Fisher didn't die in an accident with a car, many bikers do. As we continue to grow in population and drive larger vehicles that carry only a driver, the roads become more dangerous to cyclists. Please be careful out there. For those who don't bike, please think about how you can contribute to making the roads a bit safer via carpooling, using alternative modes of transportation, and driving more carefully.

On a brighter note, multisporters got to test their mettle in a couple of local races in May. The 2nd annual Flannery Fitness Rock 'n Relay in memory of Judy Flannery, the world-class triathlete and duathlete, was held on Saturday May 12. One week later on Sunday, May 20, the Columbia triathlon, one of the major multisport draws in the region, was held.

Flannery Fitness Rock'n Relay

How do you spell dominance? How about H-u-i-z-i-n-g? Marjan Huizing (33) scorched the field at the Flannery Fitness Rock 'n Relay in Poolesville, MD. Only two teams and two male competitors beat Huizing's bike split time as the "Flying Dutch (wo)man," who resides in Rockville, was the fifth competitor to cross the line. Only three men and a team runner crossed ahead of her. The redoubtable Huizing finished 2:06 behind the male winner, Kent Thompson (32) of Arlington, VA, who won the race in 1:22:07. The second-place women's finisher, Michele McGleish, ran a good race but was over 40 places back. Huizing cruised the initial 5K (3.1 mile) run at under a 5:40-mile pace. Her effort on the hilly 17.7 mile bike leg led to a 22.5+ mph result. Huizing was able to recover her running legs after the bike well enough to be credited with a 19:22 for the final 5K run. Her overall time of 1:24:13 was over 13 minutes faster than the closest woman competitor.

The second-place McGleish (35) of Germantown, MD did very well among an otherwise tightly-packed women's field. Her 1:37:30 time edged DC's Jennifer O'Connor (30) by over a minute (1:38:38). Leslie Piercy (44) of Leesburg, VA was the first female masters runner to cross the line in 1:42:37. Carol Housaman (40) of Woodbridge, VA was second among the masters women in 1:47:30. Laurel McHargue (42), also of Woodbridge, was the third 40+ women's finisher with a 1:50:27 clocking. Reston's Sam Robey was the top Grand-Master (50+) finisher in 2:17:51.

Among the men, Thompson's running prowess won the day. Decent weather conditions allowed him to combine the two most consistent 5Ks (third on the initial run, first on the final one) to win. Averaging about 5:30 miles, Thompson was followed home by John McGreevey (27) of Silver Spring in 1:23:12. McGreevy combined a strong first run and bike to finish about a minute behind Thompson and just one minute ahead of Huizing. Harrisonburg, VA's Craig Lowry (34) was the third-place male in 1:23:31.

The fact that a 50 year-old finished tenth overall is remarkable. The fact that Jean-Pierre Bacle was the top masters division duathlete this day was even more so. Bacle's nineth- fastest bike split carried the Alexandria resident to a 1:27:05 time. Thirteen seconds separated the next two masters (in 17th and 19th places overall) as Bethesda's Michael Sullivan (30) edged Joseph Mulhern of N. Potomac, MD in 1:29:25. John Elliot (62) was the top grand-master and 24th overall. Potomac, MD's Tom Brown (70) was the oldest finisher and second grand-master in a time of 2:01:27. He placed 142nd among the 203 starters (190 finished).

The 20th Columbia Triathlon

Most of you who are familiar with last year's outcome may have expected another pitched battle between Philippe Kozub (25), the young and coming triathlete, and his coach, Eric Sorensen of Fitness Concepts, Inc. in Fairfax. Last year, Kozub finished in second place just 18 seconds behind his mentor.

Columbia is probably the most renowned triathlon venue in our region. Its hilly terrain provides plenty of challenges for the supremely fit athletes that it tends to draw. The 1.5K (0.93 mile) swim, 41K (25.48 mile) bike, 10K (6.21 mile) international distance course has been the site of two recent USA Triathlon Age Group Championships (in 1994 and 1997). As one measure of its success, this year's race had its most-ever finishers: 1100.

This year's race featured only a 15 second difference between first and second place and Sorensen (31), one of the most consistent performers at Columbia in recent years, found himself in the runner-up spot. Sorensen was not beaten by Kozub, however. Instead, the race belonged to the relatively unheralded Otho Keller (24) of Timonium, MD. The quiet young man evidenced a bit of discomfort and demurred when RD Rob Vigorito pressed him to say a few words following his win in 2:00:34.

Sorensen who has finished third, second, first, and second over the past four years, started the run in fourth place over two minutes behind Keller. In past years, Keller had been a talented swimmer and biker but perhaps a less effective runner and Sorensen felt that he would be able to run him down. He did, in fact, catch both third-place finisher Gabriel Urban (24) of Wayne, PA (2:03:12) and his trainee Kozub (25) of Bethesda (6th place, 2:05:32). Sorensen credits Keller with improved running. Still, neither Kozub, whose chronic foot problems have led him to run only three times a week, nor Sorensen were at their best. Sorensen recently moved from Dunn Loring, VA to Falls Church and that led to reduced training for the eight weeks prior to Columbia. It also led to hamstring cramping that made him a less effective runner.

One of Columbia's favorite sons, George Altieri (43), now of Clermont, FL, returned to show how this course should be raced. Altieri, who has almost always done extremely well in this triathlon, earned fourth place honors and was the top master in 2:03:54. Frederick, MD's Herb Spicer (45) followed in ninth place overall with a time of 2:06:30. Mark Wise (41) of Newark, DE was the third master to finish (21st overall in 2:08:56). Baltimore's Amanda Gillam led the women in 2:14:15 (47th place overall). She easily outpaced second place Jill Riblett (29) of Virginia Beach, despite a slightly better bike split than Gillam, finishd in 2:17:49 good for 84th overall. Tjasa Crofoot (29) of Bethlehem, PA parlayed the fastest swim among the women to third place (93rd overall) with a time of 2:18:46. Julie Billingsley (42) of Chevy Chase, MD had the top masters time of 2:29:43 which placed her 253rd overall. She was followed by Debi Bernardes (42) whose strong run brought the King George, VA resident in at 2:31:34 (in 288th place). Ellicott City's Christine Kelley (40) rounded out the top three masters women with a 2:32:01 clocking that carried her into 296th place. In the Grand-master's category (60+ for the men and 50+ for the women), Reston's Antonio Panizza (62) eked out an eight-second win over John Elliott (also 62) of Columbia. His 4:30 edge in the swim proved to be an edge that Elliott's stronger run (by 4:04) couldn't surmount. They finished in 2:32:22 and 2:32:30 (305th and 310th) respectively. The third grand-master male was Carl Walker (60) of Downingtown, PA who crossed the line in 2:53:54 (712th place). Arlington's Anne Viviani (51) ran (swam and biked) away from her competition as she combined the fastest grand-masters splits in all categories to win in 2:49:03 in 644th place. The clear win is appropriate in a category that memorializes Judy Flannery. Jane Godfrey (52) of Takoma Park was second in a time of 3:00:12. Baltimore's Louise Ramm (55) took third in 3:16:13.

Notes and News

Dr. Joanna Zeiger, the top US finisher (4th place) at last year's inaugural Olympic triathlon in Sydney, continues her winning ways. The Baltimore pro combined the fastest bike and swim splits and the second-fastest run to win (and earn prize money) at the hilly, hot and humid St. Croix Half-Ironman.... Premiere Events Management and New York City 2012 (the groups working to bring the 2012 Olympics to NYC) have scheduled a triathlon for August that they hope will be an annual event. The international distance event combines a point-to-point swim in the Hudson River, a bike course in three closed lanes of the Henry Hudson Parkway, and a run through Riverside and Central Parks that ends at the Tavern on the Green.... Erin Flannery, the eldest daughter of Judy, took her award-winning film, Judy's Time, to Cannes where it was featured in the American Pavilion on May 15.