NETT Sweeps M40-44 at TDD Triathlon

Another very encouraging update on the mutlisport front from Frank KJ:

TDD Triathlon was the last FIRM Grand Prix race and NETT had 5 people at the start line. Paul, Joe and Frank battled it out in the M40-44 while Jim and Tina were in their respective age groups.

An extremely short 300m swim with two 90 degree turns resulted in the swim leg being a whirlpool and everyone being hit and kicked. In the M40-44 Joe managed to find the perfect line and got out the water first, followed by Paul (yes you read correctly) and Frank right behind. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Paul right in front me running in to T1. Afterwards Joe and I agreed that we would like to see the aerial footage of the swim as we have suspicion Paul cut the swim course short (just kidding – nice job on the swim Superman).

(Editor's note: Paul responds to Frank's remarks by saying "Let it be noted that Frank is a *way* better swimmer than me and would trounce me in any real swimming race. The problem was there were loads of swimmers even worse than me and a crowded course. I was 50% slower than the fastest guys (given the run to the timing mat out of the water) which is par for the course for me these days. Frank must have found himself in worst positions than me...He and Joe called it right pre-swim "a mosh pit".)

The bike leg is very hilly which suited Paul so well that he quickly moved away from me (I naively tried to hang with Paul for as long as possible – that was 0.5 miles) and later also passed Joe.
The run leg is pretty much 1.5 mile uphill and then 1.5 mile downhill. Paul used his usual strong run to secure 3rd place overall. And I used whatever I had left in the tank to chase down Joe and finish a few strides ahead of him. End result was that we ended up sweeping the podium spots in the M40-44. How is that for showing off the NETT colors?

Jim was as always flying fast through the swim and bike leg – so fast that he was first Clydesdale coming into T2. The hilly run put its toll on Jim though and he had to let one guy slip by him on the run. But with the points earned today Jim moves into 1st place in the GP Clydesdale division. Congratulations.

And finally there was Tina who used her strong run leg to pass a ton of people in her age-group on the run – both uphill and downhill. Tina finished around 5th in her age-group.

Results on the FIRM SITE HERE (Tina's time not correct - she did around 1:14)

I will summarize the success of NETT in the FIRM Grand Prix series in a separate posting. One thing is for sure –we have had great success so congratulation to everyone who raced. We will have a celebration party later in the fall.