NETT take the beach at Cohasset

A few Mini Ponies were down at the Cohasset tri recently. Martin Bures has been really ripping it up this year. Here's his report:

So Jim and Katherine and I did Cohasset this past weekend. It is an Age Group Nationals Qualifier Race and it was filled up. There were 804 competitors. It was a perfect day - sunny, the ocean was glass and it was not windy. The water was cold so a full wetsuit was in order.

I lined up for my wave and waited for the gun to go off. There was some jostling at the start but I sprinted for the open, dove into the water and took a few strong strokes to put me in the lead. I kept the lead through the swim and ran up the beach to the first transition.

I was a little winded from the swim and had a slow swim-to-bike transition but was still in good shape. Only a few people passed me during the bike leg which went surprisingly well despite a few shifting problems due to some cable stretch. We had driven the course the previous day and it didn't seem too bad but we missed a hilly
section which was an unwelcome surprise. All-in-all, the bike went well and I have definitely improved this season thanks to Frank.

T2 was a bit faster and I was out for the run. It felt sluggish at first and there were a few challenging hills but I was able to take back a few places that I lost during the bike. I was empty at the end but it was a great effort. I finished 2nd in my age group, 22/804 for 1:00:25 with some strong competition."

Nice work Martin!

Despite the top-notch competition at this race, Katherine still managed to win her age group by less than a minute in a gutsy performance.

Jim De Zutter put in a super strong swim as well and finished in 1:14. He credits his strong race to his unusual habit of inspecting every grain of sand on the beach prior to the swim.