Congratulations to everyone who completed the Bearathlon last weekend! Stanford definitely had a strong start to its triathlon season. Our fabulous group went to Berkeley in our swanky new uniforms and was greeted by the picture perfect warm sunny day.
The women's team was represented by Henrike Siemen and Nellie Olsen. The men's team consisted of Tim Holme, Charlie Anderson, Mark Burkhardt, Kevin Lohner, Robert Marshall, David Li, Alex Robertson, Praj Kulkarni, Mark Johnson, and Sean Panchal.
Tim, Charlie, and Alex led off in the first wave at Spieker Pool. There were at least a couple Stanford athletes in nearly every wave, spaced 15 minutes apart. Thanks to Sherry for the extra drills on vaulting ourselves up and out of the pool, there weren't any cardinal-colored "beached whales" slumping up over the 1 ft high pool rim!
After T1, it immediately became quite clear why it's dubbed as "the world's toughest sprint" tri. The very hilly, windy bike course was so tough that several Cal bikers had to walk their bikes up certain portions. It actually put Old La Honda to shame! However, at the top, we were rewarded with breathtaking panoramic views of the SF Bay. The steep downhill was exhilarating -- it's rumored Mark and Bob surged down it so fast they even overtook a couple of sports cars.
The first half of the 5k run was also hilly and windy with several flights of stairs. The second half was downhill thru the Berkeley's campus, ending with a sharp turn and quick sprint to the finish line.
Congratulations to David for completing his first ever triathlon, and to our prez Tim who was Stanford's first finisher. Tim's time of 1:21:17, which placed him 8th overall, was over 4 minutes faster than his time last year. Henrike was our women's leader at 1:37:43, a time good enough for 12th place.
| WOMEN : Name | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Henrike Siemen | 12th | 1:37:43 |
| Nellie Olsen | 19th | 1:43:19 |
| MEN : Name | Place | Time |
| Tim Holme | 8th | 1:21:17 |
| Charlie Anderson | 11th | 1:22:03 |
| Mark Burkhardt | 13th | 1:24:21 |
| Kevin Lohner | 23th | 1:29:57 |
| Robert Marshall | 27th | 1:30:55 |
| David Li | 60th | 1:53:45 |
| Alex Robertson | 63th | 1:55:59 |
| Prajwal Kulkarni | 64th | 1:56:52 |
| AGE GROUP : Name | Place | Time |
| Mark Johnson | 36th | 1:55:34 |
| Shyam Panchal | 39th | 2:06:11 |