2024 Miamisburg Triathlon Review

August 25th I competed in the Miamisburg Triathlon. I took a spill on my bike training a few weeks ago injuring my shoulder so my race preparation wasn’t where I would like. I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to paddle.

I had a rough start in the kayak as a novice kayaker immediately went sideways repeatedly ramming and almost dumping me. Luckily I was paddling my Stellar Kayaks S18S EXP Multisport with a carbon fiber / Kevlar hull that could withstand the impacts from the other kayak.

Once I cleared the danger I got after it settling in right behind the leader. Not knowing how my shoulder would hold up I paddled very conservatively. I made it to the run transition in 2nd place seconds behind the leader. My run was also a little conservative as I was feeling some pain in my collarbone. I probably could have increased my pace but again stayed just behind the leader. The leader had a fast bike transition and was gone. I pushed hard on the bike always having him in site but too far ahead to catch. For the 3rd year in a row Mark Cowley finished 1st overall and I finished 2nd overall. It was very much a two man race with the winner and I beating the rest of the field by almost 10 minutes.

Comparing my race data from last year to this year I was slower in the kayak I’m sure due to getting hung up at the start and my injured shoulder. My run time was essentially the same as last year and my bike time was faster this year. My finish time was 1:18:04 which was 13 seconds slower than last year. Overall other than my poor kayak start I had a clean good race.

This is a great race for beginners looking to get into multi sport racing as the course is fast and very flat.  The race was originally offered as a tandem canoe race with solo divisions being introduced a few years ago.  Most participants still compete as tandem canoe teams.  This year 53 tandem teams competed.  All participants received nice t-shirts, finisher medals, and plenty of snacks post race.   Overall and division awards are not offered.  Seeing that this s a race I would like to see them present awards.

Thank you to Speedy Feet, Miamisburg Parks and Recreation, all of the sponsors, and volunteers for putting on a great race!