At 6 a.m. on a blustery Saturday morning 1,600 people arrived at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park to participate in the 27th annual Runner’s Edge Tobay triathlon and tri- relay race. The participants were from all over Long Island, some from upstate NY, a few from out of state and were all ages and some even with disabilities but all came with one goal in mind, to finish.
The course starts out as a half mile swim in Oyster Bay Harbor, then a 9.3 mile bike ride through Oyster Bay, Laurel Hollow, and Cove neck which is very hilly but finishes with a 2.9 mile downhill to the finish. Then the riders have one more leg of the race which is 3.2 mile run through Mill Neck and Brookville, up to Planting Fields Arboretum and back down to Roosevelt Park to the finish line.
Among the participants was Hicksville’s Nick Zito, a 57-year-old who works in IT.
“This is my fourth triathlon. I was always a runner, I started running in l977. My daughter became a lifeguard and taught me how to swim so I tried a small one (triathlon) and loved it and I have been doing it ever since,” Zito said.
Joining Zito at the race was Old Westbury’s Michael O’Donoghue.
“I was a swimmer but when I was about 45 years old a buddy of mine asked me to do this as a fun race. We have been doing it for 14 years together.”
Pulling out a can of Pam, Odonoghue started spraying himself down before sliding into his wet suit and explained the categories to me. He was in the Elite group. “After years of training I got into this category and what will separate the winners in this group will be seconds, so if you spray Pam on your legs, when you take off your wet suit it will come off much faster because every second counts. I won one race years ago by one second against another guy in this age group.”
Discussing the age groups for triathaloners, Odonoghue said, “In the top 100 you will see more 50 year olds than you will 30 and 40 year olds. One of the reasons is because they have the equipment.” He pointed to his new bike and said, “That’s a $10,000 bike, and these athletes have years and years of work at it. Income doesn’t replace the fact that you really have to work at this. These guys swim, bike and run three times a week. Their fitness level is top one tenth of 1% people in their age. It is just evidence that you can go into old age and be as fit as a 20 year old.”
Women also put in a strong showing at the event. Anne Silverman, 50, from Levittown has been doing this for six years. “I got into this for fitness, friends, fun and competition. I started running and was injured so I started to swim and bike as a cross training. I did my first triathlon at the age of 44 and got hooked.”
When asked how triathlon has changed her as a person she said, “I love getting up in the morning, I love to train. I have a huge community of friends that I never had before that I like to hang out with. I am healthier and happier.”
Doreen Kralick from Massapequa Park, 46, particpated as as a triathaloner for the second time. She said its a great stress reliever and that it has changed her as a person. “It has made me more balanced between kids and work,” she said. “The hardest part of triathlon is finding the time to get the training in, I do a lot of Ironman so this was just a training on the way.”
As each runner crossed the finish line they received a gold medal.
