Whidbey Tri 2001 Article

Aug 08 2001
Langley's Oakley tames the Rock again: Triathlon records fall

"Unchallenged during the ride and the run, Langley's Peter Oakley crosses the finish line alone and in front to take his second hometown win in two years.Matt Johnson / staff photosIt took Peter Oakley only about 15 minutes to win a 1-hour, 29-minute, 50-second race Saturday morning.Oakley, a Langley resident, repeated as champion in the fifth annual Tri-the-Rock Whidbey Island Triathlon Saturday. Along the way, he set a new course record, became the first person to do the race in less than an hour and a half, and knocked the other 238 people swimming, bicycling, and running against him out of contention within minutes of the race's start.Coming out of the water in third place after a half-mile swim at 9 a.m., Oakley hopped onto his bike and quickly caught the only person in front of him within a few pedal strokes. After that, he built a 3-minute lead on the 19.8-mile ride, a lead he used to hold off faster runners in the race's 3.7-mile run.At the finish line, Oakley looked almost relaxed and rested as he stopped the clock almost a minute and 20 seconds before Sedro-Woolley runner-up Kendall Townsend finished his race. It was a very similar experience to last year, Oakley said of his race. I was wondering if there was going to be some ringer from Seattle.There were ringers, but they were not fast enough to catch Oakley as he rode his UFO-esque, aluminum and carbon fiber bicycle to an ever-increasing lead. That's not to say that the athletes behind him weren't trying to catch up.Most interested in tracking Oakley down were South Whidbey's Curt Gordon, Brandon Henry, and Matt Simms. Gordon and Henry place second and third respectively at last year's race, while Simms was making a return to triathlon after taking a break from the sport for several seasons. Of the three, Gordon was the fastest, clocking his best time in five appearances in the race and placing fifth overall. Simms was less than 30 seconds behind in sixth place while Henry, the senior member of the group at 46, also set a personal-record time and finished ninth overall.In the womens' competition, Seattle's Chris Farias torched the women's course record with her 1:35:49 performance. A triathlete for the past two years, the 35-year-old champion said the Whidbey race followed her third-place finish last weekend in the world Olympic distance triathlon championship in Edmonton.Though she had a strong race, Farias said she has not reached the level of professional perfection. On her transition from the swim to the bicycle, she couldn't fit her foot into her cycling shoe for the first half mile of the ride.I couldn't get my feet in, she said.The winners didn't have the only good race stories. Had there been a comeback award for the race, Seattle's Amy Friedland would have been the recipient. Friedland gave birth to her son Jordan on July 9, then trained for a week to be the runner on a team with two friends from work. The team won its division.Friedland said she was amazed that she could race the course, having run only four miles in the past eight months.I ran Monday and Wednesday, she said.South Whidbey competitors had some of the best races on the day, especially those in the upper age groups. On a new bike and a tougher training program, Clinton's Frazer Mann, 53, cut more than 10 minutes off his previous best in the race. Langley's Pat Buchanan, 51, sliced almost 30 minutes from her time at the 2000 race.In the event's Orca division, a category for men weighting over 200 pounds and women over 150, Clinton's Rick Hill was the top South Whidbey finisher. The two hours and nine minutes of racing he did Saturday was a far different experience from being just a spectator at last year's race.The 2001 race was the first run without former South Whidbey Parks and Recreation director Jerry Cole running the show. This year, parks staff and dozens of volunteers put in extra time organizing the event. Also assisting with the race were a number of short-wave radio operators, the Langley Police Department, and the Island County Sheriff's Office.Saturday's race was the largest in Tri-the-Rock history, with 229 finishers. "