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Vernal, Utah, site of
the 1999 USAT Rocky Mountain Regional Championships sports a scenic
venue, friendly hosts, and a laid-back attitude reminiscent of
triathlons from years gone by.
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| Vernal, Utah is the last major water
and gas stop on the road from Salt Lake City to Dinosaur National Monument. For
17 years this eastern Utah town has hosted a race featuring small
town hospitality amidst a mile-high desert landscape. This year,
on August 14, the Vernal race also served as USA Triathlon's
Rocky Mountain Regional Championships. |
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| To qualify as a USAT
regional championship, race directors simply apply to the
organization and pay a fee about equal to the cost of a good pair
of running shoes and a dependable tire. The face of any
particular race may change little, if at all, by its designation
as a USAT championship event. Such is the case with the Vernal
Dinosaur Triathlon. |
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As with most arid tris, the Vernal Dinosaur
swim is made possible through water conservation efforts.
Steinaker State Park, 12 minutes north of town, serves as race
central. The park's main attractions are the sandy shores and
clear waters of Steinaker Reservoir.
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| Racers
enter Steinaker Reservoir. The total field of roughly 120 swimmers
entered the water together and, although a relatively small field,
a few women questioned whether the need to duke it out with the
guys was appropriate for a USTA regional championship race. |
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| Most racers come to Vernal from neighboring
Colorado and the Salt Lake Valley area. A few trickle in from
Idaho and Wyoming. (Pro Barb Lindquist is said to have gotten her
start at Vernal when she came down from Jackson Hole, Wyoming a
few years back and crushed the local favorites.) Vernal,
however, is not a hotbed of tri geeks. Excluding a showing in the team events,
only two local racers competed in the race.
Still, the event benefits from good local support, including that
of area law enforcement. |
Fifteen-year-old
Colby DeCamp rides through the arid Vernal countryside and into
the shadow of his father's squad car. |
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Perhaps not coincidentally, one of Vernal's
few triathletes is Don DeCamp, a Sergeant with the Vernal police
force. Although a regular participant in the race, DeCamp was on
patrol this Saturday because his race bike was unavailable.
DeCamp's son Colby commandeered his father's ride to race in his
first Dinosaur triathlon.
Setting an
example for Vernal's jean-clad crowd, Colby DeCamp finishes as the
second youngest racer of the day.
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Vernal's bike course is a balance of hills and flats that
takes racers out of the reservoir's depression, through the edge
of town and out past fields turned green with irrigation water. |
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| A long and gradual climb serves both bikers
and runners as a route out of the park to picturesque views
overlooking the reservoir's hilly surroundings. The venue's
mile-high location helps keep the climate from soaring out of
control.
Racers grind their way through the first mile of the run. |
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Shelly Howe, 31, won the overall women's
title in 2:19:49 anchored by a 21:53 swim. With the exception of
the first (and last) mile of the run course, racers had to contend
with washed out jeep roads and loose gravel that slowed times,
tested ankles, and made some wonder if they had mistakenly been
warped into an Xterra event.
Shelly
Howe strides through the last half mile of gravel off-road run.
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| As morning temperatures began their rise,
racers began the last leg of their run, past the last water
station, and on to the final hill before a descent to the
finish.
Amy Mohelnitzky, 25-29, charges into the
last mile of her run. |
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Except for the addition of a few USAT
rules, the Vernal Dinosaur Triathlon is reminiscent of the
informal races common to triathlon a decade ago. With potential to
be one of the best races in the mountain West, Vernal seems
content to remain small and laid back. Young spectators watch
the race shaded by sagebrush and sand. |
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| The reward for overall winners is a coveted
piece of dinosaur dung. Hardened over the ages and bearing traces
of last night's dinner from another era, the dino doo doo far
outclasses your ordinary chunk of Plexiglas.
Overall winner
Andy Johnson, Denver, displays his trophy. Still acclimating to
altitude after a move from Oregon to the Rockies, Johnson posted a
36 minute run to finish in 2:01:15, 0:42 ahead of Greg Tayler,
Heber City, UT. |
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