Isabella Lang says signing up for the Aukeman Triathlon “was just like a for-fun race and I didn’t really want to kill myself,” which raises some intriguing thoughts since she was the overall winner — among men and women — in the race’s Olympic-length category.
Lang, a member of the triathlon team at Liberty University who is working at a bike shop in Juneau this summer, completed a 1.5-kilometer swim in 23 minutes and 27 seconds, 40-kilometer bike ride in 1:22:44, and 10.2-kilometer run in 45:45, for a total time of 2:36:49. She defeated the top male finisher — Scott Gresham of Calgary, Canada — by eight minutes and 14 seconds.
So, yes, it’s understandable that after a win of that magnitude she’d say that “it was fun.”
“It was definitely a hard course, but the race was so well done, so well put together,” Lang said. She said she’s probably run about 15 triathlons for her college team, but what made the Aukeman stand out was “running through the trails, that was fun like that. I’ve only ever done roads.”
Isabella Lang (center) checks her Aukeman Triathlon time with volunteer Annabelle Beaton (right) and observer Steve Rhodes after finishing first in the Olympic distance course on Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Lang was among more than 40 out-of-state residents who were part of a record field of about 155 participants in the annual race, said Daniel Wiersma, serving as the race’s director for the first time. Another first this year is a third course length was added to the Olympic and shorter “sprint” courses (750-meter swim, 19K bike ride, 5K run) of past years: a “long” course consisting of a 1.9K swim, 90K bike ride and 21K run.
The extra course was added in the hope of luring more participants from outside Juneau, but it didn’t appear to be the main reason for the higher turnout since most non-residents in this year’s race signed up for the shorter courses, Wiersma said. Instead, clear, warm and sunny weather — coming a week after rain dampened participation in the Juneau Marathon and Half Marathon — appears to have been a strong lure.
“Near the end we saw a lot of people register from Juneau in the last week as the weather forecast improved, primarily in the shorter distance,” he said. “And then I think we did a better job this year of pointing out that relays are a very viable option. And so just encouraging people that maybe you’re just a runner, but you’d like to do a fun event. So you go find somebody from a swim team, or a cyclist, or somebody who’s more into that type of sport and just kind of combine your forces, and go out and have a good time.”
A swimmer approaches the Auke Lake boat ramp at the end of his swim in Sunday’s Aukeman Triathlon. (Photo by Bob Eastaugh)
The Olympic-length course might have been a closer competition if a teammate of Lang’s — Skylar Waechter, who is also working at the cycle shop this summer — didn’t get lost and run what he said was about an errant mile on the trails. He finished second among the men and third overall with a time of 2:45:27.
“I was exploring Juneau,” he said afterward, noting he also took an errant turn during the swim in the 62-degree water of Auke Lake that was the first part of the course.
Completion rather than competition was the goal for most participants interviewed, who ranged in experience from first-time to frequent racers.
“I just want to finish and then next year I can build on my time if I’m not happy with it,” said Amy Blackwell, a Juneau mother of three young children — including one born during the past year — who signed up for her first Aukeman because “I just wanted to challenge myself” after being inspired watching friends do it last year.
Amy Blackwell makes the transition from swimwear to bike attire during the Aukeman Triathlon at the University of of Alaska Southeast on Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Her family members greeted her with signs and cheers as she reached the transition checkpoint between the swim and bike stages, where like the other participants she had to make a less-than-optimal switch in sportswear that included putting biking attire over her still-wet swimwear. But she said she expected the biking portion to be her best event and expected the final running segment to be the most difficult because of the hot weather.
The warm weather — and absence of rain and wind — was a plus for some racers including Charlie Waters, the overall winner of the long course with a time of 4:48:58.
“For me it’s a huge blessing, just keeping the muscles warm,” he said.
Jason Sosa, a Juneau resident, begins the bike leg of the Aukeman Triathlon on Sunday. He was the first-place male finisher in the sprint category of the race. (Photo by Bob Eastaugh)
The top finishers in each category for the three course lengths were:
Sprint
Male: Jason Soza — 1:15:13
Female: Pacific Ricke — 1:16:26
Mixed: Team Vanskap — 1:35:41
Olympic
Female: Isabella Lang — 2:36:49
Male: Scott Gresham — 2:44:03
Mixed: Team Admiralty — 2:49:15
Long
Male: Charlie Waters — 4:48:58
Mixed: Team Secon — 5:15:09
Female: Nikolia Kruger — 5:55:47
Full race results are available at https://sportstats.one/event/aukeman-triathlon.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
Competitors in the Aukeman Triathlon’s long course begin their 1,900-meter swim in Auke Lake on Sunday morning at the University of Alaska Southeast campus. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Swimmers head toward buoys marking the race course during the Aukeman Triathlon on Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Volunteers help swimmers out of the 62-degree water at Auke Lake during the Aukeman Triathlon on Sunday, (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Family and other supporters cheer Amy Blackwell as she reaches the transition point between the swim and bike stages of the Aukeman Triathlon at the University of Alaska Southeast on Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
John Bursell, a Juneau resident, runs the transition from the swim to the bike leg during the Aukeman Triathlon on Sunday. He finished third in the long-course category. (Photo by Bob Eastaugh)
