Ruth's Race Report

I raced my fifth Work-it-Out Tri at Lake Wilderness today. It was a fun race on a beautiful morning. Chris Book and Gina Hagen were there to cheer on Gina’s thirteen or fourteen (?) year-old son doing his first race with his buddy. Rick Osborne and Kathy Morrison won the race (Matt Morrison was plagued with a flat tire). Several other newer members of RTB were there and finished really well.

Work-it-Out has been my most varied race: Year one, I was thrilled just to finish behind Nancy Larson and Janet Hominda; year two I had a flat tire, which I fixed myself on the course and felt proud just to go on to finish; year three was my all time PR, year four there was a volunteer missing in action and I missed a crucial turn on the bike ride and rode the tour de Covington. This year was a good race for me, even though it was depressing to be five minutes slower than my PR. They “fixed” the run, darn it! Someone complained that it had been short, and I think the swim was longer this year too. The lake was warm and clear today and did not have the offensive odor it had last year. I won my age group today (There were only two women over 50 in the race!) I have to enjoy that advantage while it lasts because 50 is the oldest group at this race and eventually everyone will catch up and join me there. There were some wonderfully moving finishes by first-timers. Gina’s boy’s bike broke on him; they got his mountain bike, traded them out, and he finished strong. What a trouper!