Eppies Great Race: Experience Matters
Don’t expect to see many reports on triathlons here, but Eppie’s Great Race is still the big daddy of local, community centered sporting events. For many locals, this may be the one organized race they compete in all year–either as an “ironman” or as part of a relay team. And the race raises a kayak-load of cash for Sacramento County Therapeutic Recreation Services, to help provide provide “therapeutic recreation opportunities for individuals with mental, physical, developmental, sensory, emotional impairments or special needs residing in Sacramento County.”
As a triathlon, it is odd in that you don’t need to know how to swim. In lieu of a swim, this event includes a down-stream kayak (or evidently any other floating object) leg.
Once again, the winners of the Eppies Great Race Ironpersons divisions were 39-year old Nicole Young, who finished in 2:02:30, and 51-year old Vic Vicari who crushed the hopes and dreams of competitors half his age by finishing in an astonishing 1:44:24. Interestingly, the next fastest man was 46-year old Mark Barrett, who was only a minute behind in 1:45:23. Third and fourth place were 48-year old Jeff Schwing (1:48:21) and 40-year old Nikolas Rechtiene (1:51:48). Where are the fast young guys?
The best part of reviewing the relay team results, is seeing the names of the teams. My personal favorites include the inflatable division team of Thinner, Spinner and Never Late 4 Dinner (Chris Terrill, Glenn Chadwick, and Jason Wilson) and 2 Young Bucks & an Old Gray Maher (Adam Greenquist, Jeff Maher, and Eric Sorenson).
Anita Creamer’s Sacramento Bee article about the event notes the aging of Great Race competitors, too.
You might be able to see yourself (after a short, but annoying commercial) in this video from KCRA.