Cold and snow don't keep triathletes from holiday event

Dec. 12, 2006

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

PALMER - What do you call a group of people willing to ride their bikes for 10 kilometers along ice-covered pathways, run five kilometers in freezing temperatures and then go hop in a swimming pool for a 500-yard swim?

Crazy?

Nope.

In Palmer they're called triathletes.

Nearly 20 brave souls from across Alaska finished the chilly ninth-annual Colony Christmas Triathlon Sunday in Palmer, a unique event that has athletes run and bike through the snow before getting in a pool to complete the race.

Anchorage's Andy Duenow won the men's portion of the competition with a time of 47 minutes, 40.6 seconds, while Katy Rosane of Eagle River took home the women's title in 54:25.4.

In addition to the individual racers, another 32 athletes completed portions of the course as part of the team event.

Temperatures hung just around freezing as the race got under way from Peak Fitness in Palmer, the primary sponsor of the race, which is also put on by the Palmer Chamber of Commerce. Athletes started by biking twice around a loop set out through downtown, then hopped off their bikes and ran the course once before stopping at the Palmer Pool for the swimming portion of the event.

The event attracted several who make up part of Alaska's small, tight-knit triathlete community, something many of the participants said attracted them to the winter race.

&#8220We're all good friends,” said men's third-place finisher Bruce Miller.

Miller and his wife, Janna (who placed second in the women's race) traveled from Fairbanks for the event. Another top couple, Brett and Katy Rosane, came from Eagle River.

&#8220This is just an oddball race that we all enjoy coming down for,” Bruce Miller said.

Most of the athletes were able to cope fairly well with the cold, slippery conditions. Women's winner Katy Rosane, however, did have a bit of trouble negotiating one tricky curve early in the race.

&#8220I took the corner, picked an icy path and went down,” Rosane said.

The next time around the loop, Rosane said she took the turn a little more slowly.

&#8220I learned my lesson,” she said.

Rosane said part of the fun of the triathlon is that it's run over a course that most athletes in the sport never get to tackle.

&#8220It's very unique,” she said. &#8220There's other ones where you ski, but I guarantee this is the only one where you run and bike in the snow.”

Men's winner Andy Duenow used a strong swimming leg of the competition to edge Brett Rosane by less than a minute. Rosane got out to a big lead through the biking and running portions of the race, but Duenow's prowess in the pool enabled him to win.

&#8220I knew if I didn't have at least a two minute lead he was going to win,” Rosane said following the race.

Duenow joked that the race played out in a sort of tortoise-and-hare fashion - this time with the rabbit able to come from behind.

&#8220He's kind of the steady motor,” Duenow said of his chief rival.

The team of Thomissa Comellas, Ed Banas and Ralph Comellas won the coed team title, while Paula Davis, Katie Conover and Michelle Tarin won the women's team race.

Event organizer Mike Janicek has been involved in the triathlon since its inception, and said he hopes the race will continue to be a wintertime tradition in Mat-Su.

&#8220It's one of the really cool events in the Valley,” he said. &#8220We should keep it going.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com.