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July 22, 2002
Hunt claims YMCA Triathlon
By Mike Davidson, Sun Staff
http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105%7E4767%7E747239,00.html

LOWELL - Yesterday's sunny skies and warm weather were perfect for a nice morning swim along the Merrimack River. Or a brisk bike ride around Lowell and Tyngsboro.

Or maybe even a long run along the Pawtucket Boulevard.

How about all three?

A field of close to 150 registered athletes competed in yesterday's 6th Annual Greater Lowell Family YMCA Triathlon on the Pawtucket Boulevard side of Lowell and Tyngsboro.

The fast-paced course took athletes 1 1/2 kilometers swimming in the water of the Merrimack, followed by a 40K bicycle course interweaving Lowell and Tyngsboro around Lake Mascuppic, and finishing with a 10K run from the Heritage Ice Cream parking lot to the Lowell/Tyngsboro border and return along the boulevard.

The overall winner was 38-year-old Jeffrey Hunt of Boston, an elite triathlete, who completed the three legs in a speedy time of 2 hours, 41 seconds.

Hunt, who has already qualified for the sport's crowning jewel event, the Hawaiian Ironman competition in October, edged Nantucket's Kevin McCarthy, 29, who was just five seconds behind in 2:00.46.

"I perform a lot better in the longer-distance triathlons, but this was a great race," said Hunt. "Everything was dead flat. The water was great, the roads were in awesome condition and there were hardly any hills.

"It was an ideal race for putting up a fast time."

McCarthy actually had a two-minute lead on Hunt coming out of the water, but the eventual champ used his strong background in cycling to speed ahead during the loops around Mascuppic.

"Of the three, I'm strongest in the cycling," said Hunt. "I went by (McCarthy) about 10 miles into the bike course, but he really pushed me in the run. I had to pretty much go into a sprint at the end to stay ahead."

McCarthy, meanwhile, was competing at this "sprint triathlon" distance for the first time. He said he felt like he needed just a little longer distance in the run to overtake Hunt at the finish.

"I'm used to the longer distances, so I kind of ran out of time," said McCarthy. "But (Hunt) likes the longer distances, too, so who knows? It was a good race.

Third overall was David Nerron of Acton, who finished six minutes back of the elite top two in 2:06.09.

The top female in the race was another veteran triathlete, Mary Beth Cadwell of Roslindale. The 33-year-old Cadwell was 21st overall in 2:18.53.

"This is how we spend our summer vacation," said Cadwell, standing alongside her husband. "Going race to race."

"In the next few weeks, we'll be in New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, who knows? Just finding more triathlons."

Like Hunt, Cadwell will be competing in the Hawaiian Ironman in October.

"This a great time of year for doing this course," said Cadwell. "It's a very, very fast course, which is a good thing. (The organizers) did a great job. Everything was well marked. Volunteers were everywhere pointing us in the right direction.

"It made for a really fun race."

Prizes were awarded in several different age divisions for males and females.

This was the first year race director Claire Cloutier was able to get the race sanctioned by the United States triathlon association. In order to get sanctioned the distances had to be altered to meet the official Olympic or International distances in all three legs of the competition.

"We just want to see this continue to grow year after year," said Cloutier. "We think it's a great course because it's sanctioned and gives the elite triathletes a fast course to run, but it's also not too difficult that local people in the area can't do it either."

Six different teams also competed, where each member of a team would run one leg of the race. The top all-male team was the group of Billy Biscan, Chris Forti and Martin Burke of Malden, who finished in 2:07.48. Nancy Donahue and Julia Bison of Lowell were the best all-female team in 2:38.48.