Sept. 2, 2007 — St. Maarten cleaned up Sunday as two of its residents took the top spots in a field of about 75 at the ninth annual Love City Triathlon.
Dr. Frits Bus, a 51-year-old physician, took first in the men's division with a time of one hour and 46 minutes. Terry Dewitt, 44 and a veterinarian, was first in the women's division with a time of one hour, 56 minutes and 16 seconds.
Both had finished second in their divisions at last year's event.
"I did this win by the absence of heroes," Bus said, joking after he crossed the finish line. Fellow St. Maarten resident Dick Luttekes, who won the triathlon in 2004, 2005 and 2006, didn't compete this year.
Bus said he had a good race, and like others he commented that the dry weather was a plus. He said he especially likes the event because he gets to visit with friends he's made at sailing regattas throughout the Caribbean.
Dewitt was so fast that she crossed the finish line third overall for both the men and the women.
"I feel great today," she said, and it showed. Dewitt said she found the bicycle part of the event the most challenging but kept a positive attitude throughout the race.
St. Croix resident Theresa Harper won the women's division last year, but injuries kept her off her bicycle so she participated in the duathlon, a new category this year.
Harper, 41, and a teacher on St. Croix, said she felt like she never got going. However, she was good enough to be first over the finish line near Annaberg Plantation parking lot in the duathlon with a time of 43 minutes and nine seconds.
She said she also thought not having to bring her bicycle on the seaplane from St. Croix was a definite plus.
Triathletes in the Love City competition swim a half mile, ride 12 miles and finish with a four-mile run. The duathlon participants swim a half-mile and run three miles.
Matt Crafts, a 29-year-old construction worker from St. John, was second in the men's division with a time of one hour, 49 minutes and four seconds.
"The bike was the toughest. It's those St. John hills," he said. Like Bus, he moved up a place from third last year to second this year.
Third in the men's division went to Gabriel Jimenez of St. Thomas with a time of two hours, two minutes and 50 seconds.
Janelle Zachman, 39 and owner of Caribbean Surf Co. on St. Thomas, was second in the woman's division with a time of two hours, 16 minutes and 12 seconds. She said the course was "awesome."
"It was beautiful. There were no wet roads," she said.
Race Director Jude Woodcock, 51, of St. John took third in the woman's division, the same spot she occupied last year. Her time was two hours, 19 minutes and 16 seconds.
"It was hard. I'm really happy with how I did. I didn't puke, I didn't faint and I had no mechanical problems," she said.
She joked that her training was lifting boxes because she and her husband, Jeff Miller, moved into their new house two days ago.
In the duathlon category, Harper's husband, St. Croix insurance agent John Harper, 48, took first for the men with a time of 47 minutes and 10 seconds.
"It's not has hard as the triathlon. You take the bike out of it and it's a piece of cake," he said.
The triathlon also has a relay category with one person doing the swim, another doing the bicycle portion and a third finishing with the run.
St. John resident Kate Swan, 51, was the swimmer, with St. John resident Chris Meyer, 49, the runner. Woodcock found them a bicyclist, Switzerland resident Andy Dill, 36, who was vacationing on St. Croix, to complete the relay team for a total time of one hour, 47 minutes and 41 seconds.
"It was warm, but there was a breeze. It was hitting me in the face and gave me a little kick in the butt," Meyer said as she, Swan and Dill waited for the event to finish.
St. John won the interisland award for having three triathlon teams with to total fastest times.
The event saw lots of perennial participants show up. Many of the previous triathletes this year ran the duathlon.
Why? "It's much funner than the triathlon," said St. John resident Jody Tanino, 48. She said she welcomed the duathlon because there weren’t that many bicyclists on sty. John.
"It gives more people the opportunity to race," she said.
Like so many St. John events of this nature, this one comes about through the efforts of volunteers.
"It's a social event. It's good to get involved instead of lazing around the house on a Sunday," St. John resident Elsa Angel said as she waited for the first finishers to arrive.
2007 Love City Triathlon Results
MEN
1st: Frits Bus, St. Maarten, 1:46:00.
2nd: Matt Crafts, St. John, 1:49:40.
3rd: Gabriel Jimenez, St. Thomas, 2:02:50.
WOMEN
1st: Terry Dewitt, St. Maarten, 1:56:16.
2nd: Janelle Zachman, St. Thomas, 2:16:12.
3rd: Jude Woodcock, St. John, 2:19:16.
Duathlon
MEN
1st: John Harper, St. Croix, 0:47:10.
2nd: Adam Thill, St. John, 0:48:05.
3rd: Ray Lutz, St. Croix, 0:53:00.
WOMEN
1st: Theresa Harper, St. Croix, 0:43:09.
2nd: Jodie Tanino, St. John, 0:48:15.
3rd: Carly Kauffman, St. John, 0:51:46.
TRIATHLON RELAY
1st: Kate Swan, St. John; Andy Dill, Switzerland; Chris Meyer, St. John, 1:47:41.
2nd: Michelle Dizon, Robert Bauman, Michelle Dizon, all St. Croix, 1:50:39.
3rd: Cheech Vyas, Austin Payne, Kevin Chipman, all St. John, 1:55:43.
DUATHLON RELAY
1st: Niles Pearsall, Elizabeth Conklin, no island listed, 0:45:27.
2nd: Heather Beckman, Tera Tidwell, St. John, 0:52:35.
