Family Tragedy Inspires Triathlon Winner Defending Champion’s Flat Tire Opens Door Before Widoff Runs To Decisive Victory
Cameron Widoff left his Chicago family in tears following a telephone call from the finish-line area of the 12th annual Coeur d’Alene Triathlon.
The 25-year-old Boulder, Colo., resident indeed felt grateful to be making the call, let alone being part of a long-distance victory celebration.
“I was possessed,”
Widoff said of his first-place performance in the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40K-bike and 10K-run timed at 1 hour, 55 minutes, 12 seconds on a cool, windy Sunday morning.
“It wasn’t any kind of negative possession,” Widoff added. “I’m at peace.”
Widoff dedicated the victory to his grandmother, who was killed on June 21 in Chicago, the victim of a head-on automobile crash involving a drunk driver who also perished. Widoff’s father, mother and sister were seriously injured.
On May 6, just before the accident, Widoff had won the Wildflower Triathlon in California, a qualifier for the prestigious Ironman in Hawaii. A year ago, Widoff was 18th overall in the Ironman’s 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run.
“It slowed me down,” Widoff said of the accident. “I was at home for five weeks. I basically held my dad’s hand, 24 hours a day, for three weeks in ICU (intensive care unit).
This was Widoff’s first CdA event, although he is a sixth-year professional triathlete.
The door opened for Widoff and the rest of the men’s pro field in the swim-bike transition area at North Idaho College.
Defending champion Frank Clark of Vancouver, British Columbia, discovered a flat tire on his bike. Clark lost 7 minutes locating a spare.
In the meantime, a five-man pack was leading the bicycle race into Cougar Gulch. Garrett McCarthy of Louisville, Colo., established the lead on Mica Hill, with Widoff and New Zealander Brenden Downey second and third at the bike-run transition.
Widoff passed Downey in the first mile on Tubbs Hill and held a 52-second advantage at the 4-mile marker.
“The race went terrific,” Widoff said. “I was about fourth out of the water and rode real consistent.
“I knew Tubbs Hill would be a factor. My goal was to be close to the front. I got Downey just as it started. I rolled my eyes into my head and ran as hard as I could.”
Downey finished in 1:57:02, with Stefon Jacobson of Sydney, British Columbia, third in 1:57:25.
West German native Kerstin Weule, 28, never was really challenged in the pro women’s division.
Weule swam competitively for eight years as a youth, and now trains on the hills of Evergreen, Colo. “My husband told me, ‘This is your course.’ You never know though,” the first-year pro said. “I felt really good. I never got tired.”
Weule was timed at 2:14:29, which was 14th overall. She lost a little time going into the Highway 95 overpass as the chain slipped off her bike.
Holly Nybo of Mountain View, Calif., followed Weule out of the water, then used a strong run to regain second place and finish in 2:15:08.
Nancy Vallance of Santa Rosa, Calif., worked the 1.9-mile up stretch of Mica Hill to overtake Nybo. Vallance and Nybo held second and third at the bike-run transition, with Nybo about 2-1/2 minutes behind Weule.
The event attracted a record 900-plus entries, including 525 soloists.
The fastest Kootenai County finishers were John Sahlin of Coeur d’Alene (2:10:27), for a fifth consecutive year, and Cynthia Taggart of Coeur d’Alene (2:33:30).
The top times posted by Idaho residents were a 2:06:35 by Brad Page of Sun Valley and a 2:23:21 by Christine O’Melia of Boise.
MEMO: Cut in the Spokane edition