Throughout my triathlon “career” I’ve been a proverbial middle-of-the-pack finisher, or MOP’er as they’re often referred to. However, at the Scofield Triathlon I had the great experience, and yes I mean great, of finishing as a BOP’er, or back-of-the-pack finisher. It certainly changes your perspective, and not in a bad way.
The weeks leading up to the Scofield Tri were fraught with near-sleepless nights and stress-filled days between my “real” job and race directing the Cache Valley Classic Triathlon. I hadn’t trained once, unless you count the Spudman Tri at the end of July as a training day. The morning of Scofield I was relaxed, knowing that I could finish a sprint tri without too much difficulty. God has thankfully given me a body where I’m able to push through just about anything, as evidenced by my impressive(?) 7-hour finish on no training at the half-Iron CaliMan Tri a few years ago. Maybe I’m just stupid, but one of these days I’m actually going to train and see what kind of times I can really pull down.
Regardless, I woke up at 5:30AM Saturday morning, grabbed my tri gear (which I had packed at 1AM that same morning), and headed for Scofield Reservoir. I was right on time: left home at 6:00AM and arrived at the lake at 7:30AM. With an hour-and-a-half before the 9:00AM sprint start, my morning was going perfect so far. I strolled up to the packet pickup table, said my name, and found out that my friend Burke had graciously put me in the Olympic event, which started in just 20 minutes! Now, I probably could have switched events without any problems, but given that we had just instituted a “no change” policy at TriUtah, I would have felt like a hypocrite.
Maybe it was a good thing that the race started as soon as it did. I didn’t have time to stress out. I found a spot on the bike racks, laid out my bike and running shoes, took one sip of water with a Hammer Gel, and donned my wetsuit. While in the back of my mind I knew it was going to be a long day (especially in the water), I knew I was going to finish, regardless. That’s just the way I’m wired. After a few kind words from Burke on behalf of Richard Barnum-Reese, we were off: 1500 meters. Never mind that Marcel, Heath, and a few other phenomenal swimmers were heading towards the swim finish and passed me while I was STILL on my first loop. By the time I reached the second loop of the swim, I could feel the lack of fitness really get to me. Breast stroke for 25 breaths, head in the water freestyle for 25, repeat over, and over, and over.
It was at this point that I gained the BOP’er perspective. I had a personal escort during the last half of my swim. That poor lifeguard on the surfboard was probably wondering if and when she was going to have to save me. Why was she asking me if I wanted to hold onto her surfboard? Did I really look that bad? I also had fun with the lifeguards in the boats. I mentioned something about going wakeboarding afterwards (since I had plenty of time to talk while breast-stroking). They fired back that they’d rather be on the boat than where I was at the moment. I almost agreed with them. Finally the swim ended, and more than a few well-wishers told me “nice job” and “way to go”. They probably were just glad to see that I wasn’t being taken away by an ambulance. At least it was easy to find my bike in the transition area since it was just about the only one left.
The bike was relatively uneventful, passing a few people along the way, but truthfully most people were already WAY in front of me. Then came the run. The sprint turnaround seemed to tease me as it approached. I kept thinking what if…what if… I got those demons out of my head and kept moving forward. That next 1.5 miles was the longest of my life. Walk-run-walk-run. I have to say that anyone who volunteers at aid stations on the run are angels. With only a handful of people left on the course, these volunteers were there for me. Cheering. Whooping it up. Encouraging me. I was so thankful in my BOP’er condition that these people were dedicated to my cause. I must have looked horrible because at the Mile 5 aid station, one of the kids actually walked a cup of water about an eighth of a mile up the course from the table to hand it to me! You don’t get that kind of service when you’re MOP’ing it.
By the time I approached the finish line, the crowds had all gone. There was no one cheering. A few volunteers were still there to hand me a cold bottle of water, probably wondering “Is this the last finisher?” But, at least they were there. They stayed until the bitter end, and all just for me and the last few BOP’ers. That feeling of gratitude is one that will stay with me forever. At TriUtah races, we’ll always leave the finish line going until the last person crosses the finish line. As I was reminded at the Scofield Tri, the joy is in finishing what you initially started out to do, and there are volunteers and race staff along the way who are there to help you meet your goal. All triathletes deserve that kind of encouragement, regardless of where you finish.
Chris Bowerbank is the co-owner of TriUtah (http://www.triutah.com) and is a USA Triathlon certified race director. He is also the former USA Triathlon Rocky Mountain Region representative for Utah. Chris and the TriUtah staff are producing 6 triathlons and one half-marathon in Utah in 2007, and are planning a new half Iron event in August, 2008.
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