 Rich Larsen moves up in the pack during the run phase of the Wildflower Triathlon, after surviving the swim and gaining some time in the biking leg. |
Los Altos resident Rich Larsen finished in the top 25 percent of the competition at the May 1 Wildflower Triathlon in Monterey County. As a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training, he beat his personal goal of three hours in the grueling race.
“The strategy in a race like this is to capitalize on your strengths,” Larsen said. “Swimming is not my strong suit, so I swam outside and towards the back of the pack to reduce the number of people swimming over the top of me.”
Larsen’s 45-49 year old wave of swimmers was one of the last to start. He came in with a respectable 36:14 minutes time for the 1.5 kilometer (.93 mile) swim, but he was in 2,254th place overall. He shed his wetsuit as he trotted from the water, put on his helmet and cleats and was on his bike 3:23 minutes later.
“The start of the bike leg is a one-mile, very steep climb, and I was still winded from the swim,” Larsen said, “but this is where I knew I had to make up time.”
The Wildflowers is known as one of the most challenging triathlons because the course is so hilly.
“I was able to get good pedal leverage on the uphills and an aerodynamic tuck on the downhills, which helped me move up in the pack,” said Larsen. His bicycle performance of 1:27:26 brought him up to 751st place overall.
“Transitioning for the run is very fast,” he added, “but the tightness in your legs from the bike, the heat from the asphalt and the uphill climb on miles four and five is really tough.”
Larsen’s 2:11-minute transition and 49:05-minute run brought him up to 534th place after the run. Overall, Larsen finished at 2:58:19 (two hours, 58 minutes, 19 seconds), in a field of 2,972 competitors.
Larsen was pleased with his performance. “I felt good about my time and about the impact our Team In Training had on raising awareness for leukemia research and patient support. We raised almost $300,000 from the Silicon Valley team and my campaign came just short of the $5,000 goal.”
The campaign Web site (www.active.com/donate/forbruce) will continue to accept donations until May 25. Nationally, Team In Training raises $32 million annually from the generous contributions of donors.
At the pasta dinner the night before the race, survivors of leukemia who participate in the triathlon as honorees spoke to Team In Training.
“Their stories of diagnosis, gut-wrenching family decisions, painful treatment and eventual cure were very touching, courageous and inspiring,” Larsen said. “None of them would have been there without the research advances that have been in part funded by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.”
Larsen’s view is that Team In Training is “a fantastic program.”
“It is a lot of fun, it provides an important societal benefit and the lifestyle of exercise and nutrition is great for your body! The program has wonderful coaches, helpful mentors, enthusiastic staff and several honorees to remind you why you are there,” he said.
Team In Training accepts people of any skill level and any age. As Larsen said, “Sure, it is nice to complete the race, but the real metric here is your human compassion.”
To learn more about patient services, log on to www.leukemia-lymphoma.org.
For more information about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, log on to www.teamintraining.org.
