Pointing his index fingers toward the sky as spectators cheered him on, 33-year-old Redondo Beach resident Brian Tasker knew he had outdistanced his nearest opponent and was the first person to cross the finish line Sunday morning at Veteran’s Park in Redondo Beach.
What he didn’t count on was Jason May, a seven-year veteran of the Redondo Beach Fire Department who, at the age of 35, had moved up an age group and was competing in the second wave of competitors.
When all was said and done, it was May who emerged as the winner of the 6th Annual Redondo Beach Triathlon with a time of 41 minutes, 5.1 seconds, exactly two minutes faster than Tasker’s mark.
With more than 650 people competing (there also was a half-distance mini-sprint), the strong showing of hometown participants was capped off when Mark Tripp, 30, placed third at 43:52.8 giving Redondo Beach athletes a 1-2-3 finish.
Amanda Nauman, 21, of Mission Viejo took top honors in the women’s division with a mark of 48:03.1, improving her second-place time of 51:07 in 2009.
Fifteen-year-old Hannah Finchamp, of Altadena, finished second at 49:02.2 and Jennifer Levi, 36, of Pacific Palisades placed third, completing the course in 50:45.2.
After placing second in last year’s event and a third-place finish in 2008, May was pleased with the victory but not overly-ecstatic.
“If Brian would have won, that would have been okay,” May said. “Winning is great but just to be out there is what it’s all about. It’s always an honor to race in my hometown. Having family there is great and the course is just one block from the (fire) station. I only have to wake up ? hour before the race.”
May said he was on duty Sunday morning but a co-worker covered his shift for two hours so May could compete in the race. He went back to work immediately after the race with plans to return for the awards ceremony later.
“I had an emergency call so I missed my time on the podium,” May said. “But the welfare of the citizens of Redondo Beach is much more important.”
Two-time defending champion Chris Foster, also a Redondo Beach resident, is in the process of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics and did not compete in the event Sunday. Foster set the course record in 2008, completing the 1/2-mile swim, 6-mile bike, and 2-mile run in 39 minutes, eight seconds.
“I’m lucky he didn’t show up because he would have beaten me. Chris is very strong,” said May, who competes in 10-12 triathlons a year.
While most triathletes feel that swimming is the most difficult discipline in the race, May feels right at home in the water.
The 1993 graduate of Mira Costa High School became an L.A. Country Lifeguard after swimming and playing water polo for the Mustangs and at UC Berkeley.
May’s time of 11:15 in the ?-mile swim was the fastest among all competitors, describing the conditions as ideal.
“The water has warmed up in the last week,” May said. “It’s a great place for a triathlon event because the surf doesn’t get that big. (Director) Rick Crump does an awesome job with the race. It’s one of my favorites.”
Tasker, who won the Hermosa Beach Triathlon last October, agreed.
“The ocean was really flat and very calm,” Tasker said after improving his time by nearly two minutes after a seventh-place finish in 2009. “The lifeguards did a good job of keeping it all together. It’s hard to gauge the turn to shore. You’re wrapping up a ?-mile. You just have to pick a good line and just get through it.”
May continues to work toward his goal of competing in the 2011 Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii. He will use the Oxnard’s Strawberry Fields Triathlon on July 17 and the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon on October 3 as training events before the Ironman Arizona in November where he can earn valuable points needed to qualify for the Kona event which May terms “the Holy Grail of Ironman competition.”
Crump knows what it takes to compete in and produce a triathlon event. A Physical Education teacher at Adams Middle School in Redondo Beach, Crump completed the Ironman Triathlon in Kona last October and was deeply satisfied after he and his wife Connie put on their sixth Redondo Beach Triathlon.
“I like rivalries but I also enjoy watching athletes like Jason and Brian improve each year,” Crump said. “If I can get a group of past winners like Foster and (Jimmy) Wills together, I would have them compete in the same wave which would be very interesting.”
Crump noted that things are running so smoothly at the Redondo Beach Triathlon that he is considering returning to competition at the annual event.
“Connie and I make a great team,” Rick said. “We have a great group of coordinators and volunteers. Dede Moore was out placing cones before she raced. If I see a slight problem with something along the course, it’s usually fixed before I even report it.”
Moore was one of two female competitors from Redondo Beach to finish in the top ten in the women’s division. Moore, 50, placed sixth with a time of 53:07.3, edging Christina Powers, 33, who crossed the finish line at 53:28.9.
Moore, a family physician, put her medical practice on hold for a year and a half to organize and produce the inaugural Redondo Beach Triathlon in 2005. Proceeds from the event continue to benefit Cheer for Children, a Redondo Beach-based nonprofit organization that gives seasonal parties and raises money for acutely ill children at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.
Two other local athletes placed in the top ten in the men’s division. Demonstrating the value of experience over age, 50-year-old Bill Macleod of Rolling Hills Estates finished fifth with a time of 44:28.7, narrowly beating 19-year-old Torrance resident Mathieu Gonin who placed sixth with a mark of 44:31.5. ER
