I came in FOURTH!!! The results are in for 2024 and I missed the North Carolina Tri Series podium by only 656 points! I am disappointed - I was hoping to bump up a step from last year and get into second place. But, the great thing is that I was FOURTH! The women in my age group consistently crush it and I am happy to be in the top ten - much less the top five. I have been chasing Elizabeth Skiba, Suzanne Tulsey and Amy Cocanour FOREVER!!!!! I am happy to be within 20 minutes of their finishing times.
In order to qualify for NCTS series awards and year-end "swag", participants must compete in a minimum of four NCTS races. Each race awards points and only the top 4 scores will be counted. Races are weighted according to distance with the a half-iron distance races receiving more weight than Internationals which receive more weight than Sprints.
This year, I competed in SIX series races. I missed the podium at Pinehurst (which meant 0 points) and somehow my second place finish at Wrightsville Beach Sprint got 0 points (or was not one of the top four races) even though the field was bigger and the swim was longer than most sprints.
I will say that podium spots are always always always icing on the cake. It all depends on who shows up. I could have the race of my life, but if an ex-pro in my age group shows up to the same race, I will probably be at least one step below. But, it sure is sweet to be on the podium.
Back in September, I raced back to back weekends. Both times - funny things happened on the way to the podium. The first race was the WB Sprint. When I finished, I checked the overall results online and realized I was second! WooHoo! I hung out for the awards ceremony and as it approached, I checked out the results again. I noticed that I’d been bumped to third. Oh well, it happens. I happily accepted third place and the awesome medal. The second-place finisher wasn’t there, but I got a great podium selfie with Elizabeth Skiba who had a very strong race.
Later that day, I checked my splits online and compared it to the others in my age-group. I noticed that the woman who finished second (the one who didn’t show up for awards) had a 16-minute 5K. Um……..what?! The winner of the entire race finished his 5K in just under 18 minutes. I am all about girl-power, but, I doubt a woman in the 50-54 age group can beat that. I debated for hours on whether or not to contact the race director….and finally did. She double-checked her timing and reached out to the 2nd place athlete and learned that her lost chip was turned in by another participant and somehow recorded the 16-minute run finish. I was bumped back up to second place. Unfortunately, my score for that race was not in the top four of the series and was nullified in the final standings.
A week later, I raced the Pier 2 Pier swim at Wrightsville Beach. This race is not in the NC Tri Series so I wasn’t going for podiums or prizes or points. In fact, I mentioned in a previous post that it was a tough race. Honestly, I was happy to finish at all! However, I did place at this race in the spring so there was hope. I really wanted a podium spot for this race - the prize was a pair of GOGGLES!!! It’s never a easy to gain a podium spot when the age-groups are grouped by nine years. My chances in a four-year age group is much better! Plus, this year, I am smack-dab in the middle of the 50-59 year-old age group. That age group is full of super-fast swimmers (they all finished 10 minutes ahead of me!). Needless to say, my name was not called. And, when I checked the results later - I found out that one of the podium winners in my age group was actually listed as 60!!!! [And, what’s up with Anonymous. C’mon!] WTH?
There is always this year. There are always new podiums to reach. There are always new personal bests to chase. I have quite a few time goals in mind for 2025 for a few A-Races. I can’t wait to see what awaits.
Third Place, but really Second Place
Selfie from the Podium
Pier 2 Pier Results. One of the top three is NOT 50-59.