Air Force pilot Jamie Turner woke up Saturday morning with no plans on entering the first race of the 19th Charleston Sprint Triathlon Series on Sunday.
After all, the 29-year-old has spent most of the spring backpacking in New Zealand and Australia. Since then, she'd been on a bike maybe three or four times. And her mom was coming up from Florida to see her.
But upon mom's insistence, Turner entered the open-elite division for the first time and won it with a time of one hour, six minutes and 49 seconds on a hot, muggy Father's Day morning.
A virtual "newbie" by triathlon standards, Turner started doing triathlons last year "just to work out so I can eat and drink." Because of her military obligations, she may not be able to enter another race in the four-event series this summer. Even if she is here, she may have to spend the day training — she's set to do Ironman Florida in November.
In fact, after getting her award Sunday morning, Turner mounted her bike and pedaled back to her house in Mount Pleasant. She couldn't miss the training opportunity.
Unlike the women's division, the men's was won by a more familiar face — last year's champion Adam Martin.
The 37-year-old Mount Pleasant resident was one of only two to break the coveted hour mark on Sunday with a time of 59:14. Yet he admitted that Sunday's heat didn't bother him and that he enjoyed the challenge.
"For a local triathlon, it's got such a deep field and because it's such a short race, there's no room for error," says Martin, who hopes to defend his series championship this year as well as compete in the United State Triathlon Age Group National Championship on Aug. 22 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Sunday's race featured particularly strong numbers for a first race with 390 registrants and 347 finishers.
Results
The triathlon features a 600-yard swim, 13-mile bike and 3.1-mile run.
OVERALL: Male — Adam Martin 59:14, David Burley 59:59, David Thomas 1:00:46, Brian Fancher 1:00:58, Lance Leopold 1:02:08. Female — Jamie Turner 1:06:49, Tracy Dewitt 1:07:43, Anne Finch 1:15:53. MASTERS: Male — Dwayne Holland 1:04:02. Female — Jane West 1:13:57. Clydesdale — John McKillop 1:11:12. Athena — Jeanne Welsh 1:23:16.
AGE GROUPS (top male and female): 15-under — Brent Demarest 1:08:24. Rebecca Bruffey 1:31:19. 16-19 — Thomas Pittman 1:09:45. Mary Rachel Shelbour 1:24:18. 20-24 — David Johannesmeyer 1:06:56. Lauren Goss 1:10:28. 25-29 — Ian Blake 1:02:16. Lindsay Shuler 1:13:03. 30-34 — Brian Groat 1:02:33. Diana Jacumin 1:15:26. 35-39 — Dirk Dewitt 1:01:58. Molly Cherry 1:10:56. 40-44 — Eric Czander 1:07:45. Melanie Stuart 1:14:45. 45-49 — David Quick 1:06:12. Dicksie Johnson 1:20:08. 50-54 — Steve Stubbs 1:09:56. Jodi Joye 1:15:21. 55-59 — Bob Lloyd 1:22:38. Deborah Smith 2:05:54. 60-64 — Rick Widman 1:17:03. Anne Boone 1:25:43. 65-69 — Marshall Wakat 1:14:58. No female. 75-79 — William Boulter 1:31:24. No female.
For complete results, go to www.rmssports.com or www.charlestontriathlonclub.com.