When an event doubles its registration and participation numbers in its second year, in the words of Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing."

The second East Cooper Coastal Triathlon on Sunday did just that as 141 individual triathletes completed the event, which featured a .6-mile ocean swim, a 16-mile bike ride and a five-mile run. That's up from just 68 individual finishers during last year's quickly organized inaugural event, held on an April morning with temperatures in the 40s.

This year's triathlon, featuring considerably better conditions, drew some tough competition for defending male champion Zach Stroud of Charleston, who competed Sunday two weeks after finishing Ironman Arizona in 10 hours, 51 minutes, 32 seconds.

Radek Parnica, a Czech training in Savannah, and Kevin Lisska of Fletcher, N.C., won first and second place overall for males with times of 1:28:13 and 1:28:42. Stroud came in third with a 1:30:34 for males with a time of 1:30:34.

Last year's masters champion (age 40-up), Dawson Cherry, finished fourth overall in 1:32:37, but he didn't get the top masters spot because he was competing in the open/elite division rather than in the masters division. The top male masters honor went to one of Stroud's training buddies, Steve Swaveley, in 1:41:03.

For females, the top three overall finishers are all familiar faces on the local triathlon scene. One, two, three went to Daniel Island's Tracy Dewitt and Charlestonians Sara Kraft and Jana Glover, with times of 1:42:38, 1:42:53 and 1:52:28. The top female masters finisher was Tammy Carey of Kingsland, Ga., in 1:50:43.

Age groups (top male and females): 15-under - Ethan Ruckel 1:43:44. No female. 16-19 - Jerry Edelson 2:00:44. No female. 20-24 - Sean Markham 1:58:38. Lindsay Barnard 1:59:07. 25-29 - Kurt Wilson 1:37:39. Jamey Hooper 1:57:17. 30-34 - Dirk Dewitt 1:36:59. Robin O'Connell 1:47:12. 35-39 - Jim Daniel 1:40:00. Lindsay Agostini 1:44:04. 40-44 - Danny Moore 1:46:50. Mary Tanner 2:09:30. 45-49 - Keith Meadows 1:48:56. Suzanne Martin 2:22:02. 50-54 - Leon Locklear 2:06:52. Christine Case 2:22:22. 55-59 - Robert Griffith 1:57:29. No female. 60-64 - Neil Jacobs 2:06:34. No female. 65-69 - Bill Thomas 2:21:12. No female. 70-99 - Charles Swanson 3:11:45. No female.

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