Ben Collins writes our race report for Kirkland Triathlon!

Sunday I raced the Kirkland Triathlon at Carillon Point. I won, and was the first person to break an hour at this sprint triathlon. It was fun to get out and race! This was my first time wearing a race kit since May, so I was a little overly anxious to get out there. Also I couldn’t have done anything without Courtenay who schlepped all my crap everywhere before and after the race.
The swim was in Lake Washington. It took me a minute to get my rhythm after a 10 minute delay in the start waiting for the sheriff’s ok. The first 200 meters I was right with Dave Messenheimer and Chris Tremonte, then I pulled away and never looked back. I started the bike 45 seconds ahead of Tremonte, and had a nearly four minute lead by the start of the run. With that in mind I relaxed on the run, chatted with the volunteers and thanked them for all their help in putting on the race. I finished in 59:50, about 90 seconds ahead of second place, Rusty Pruden.
It was fun to lead a race like this. I have only done a few non-drafting races since getting my pro card in 2008, and this race was a reminder of how different non-drafting can be. My strategy was just to go hard and once I was far enough ahead, I went less hard. And, since I was leading the whole way, about 57 minutes of the race were spent alone watching the back of a police motorcycle (his job was hard because the volunteers didn’t expect me there yet)!
The course was challenging, hilly, and beautiful. And I’ll admit, my favorite part was probably that it was close to home. It was a great day to get out there and get back into racing mode. Now I just have to repeat this whole wire-to-wire race experience at another non-drafting event, the LA Triathlon on October 4.
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