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Locals fare well at the 17th annual competition at Madeira Beach.
By JESSICA FISH
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 20, 2002
MADEIRA BEACH -- Rain jackets worn over wet bathing suits became the uniform of the day for 850 competitors at Sunday's soggy, but successful 17th annual Mad Beach Mad Dog Triathlon.
Overall winners (swim .5 mile, bike 15 miles, run 3.1 miles) were Orlando's Marty Gaal, 30, in 1 hour, 3 minutes, 2 seconds, and Tampa's Stephanie Peterson, 21, in 1:08.58.
The Pinellas favorites had second-place finishes: Largo's Mike Hofstetter, 35, in 1:03.02, and Gaal's training partner, Central Florida graduate student and St. Petersburg native Brianne Harrington, 22, in 1:10.05.
"These local races are never easy," Gaal said. "Mike is a great athlete, and it could have gone either way. The run finish on the beach made it tough, but it was different, breaking it up. It was fun!" Chasing on the slippery bike segment, Redington Beach dentist Dave Rowland showed this season's Ironman form, finishing third. Rowland, 40, was top master in 1:03.18. St. Petersburg's Beverly Buysee, 44, was top female master in 1:16.21. "We had kids racing on Saturday, and a hundred volunteers showed up for both days," race organizer York Somerville said. "The city of Madeira Beach and the Gulf Beaches Chamber made it happen. And, luckily, my volunteers came out in droves despite the rainy race start." The first-timer division was crowded, with experience ranging from mountain-bike racer Markus Mittermayr, 48, of South Pasadena, fourth in 1:18.38, to rookie Aaron Abelman, a 19-year-old South Florida student who was third (ages 17-19) in 1:24.14, edging his mom, Enee, 46, who finished 10th (45-49 females) in 1:29.20.
"I was so worried about Aaron out there in all those big waves," said Enee Abelman while waiting for her swim start about 10 minutes back. "But he ended up making us all proud." The oldest triathletes were Belleair's Charles Lasley, 80, a retired physician, in 1:51.20 and 12-time world champion triathlete Katie Knight-Perry, 66, of St. Petersburg, in 1:48.54.