And the winner isn't ...
Hours after first runner to finish is honored, a check of times determines Maryland man actually finished the course faster.
By JOHN SCHWARB, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 28, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - Matt Nuffort might not know this yet. You want to tell him?
The Lexington, Mass., resident had been waiting for the 2003 St. Anthony's Triathlon since last year's race, when he finished second and first realized he could have success against the best amateurs in the sport.
Training back home last winter was brutal with no biking weather from Thanksgiving to March. Time was another hurdle. More often than not, workout time was 10 p.m., after long days as the chief of engineering in the Air Force's global air traffic management program.
Business has been a little hectic these past few months, you know.
Yet Sunday played out very well, even as Nuffort said his legs felt "like jelly" at the start of the 6.2-mile run. A swimmer at Princeton, running is not his strong suit.
He found a rhythm, though, and with the leader in sight and a mile left, the 27-year-old decided to go for it.
"It's just a temporary pain for a longtime glory," he said afterward, beaming.
Uh, you tell him.
Tell him he crossed the finish line first at St. Anthony's in a fabulous come-from-behind victory ... but finished second.
That was the discovery Sunday afternoon, several hours after a new wrinkle in the age-group event was supposed to identify the top amateur from its field of 2,000.
An "open" wave, the first off Spa Beach at 7:30 a.m., sent a group of elite men and women plus military members on a journey of .93-mile swimming, 24.8-mile biking and 6.2-mile running in hopes of determining an overall champion.
On the women's side, the wave helped welcome a St. Anthony's veteran back to the winner's circle.
On the men's side, unbeknownst to everyone in attendance, the wave crashed.
Linda Neary of North Palm Beach surprised herself with a third St. Anthony's women's title, and Bill Schultz of Bowie, Md., was the fastest on the men's side.
Schultz, however, crossed the finish line about 30 minutes after Nuffort.
Competing in the men's 25-29 age group and included in a wave that started at 8:05 a.m., the former Florida State swimmer finished in 1 hour, 53 minutes, 8 seconds.
In previous St. Anthony's age-group events, the 25-year-old would have been discovered as the winner.
The lack of an open wave meant reviewing top times from all of the waves at the end of the day determined the winner.
"You wouldn't know unless you went through the results," St. Anthony's race director Steve Meckfessel said. "I guess we just didn't do a thorough enough job researching the results.
"One of the primary reasons why we put the open category in place was to hopefully identify the clear-cut winner, the first person who crosses the line. Here we are, back to square one with truly having to wait until we have all the finishers in and sort out the times."
Sorted, the times on the women's side were fine thanks to the 1995 and 1998 champion. Had Neary, 39, not flown by 24-year-old Jessica Jones of Bellaire, Texas, on the run to win in 2:07:40, the women's champion also could have come from outside the open wave.
Linley Smith-Wheeler of Atlanta owned the second-fastest time, 2:08:35. Smith-Wheeler, 32, competed in the 30-34 age group that began 20 minutes after Neary's.
Neary avenged her 2002 second-place finish.
Nuffort's 1:55:14 was more than five minutes faster than his 2002 second-place time, yet even two more minutes faster would not have been enough.
Schultz, whom his father believed had never raced in St. Anthony's before but had been training well for several months, including an October sprint triathlon victory in Maryland, was the champion.
And, like Nuffort, out of touch and out of sight. Off to dinner with friends, Bill Schultz Sr. said, then back to the daily grind of training today to prepare for another USA Triathlon points race Sunday in Clermont.
When the error was discovered, the thousands of competitors and fans who had filled Straub Park were a memory.
Temporary barricades were being removed. Trucks maneuvered throughout the grass to prepare for loading.
And under a big tent in the middle of it all where Nuffort had been saluted two hours earlier for owning the best overall time, a stage came down.
Race organizers could not locate Nuffort, and messages left at his home and office at Fort Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts on Sunday evening were not returned.
Perhaps he started on the way home after St. Anthony's and is back in Massachusetts today, still basking in the glow of becoming a St. Anthony's champion.
You want to tell him?
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