Chilly waters of Campus Lake play host to triathlon

The cold, shivering and shocked bodies of racers staggered from the murky waters of the SIUC Campus Lake after swimming 385 yards in the 55 degree water for the 22nd annual Doc Spackman Triathlon Saturday morning.

"The swim by far is the hardest part of the race," said Jason Rassi, a junior from Metamora studying aviation.

Rassi was part of a relay team with Ryan Sweeney, a senior from Grays Lake studying recreation, and Dan Rakow, a junior from Batavia studying organizational communication. Sweeney and Rassi competed in the triathlon last year but added Rakow to complete the swimming portion for this year's race.

"He came out of the water, and he was entirely purple," Sweeney said while laughing at Rakow, who was one of the only swimmers not to wear a wetsuit. "They were trying to pull him in the boat. They told him to get out of the water, and he said, 'No, I'm finishing,' and got on his back and backpedaled."

Tim Geiger, a member of the SIUC Triathlon Club, said swimming through the cold water was like having someone sit on your chest because the cold took all the air out of your lungs.

"You get 200 yards in, and you just hit a wall," Rakow said.

After completing what most of the participants considered the worst part of the race, many rushed to peel off their wetsuits and then made their way to the bike racks to complete the next part of the triathlon, the five-mile bike ride. After biking, they hung up their bikes on the racks and pushed on to the chilly two-mile run around Campus Lake.

"The weather's usually chilly," said Kathy Hollister, director of the race and assistant director of SIUC Recreational Sports and Services. "Sometimes it's been perfect weather, but out of the 22 years, it's been more rainy or cloudy."

"It's a mom and pop race," said John Boget, a resident of Cairo who has competed in seven of the 22 triathlons. "People don't get real uptight whether they win or not. They come here and have a good time."

Boget, who boasted a worn, faded green shirt from the eighth Doc Spackman Triathlon, said he has always enjoyed this race because of its friendly atmosphere.

"You get to see all the young kids who are in real good shape with the bounce in their step and be jealous of them," Boget said jokingly.

This was the first year Boget completed the race as part of a relay and enjoyed doing it as a team. He did the biking portion.

"A key to how you get ready for the race is - you find someone to swim for you," Boget said.

The race is in honor of the late Richard "Doc" Spackman, who was a longtime athletics trainer at SIUC and a nationally recognized expert on physical fitness. It is open to anyone and just recently to all ages.

"Sometimes the older people kind of frown upon it because they feel like I have an advantage," said Julie Zaitz, a junior at Cobden High School who was on a relay team with her dad and his friend. "I'd say everyone's pretty friendly about it, especially since I am female. If I was an 18-year-old boy, they might not think it was fair."

Zaitz did the running part of the race for her team. She plays basketball and softball and sees the running as a way to stay in shape.

Other participants, on the other hand, train specifically for the race. Tim Geiger, a first-year law student from Phoenix, Ariz., does regular training about six months before a race.

"I do two swim workouts, two run workouts and two bike workouts every week," Geiger said. "One workout a week is an endurance workout, and one is a speed workout."

People come from all over the Midwest for the triathlon, Hollister said. There was even someone who used to come all the way from Florida.

"I know a lot a lot of people that have been doing it for a long time," Hollister said. "That is what's neat; a lot of people come back because it is so fun."

There were about 80 people and eight teams that participated in the triathlon. Barry Knight completed the fastest time overall for the men's category at 30 minutes 17 seconds and Ashley MacCurdy for the women's at 37 minutes 57 seconds.

"I've never actually won anything first place overall," said MacCurdy, a senior from Dallas studying marketing who is a member of the Triathlon Club. "I've always just come up short, so it felt really good."