With a 7 am plunge into Lake Blue Ridge, the seventh annual Escape to Blue Ridge Tri the Mountains triathlon began.  AJ Petrillo, of RE/MAX Town and County, started the triathlon to promote a healthy lifestyle in Blue Ridge and showcase the beauty of Fannin County.  The triathlon has become a destination race for people as near as Atlanta and as far away as Florida and Ohio.  Mr. Petrillo said that Fannin County is one of the best places to train for a triathlon because there is a lake next to challenging up and down routes for cyclists.  The race doesn’t give money to the winners.  However, the race qualifies top finishers for the USA T Nationals, a yearly all amateur national competition.  This year 305 people participated.  The winning time was 1 hour 20 minutes.  Mr. Petrillo said that the average competitive time is 1:35.  People out for a leisurely competition are anywhere from 1:45 to 3 hours.

Athletes wait for their 600 yard swim starting at the boat ramp at Lake Blue Ridge Marina.  They swim a course marked by buoys in the lake and exit the water at boat ramp.

After the 600 yard swim, competitors mount their bikes for an 18 mile bike ride down 76, through Morgaton, turning around at MACA, and riding back to Lake Blue Ridge Marina.  From there, they run 3.1 miles to the downtown city park.  In between finishers, the competition offers short races for Fannin’s shorter folk.

At the park, they join up for food and the award ceremony.

 

Stories from Local Triathletes

In his first triathlon ever, Rusty Reynolds from Blairsville won the respect of all athletes and onlookers.  Rusty, a cancer survivor and full-leg amputee competed in all three sections of the triathlon.  He ran the entire 3.1 kilometers on crutches For biking, he used a hand-crank bike.

This was Morganton’s Mickey Blaine’s fourth Escape to Blue Ridge Tri the Mountains race. This triathlon is where he began competing in 2012.  Since then he has gone on to compete in two Iron Man Triathlons.  His practice routine is a swim at Morganton Point, biking along US 76 to Union County and running around Morganton.  This year was especially important to him because he placed third in the 60-64 Men’s Race with a time of 1:46:22.  Mr. Blaine said, “It meant a lot to me to get to the podium in my hometown.”g

Jamie from Atlanta was competing in her first triathlon.  She was nervous and excited at the same time about her feeling of accomplishment. “The whole thing was challenging, but worth it,” said Jamie.  Training and competing in this triathlon is the first step towards the 1/2 Iron Man, a race which lasts for three hours.

 

 

 

Matt from Atlanta was competing for his second time.  His goal was to better his time, which he did by shaving off 20 minutes.  He chose to come to this triathlon because he had several friends who were also competing.