Fourteen hours before fireworks sparkled over Cortez on July Fourth, triathletes came together at the Cortez Municipal Pool to participate in the eighth annual Cortez Burst Triathlon.
Among those competing was Gunnison resident Travis Cole, who decided to sign up for the annual event in hopes of kicking off Independence Day with a bang. Dressed in a red jersey, the Colorado Fitness Employee hit the water just after 7:30 a.m. and for the next 75 minutes, pushed himself toward the finish line.
“I feel like I did really well,” said Cole, who finished second overall behind Jeff Fairbanks in the Adult Recreational division (1:15:14). “The first part of the bike course was a little choppy because of the road and potholes, but it was a good course. The rolling hills are a lot of fun.”
Also competing in the event were several children under age 14, including 8-year-olds Kalin Clark, Sawyer Hale and Judah Marty, who competed as part of ‘Team Lightning.’ Sporting matching jerseys and huge smiles, each of the three first-time triathletes expressed satisfaction with their performances, which resulted in a first-place finish in their age division.
“I beat my mom by a lot, and it was pretty easy,” said Clark, who completed a 1-mile run. “I’m glad we did this. It was (Marty’s) idea. We’re all best friends, and (Marty) always puts stuff together.”
“It was pretty confusing because we were the only ones in our age group, but it was a lot of fun,” said Marty, who completed the cycling portion of the race.”
“I was tired, but I took some breaks,” added Hale, who completed a 100-meter swim. “I would just hang on the wall and catch my breath. I had a lot of fun.”
Approximately 85 triathletes competed in this year’s Burst, which featured an adult competitive division, an adult recreational division, an adult team division and a kids division.
Gunnison resident Benjamin Lokie placed first overall in the adult competitive division (1:27:36), followed by Blanding resident Stephen Hiatt (1:28:00) and Cortez resident James Kilburn (1:35:29).
In the adult recreational division, Jeff Fairbanks finished first overall (1:01:24), followed by Travis Cole (1:15:14) and Dillon Wells (1:16:29). The team division was won by a team representing Stormy’s Gymnastics, which was made up of Heather Foster and Rayna Hale, while the kids individual race was won by Jakoby Casias (43:58).
Proceeds raised by the event were donated to “Friends of Recreation,” a local nonprofit organization that raises money for Cortez Recreation Center Scholarships and other youth athletic activities in the community. “We had a really good crew and a really good race committee, and I’m very happy with how the event went this year,” said first-year race director Ken Fagerlin. “The whole reason that I wanted to get involved was because of ‘Friends of Recreation.’” Over the past eight years, they’ve given more than 50,000 back to the community.”
With this year’s ‘Burst,’ now in the books, race organizers are looking ahead to next year’s event, which will again occur on the Fourth of July.
“I had no idea that this event would draw so many different kinds of people,” Fagerlin said. “There are people from all over the Four Corners and a lot of local folks. The little ones are definitely the cutest.”