Judice, White capture first Pine Tree Triathlon victories

BREWER – Competing in two races in two days is by no means an easy task.

Don’t tell that to Ryan King of Bangor, however.

King competed in Sunday’s first Pine Tree Triathlon through Orrington and Brewer – finishing seventh, no less – a little more than 24 hours after competing in the Machias Blueberry 5-mile run on Saturday.

Fellow Sub 5 track club member Jeff Sands, also of Bangor, convinced King to give it a try.

“Jeff got me into it and I’m sold [on it] now,” King said. “I enjoyed swimming again, the bike was the most difficult part,” added King, who swam in high school.

The overall winners were Stephen Judice of Dayton in 1 hour, 6 minutes, 55 seconds and Kim White of Falmouth in 1:20:18.

Mark Brault of York came in second among the men in 1:12:50, Sands was third in 1:15:13, Nigel Storer of Otter Creek took fourth in 1:16:03 and Wesley Johnson of Cheshire, Conn., rounded out the top five, finishing in 1:16:03.

Finishing second in the women’s division was Katie Herbine of Anson in 1:21:20, followed by Denise Goode of Bangor (1:24:01), and Tracey Hughes (1:24:03) and Susan O’Brien (1:28:26), both of Hampden.

The triathlon consisted of a half-mile swim, 12-mile cycling leg and a 3.1-mile road race.

All medalists in the event – overall and top three in age groups – qualified for the 2007 State Games of America while Judice and White qualified for the Best of the U.S. Triathlon in September in Minneapolis.

In the men’s race, the foggy and rainy weather conditions slightly deterred Judice on the 13.1-mile bicycle portion, yet he was able to race out to a insurmountable lead.

“My visor, which is attached to the helmet, kept fogging up, I wasn’t really able to see anything for half the time,” he said. “Everything turned out OK, I didn’t hear about anyone crashing or anything.”

Judice’s splits were 12:06 for the half-mile swim, 37:51 on the bike and 16:57 for the 5K run.

“I felt great, one person took the swim out ahead of me so I tried to hook up with him,” he said. “My navigation stunk today, my goggles were fogging up almost as bad as the visor was on the bike. I just couldn’t swim in a straight line.”

Judice did enjoy the challenging course.

“It was tough, there really wasn’t a spot where you could put your head down and hammer,” he said.

Sands added that technique is a big key.

“It’s not only cardio and fitness, it comes down to your equipment, like how do your goggles fit, how does your helmet fit, do your gears and brakes work?” he said.

Sands sold King on the idea of the triathlon at a recent Sub 5 track workout.

“I just told him about it when we were doing a Sub 5 workout, he said ‘I used to be a swimmer in school,’ I said, ‘oh really, come out and test your skills,'” Sands said.

The women’s race was dominated by White, who is training for an Ironman qualifier in Wisconsin in September.

The Falmouth resident also enjoyed the challenging course.

“It was challenging, it was hillier than I thought it was going to be, it’s great training for the [Ironman qualifier] in Wisconsin in three weeks.”

White’s splits were 14:23 for the swim, 45:21 for the bike and 20:34 for the run, which she says is an all-time best for a 5K.

“I actually had a PR [personal record] on the run, it was fabulous,” she said.

Would she do it again?

“I would definitely do it again, I definitely would encourage [others] from Portland to come up.”