Ryan ChartrandOn Saturday and Sunday, the annual Wildflower Triathlon will be held at Lake San Antonio, with a large number of Cal Poly students participating.
The triathlon encompasses three separate races: a long course which is the most strenuous event, an Olympic distance which is a medium-length course and a sprint, which is a short race that is less than half the distance of the Olympic.
This year the Cal Poly Triathlon Team has 86 racers, which makes it an exciting end to the school year, said Rob Small, a civil engineering senior and president of the team.
“It’s amazing knowing that 7,000 people are there and Cal Poly makes up a huge portion,” Small said.
Team vice president Tamara Presser, a civil engineering senior, said that in addition to the huge team Cal Poly will be racing with, there will be hundreds of fans along the course cheering them on.
“It’s a blast and the best thing about the race is that there are thousands yelling and most of them supporting Cal Poly,” Presser said. “It gives you the chills because it’s so different than most of the races we do where we only have each other.”
Presser and Small agreed that racing triathlons is a demanding sport that takes a huge commitment to do well.
“It’s a challenge to keep your body in shape to race well but not over-do so you stay healthy,” Presser said.
The team trains all year with a variety of methods in order to get itself into peak shape for each race. Part of the challenge, she said, is that it has to train in three separate areas to cover the swim, run and bike portions of the event.
Of the three events, Presser stressed that the swim has the least impact on overall time because it is the shortest section. Despite that, she said that it can be the hardest part to train in because it requires special technique.
“Wildflower is a hilly course, but we live in a mountainous area and we are fortunate because we can train for that,” Presser said, referring to the running and biking portions of the triathlon.
Small agreed that the Central Coast provides team members with an advantage as they train for the event.
“Wildflower is sometimes called the Woodstock of triathlons and it is a very challenging course, but it’s also the best race we do,” Small said.
Over the course of a school year, Small said that team members compete in an average of three triathlons. The team numbers swell around the time of Wildflower, though, as new members join up for the unique experience of the race.
“Triathlons are a full-time commitment (in training) but are also a great reward,” Small said.
He said that the team loves taking on new members, and often gets people who were spectators from Wildflower and decide to come out for the team the next year. He emphasized that while there are some members who show up already having raced, they will take on and train anyone who has the interest.
For this weekend, Small said there are a few team members to particularly watch out for. On the women’s side, Presser and teammates Melissa Barrett and Shana Strange are set up to do well.
On the men’s side, Ryan Johnson, Evan Rudd and Gordon Withers could also help Cal Poly out, Small said.
Both Presser and Small emphasized that the entire team has trained hard for the event and that everyone hopes to accomplish their own goals, whether that is finishing or beating a personal-best time.
“We are all a little bit crazy and the team is not the typical college lifestyle to the extent that we push our bodies and invest a great deal of time,” Presser said.
Last year, Cal Poly finished third overall among collegiate teams at Wildflower, behind Cal and Montana.