SLIDESHOW:
Warming to the Competition - USAT Duathlon National Championships
Heidi Johnson-Fry left her Bozeman, Mont., home Friday as the snow fell, heading to Washington, where she met some family before heading to Richmond to compete in yesterday's National Duathlon Festival Championship throughout downtown.
She traveled the approximately 2,220 miles with the goal of qualifying for Team USA for September's World Championships in Charlotte, N.C. Thus, she expected a challenging course and a warmer climate than she encountered in Bozeman.
Yesterday's temperatures here reached the 90s. If you thought the weather made your yard work tough, imagine what these athletes went through. And almost as impressive as simply finishing the course on a scorching day was the postrace reaction of many competitors.
Johnson-Fry's message to Mother Nature after her 10K run, 40K bike and 5K run? Bring it on.
"You've got to get tough and keep going," the 30-year-old said shortly after unofficially finishing fifth in her age group, qualifying for the Worlds. "You just know that you can always be a little tougher than you think you are.
"You know, it's just as hot for everybody. You're not hurting anymore than anyone else is . . . but no, I was not prepared for this heat."
If the heat wasn't bad enough, Johnson-Fry said she dropped her water bottle on the first lap of the biking portion of the race. Unlike the area's 10Ks and marathons, competitors are not allowed any outside refreshments.
"I knew where it was when I dropped it," she said. "So I went back and got it the next lap."
Sitting on a hill overlooking the transition area, Hamburg, N.J., resident Dave Sempier looked no worse for wear after his journey around Richmond. With his entry number 1493 written on both quadriceps, Sempier, 39, relaxed with wife Kathleen (a former racer before childbirth) and 1½-year-old daughter Emily.
"We got married and thought we'd do the races all over the country," he said. "Then we had the baby . . . don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change it for the world, but . . .
"It was 28 degrees two days ago when we left [New Jersey]. You just had to stay hydrated. Team USA was so close, so I had to come down."
Perhaps the busiest place yesterday was the medical tent just across the finish line.
Matt Marchal with Altius Family and Sports Medicine, a Richmond organization, helped oversee the tent with some co-workers and other volunteers.
"About 98 percent of what we've dealt with has been heat-related," he said. "A couple of people have been taken from the course to the hospital.
"If they look stable [after crossing the finish line], we'll keep them walking through. If they can make it to the finish line and know who they are, that's OK. We'll ask 'How are you doing? 'How was your race?' Answer that, and they're doing pretty good."
According to a Sports Backers official, about 1,800 participated in the weekend's events, with about 1,000 coming in from out of town.
Contact Shawn Fenner at (804) 649-6412 or sfenner@timesdispatch.com
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