The Cortez Burst Triathlon packed the park on Monday morning as athletes of all ages and skill levels competed in the seventh annual event.
There were first-timers, like Julie Van Deventer and Sandy Wolf, who served as volunteers during last year’s race and got in on the action this year. And there were long-timers, like Jack Schuenemeyer and Kim Parr, who are well-known faces at the event.
Schuenemeyer, a 77-year-old Cortez resident and one of the founders of Friends of Recreation for a Healthy Community, has taken part in six of the seven triathlons. A former competitive master swimmer, Schuenemeyer competed in just the swimming portion for his first three events, but for the last three years he has completed the entire triathlon.
“I was on the competitive masters swim team and I do some running and some biking, so I thought what the heck,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s a good group of people out here, good volunteers and it’s for a good cause.”
Started in 2010 by the Friends of Recreation for a Healthy Community, the event raises money to provide scholarships for memberships to the Cortez Recreation Center.
Kim Parr is another veteran of the Cortez Burst, having competed in every year of the event.
“This is the first triathlon I ever did,” she explained. “The first year, there were three women, that was it.”
The Cortez Burst has grown exponentially since its first running, and the 2016 Burst featured over 50 competitors across multiple divisions for different age and skill levels.
Brian Bergan was the first racer to complete the course, winning the competitive division in 1:32:57.2. Melissa Maloney finished first in the adult recreational division with a time of 1:13:19.6 and Lavendar Blacow (16:49.2) and Lizzie Likes (24:34.6) won the kids 6-10 and kids 11-14 divisions respectfully.
“It’s really fun to see how it’s grown,” said Parr. “Because now it’s an event that everybody knows about and talks about and it’s a tradition.”