Outside Bethel’s fitness center, a group of runners of all ages took off from under an archway of colorful flags, heading out to run a 5K, or just over 3 miles.
At the same time, inside the fitness center, another group swam back and forth in the pool, filling its six lanes with a mix of freestyles and breaststrokes.
Both groups were participating in Bethel’s first-ever traditional triathlon – a 500-meter swim, 20 kilometer bike, and 5 kilometer run in loops around town.
With limited pool space, though, the nearly 20 teams and individuals competing couldn’t all start the race at the same time with the usual swim. So teams did it backwards – beginning with a run, then the bike, and finishing with a swim.
Organizer Nate DeHaan said that registration ballooned in the final hours before the race.
“In the last 24 hours that the registration was open, we doubled the number of competitors within that last day,” DeHaan said.
And a good crowd came out to watch the race.
“A lot of fans out here too,” DeHaan said over the cheers of spectators. “This is awesome. Really good vibes going.”
The individual competitors finished the swim and rushed to the changing rooms before heading out on the bike course. Team runners looped back to the fitness center, high-fiving their teammates as they handed off to their bikers. It was a bustle of activity.
While the team and individual triathlon of July 12 seems to be Bethel’s first recorded traditional triathlon, some of the competitors take issue with calling it the first.
Runner Katie Basile and biker Paul O’Brien remember a time when community members substituted a different water sport for the swim.
“This was before there was a swimming pool in Bethel,” said Basile.
“It was a run, bike, canoe,” explained O’Brien. “And we, I forget the course, but it's similar to this. And we canoed across H-Marker [Lake], and that was like 20 years ago, 25, I don't know, a long time ago.”
As for why they didn’t swim across H-Marker, O’Brien said, “Well, because that lake’s full of bugs, and this [pool] didn't exist then, and the river is too cold.” He laughed. “It was interesting. It was fun.”
It’s a point organizer DeHaan is willing to concede on.
“I've been told that there was a triathlon involving canoeing, which I guess if it's three events then it's a triathlon,” DeHaan said.
It was an ideal day for a mostly outdoor competition – in the 60s and overcast, with bursts of sun and just a few light sprinkles of rain. Most teams and individual competitors finished within two hours.
DeHaan said that he sees a future for the triathlon in Bethel.
“I mean, based on this I think we better do it again next year,” DeHaan said.
