Basking Ridge Residents Compete in Pequannock Sprint Triathalon

Five Basking Ridge residents laced up their running shoes, grabbed their bikes and swimsuits and headed 30 miles northwest to Pequannock last Sunday to compete in the Pequannock Sprint Triathalon.

The format included a quarter-mile swim in the Pequannock man-made lake, an 11-mile bike ride and a 5 kilometer run. Several elite athletes finished in under an hour and almost all participants completed the circuit well under two.

This was the first triathalon for Mark Herndon of Basking Ridge, and he was happy with his results. Herndon placed 48 out of 389 overall and 10th in his age group (finishing time 1:05:20).

"I've always run competitively, but was unsure about swimming in open water," Herndon said. "My neighbor, who also participated, encouraged me to go for it. With less than 2 months for training, I borrowed a bike and swam laps in the YMCA pool on guest passes. I loved it."

The Sprint Triathalon offered two other formats to encourage wide participation. The Give-It-A-Tri format (also know as a 6-2-6 event), was geared for the novice  with a 200 yard swim, a 6-mile bike race and a 2-mile run. More than 100 athletes participated, several in their teens and under.

A  2-3-person relay format allowed for teamwork and 29 teams competed.

Other Basking Ridge residents who participated included Mark's wife Sarah Herndon and Adrian Adler, who partnered to compete as a relay team finishing 2nd out of 10 female relay teams. In the individual listings, Jackie Gattoni came in 217th with a time of 1:19:07 and Ed Hardy placed 256 posting a time of 1:22:37.

"It was a perfect day for the event" Mark Herndon said. "That early in the morning, the air was even cooler than the water, the decrease in the humidity helped a lot."

The event was sponsored by Sneakers Unlimited and the Pequannock Township Parks & Recreation Department.