Shimano Bike Parts Recall

Rose Brooks Women's Triathlon
Kansas City, August 13, 2006

Following is the race report from the first women-only triathlon in Kansas City this past weekend. ...It was a fabulously organized race. Everything was very high class. For those of you who did Nationals this year, it was held at the same venue (but a different, shorter course). The triathlon was sponsored by Garmin International, a KC area company, and benefitted a battered women's shelter, the Rose Brooks House. Over 100 of the 250+ participants were first timers!

TriKC, one of two Kansas City triathlon clubs, treated its female club members to the following in the TriKC tent post-race: mimosas (sshhh, we won't say if it was real champagne or not!), strawberry crepes, chocolate-dipped strawberries, gourmet cookies, Gatorade, water, and more! It was quite a treat, thanks to Don Herron, who really went all out for the TriKC gals! :-)

Sherri W.

Congratulations to all of the participants in the inaugural Rose Brooks Women's Triathlon! Over 250 women and as many spectators descended on Smithville Lake this weekend to race in Kansas City's first women-only triathlon. Athletes from a wide variety of experience and ability made the trip from eight states and were rewarded with an unusually cool and overcast August morning.

Just before 8:00 race director Clay Meyers-Bowman gathered the athletes for a pre-race meeting. He gave a brief overview of the race, of Rose Brooks Center, thanked the sponsors, and then provided a few statistics that brought cheers from the crowd. Clay told everyone that 273 women had registered for this race and over 250 would be participating on this day. Next to the USAT Age Group Nationals, which brought more than 700 of the nation's top triathletes from 48 states, the inaugural Rose Brooks Women's Triathlon would be the largest gathering of female triathletes in the area - quite a feat for a first-time event. He then asked each of the ladies to hug or shake hands with the person next to them because they might be "one of the more than 100 women that are being introduced to the sport of triathlon today." That's right - of the 250 participants in the race over 100 of them, ages 15 to 60, were doing their very first triathlon! Based on the cheers from the athletes and the spectators I don't think the moment was lost anyone there regardless of skill level or background. It was a touching start to an exciting day.

The race itself proved to be no less exciting or moving than the start of the race. There were struggles, there were smiles, there were tears, and there was pain as the athletes crossed the finish line to the cheers of the crowed where they were handed a rose. I saw alot of smiles at the finish line and women congratulating each other on what they had just accomplished, whether it be a personal record or a first-time finish thought impossible only a few short months ago. I saw husbands, sons, daughters, and grandchildren running alongside their mothers, daughters, sisters, and grandmothers as they raced toward their first triathlon finish. In fact, I can't recall a recent race where so many of the participants stuck around until the last person cross the finish line - those last few finishers had hundreds of people cheering them on - it was great to see.

The battle for the top spots came down to a close race between Kelly Dippold, Nancy Strickland, and Cathy Wood. In the end, Kelly Dippold took top honors with a lightning fast 1:02:14, followed twelve seconds later by Nancy Strickland. Cathy Wood took third place followed by Sherri Wattenbarger and Jennifer Gray in 4th and 5th place - congratulations to you all. And congratulations to all of the age group winners! Team WMS' own Tiffany Cameron leveraged her powerful cycling and running to garner a 2nd place award in her age group; that's two medals this month - first an adventure race and now this - way to go Tiffany! Congratulations to everyone for participating in this race and especially to those of you that took that brave first step into the water to compete in your first triathlon!