Thanks Todd!

you bet - I expect a prompt report

. . . and bump.

Absolutely: You guys and girls have a great race and be safe. It is truly a classic race.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

2:19 AM in the morning - could not sleep as the race will start in a few hours and we still have to put the swim bouys out. We had to wait until the wind changed from North to east. The swim coordinator just called my and he will start placing the markers out at 3:00 AM. Weather looks good at this point - wind is a 1 mile per hour from the east, so the lake will be flat.

Will be a long day, but a nice sunny one. Z

Good luck tomorrow (today?) Tom. I'm sure you guys will put on a great show.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Great race by Tom and his people!

Awesome start from the pier, well marked swim, easy T1, good bike course, plenty of bottle hand-ups with Gatorade Endurance + Water, plenty of scenery change on the run, excellent post race care, and food. The volunteers and police were fantastic- you ever seen a State Patrolperson smiling... they were today while directing traffic.

Today had a challenging course and was an excellent tune-up for any IM.

as usual...an extremely well run race by Tom Z. A beautiful day that Tom took full credit for by the way!
I was in wave 2 and chickened out on my "dive" off the pier. More of a bellyflop. At least the goggles stayed on. My swim was uneventful but 3 mins off my goal time (37ish). I think I had a difficult time swiming into the small waves kicked up by the wind in our face.
My bike was decent (I think about 2:32ish...I forgot my Ergomo bike computer at home...duh!)
My run started great...running 6:50's for the first 4 miles but the wheels fell off at mile 7. The last 5 miles was a real tough gut fest...but I ended up PR'ing this course by 15 minutes (4:54). And all of this is 6 days after winning my AG at a sprint race in Ontario last weekend (I'm blaming this on my run collapse!)
Anyway...many many thanks to Z and his staff for putting on a first class 1/2 IM right in my back yard! All the feedback I got was fantastic and I'm proud to help sponsor this race as well as compete in it!

Doug Campbell
Niles, MI

---

Doug in Michigan

I have to agree - OUTSTANDING race. Everything was perfect - including Tom Z's weather. I had a slower swim than normal, too and agree the chop must have been throwing my stroke off. Didn't get dehydrated on the swim because I kept swallowing the !@#$ lake. (At least I didn't inhale it.) That run from the beach through the soft sand is interesting but transition was great. The bike course is pretty typical of SW MI, with just enough hills to keep you honest. My new TitanFlex was super comfortable for the whole ride. Those expansion crack are absorbed and makes the transition to the run a whole lot more pleasant. As usual, the voluteers were SUPER! I was a little faster than what I thought, but nothing spectacular. The run is challenging, but fair. That sun was pretty intense and when running down wind felt much hotter that the high 70's. At 8 miles my left calf let me know it wasn't happy, but I just decided to keep the pace until I finished or it siezed up - luckly the former. The last 2 miles is basically up hill so you gotta work for your finish.

The kid's tri was a blast for the kids and parents alike. All in all, a race you want to do.

---

Larry

Don't be afraid to ride too long or too hard. That's what cell phones are for. Rich Strauss

Steelhead was my first race longer than a sprint, so it went OK considering. I cant say I was ready for those waves though, I breathe on the left, so about half the time I got a face full of water. I kept getting pushed back to shore too. The bike really was nice - almost took out a whole aid station trying to grab a gatorade (more like a tug-o-war), but managed to stay upright, although I cant say the same for the volunteers diving for cover. Runnning was hot, and well, its running and I can't say that I EVER like it, but nice big mile markers and well stocked aid stations help.

thanks to all the spectators and volunteers for the cheering - and the bike shop that gave my a tube after I blew 2 about 10 minutes before transition closed. The half IM is a great distance, and I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing before I realized that come next July 23rd, I'll be doing it TWICE!! -zoe

Any results up yet?

No results yet, as of 10:00 am this morning.

Hats off to Tom Z and his singing of the national anthem!! Very good!!

Race was excellent, all the way around. Including the four roadkill chickens just past halfway on the bike. Great race, great organization, and great volunteers. The swim was a blast. Waves were little!! (I swam in the 4-footers at Grand Haven on Thursday).

And I trimmed 40+ minutes off last year's time...

---

king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

Volunteers were great (and almost everything was cold!). My favorites were the pack a the run start. They scared the crap out of me as I was exiting T2 alone and all of the sudden they started screaming their heads off. Defiantly woke me up. Great event and weather for my first 1/2IM.

And thanks for the Orange on the run Tom.

Yes it was a perfect day!!! I love this race, especially it being in my hometown :) Weather was spectacular and the volunteer support was awesome!! Some of my water cups actually had ICE in them-- doesn't get better than that!! I had a great race and ended up having a PR of 23 minutes! Gave a great boost of confidence as I gear up for IMMOO!!

Thanks Z for an amazing race-- each year it gets better and better!!!

Alison

It was my first Half IM, and I finished in 5:25, which was right in the 10 minute window I anticipated.

Swim start was fun although the waves were rougher than I have swum in since I was a kid and swam some down at the Jersey shore so that made things a little different. I had a lot of trouble finding the buoys until I was right on top of them, but swam most of the course fairly straight. Liked the bike course a lot, and the run was a lot of fun until the miles 11 and 12, when I faded a fair bit. Managed to pull it together for the last mile and finish strong.

Generally very well organized, great volunteer support, and the bike and run courses were very well marked. Look forward to doing it again next year.

Steelhead results are posted at

http://www.doitsports.com/results/page.tcl?id=22329 http://www.chicagoaa.com/results/searchable.html

Thanks for this race, Tom. I wish the MSU Tri Team had brought more people to qaulify for the team category, but we will next year!