Anthony Spencer is the current Steelman Champion having beaten Chris Ghiorse in last years race. Photo: tribvi.vg

Ten VI-based Triathletes warmed up for the Steelman with some good performances in the St John Love City event. Photo: tribvi.vg

The event, open to 3-person teams as well as individuals, comprises a 1500 metre swim held in Well Bay, a 25-mile bike leg lapping the road from the airport to the ramparts of Beef Island Bridge, and ends in a six-mile run along the roads and trails of Beef Island heading towards Minines.

In last year’s event, Antony Spencer took the Men’s title from 2010 winner Chris Ghiorse with a time of 2:38:34 beating him by 4 minutes and 39 seconds; Thomas Layer from St Thomas was third, a mere 17 seconds behind Chris.   However, Antony’s time was considerably off Chris’s 2010 winning time of 2:32:07.  The current course record of 2:27:03 was set in the 2008 event by Chris Ghiorse.

Sally Blackmore won the Women’s division with a time of 2:49:45, also beating the 2010 winner Kay Reddy by 2 minutes and 13 seconds.  Jessica Broderick was third.  The top team was Broadsword Cutting Edge which completed the course in 2:15:08, with a very fast bike time set by Orano Andrews.

The 2012 race starts at 2:45 P.M. on Well Bay beach. Swimmers will exit at the ramp near the airport runway where the bike transition area will be set up.  The transition to the run, and finish, will be on the grass by the little wooden bridge that crosses to Trellis Bay.

The race is draft legal in accordance with Olympic Games rules and so aerobars and triathlon bikes with aerobars are not allowed.

As a warm up to Saturday’s race, ten intrepid VI triathletes headed over to St John in September  for the 13th annual Love City Triathlon & Aquathon organized by the St John Landsharks.

The day consisted of two events – an aquathon for those who don’t have a bike and the famed triathlon. The triathlon started with a half mile swim, a 14 ‘St John mile’ bike ride and finished with a 4.2 mile run. Relay teams could be entered in the triathlon. The aquathon comprised of a half mile swim followed by a 3-mile run. This year, a new course was introduced.

The swim kicked off at 7 A.M. for the triathletes. The first out of the water was Tony Lane from St John, part of the winning relay team at a time of 12.21. Second out was Sissel Holloway from St Croix at 13:49, competing individually in the female tri event, overall taking second spot. The quickest cyclist was Ralph Antolino with an impressive 1:00:52, despite the tough hills and steep declines in the course, he was also part of the winning relay team. The fastest run was an impressive 31:14 by Kevin Chipman, again part of the winning relay trio.

Brett Lynn from St John took first place overall in the mens competition. Eric Buck, Mike Klein, Rafael Muilenburg and Glen Miller.  VI’s Thomas Parish placed 9th in the competitive men’s field in a time of 2:31.

Therea Harper from St Croix came in first for the females overall, followed by Sissel Holloway, Gail Vento and VI’s Kay Reddy taking fourth spot and receiving one of the fantastic locally hand blown glass awards.

The relay team was won by the St John's male trio, who no-one could compete with. Gillian Howe, Debbie Bell and Jeff George from the VI took fourth spot in the relay team event and Allison Beer and Daniel Mitchell also from the VI took fifth place. Debbie Bell said “we were happy that the VI mixed relay teams came in fourth and fifth, it was an extremely enjoyable experience and very competitive”.

The aquathon had a later start and first out of the water was Kate Hanna with a time of 14:07, ranking overall fourth in the females. The winner overall was Ashley Benson with a total time of 40:32. Devon Nemire-Pepe with an impressive running time of 23:51 ranked second overall and Julie Sommer third.  The top  VI female finisher was  Joanna Dunne in sixth followed by  Anna Kinkead in 11th and Jenny McLeary in 13th.

Registration for the 2012 Steelman will take place at the Tortola Sports Club today, November 9, 2012 from 5.30-6.30 P.M.  Entry fee is $20 for individuals and $75 for teams and includes official event t-shirt(s) and delicious BBQ on the beach at Trellis Bay after the race.