For the Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Wed Sep 14, 2011, 11:33 PM EDT
SWANTON — The fifth anniversary 2011 Tri-to-Win SavageMan Triathlon Festival scheduled Saturday and Sunday beginning and ending at Deep Creek Lake State Park will feature athletes from all corners of the U.S. and numerous foreign countries, including Canada, Great Britain, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Australia.
The fight-against-melanoma event benefits the Joanna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation, known as the “voice for melanoma prevention, detection, care and cure.”
Philip Graves of Great Britain and Desiree Ficker of the U.S. return from 2010 strong victory performances, with Graves setting both new overall SavageMan 70.0 course and 55.7-mile bike records; and Ficker a new 13.1-mile run record.
The 2011 starting field also includes John Kenny and Zach Ruble, Americans who placed second and third in 2010. They will be joined by the featured triathlon legend, six-time Ironman World Champion Dave Scott of the U.S. Also, American Josh Beck, considered one of the world’s top duathlete champions in running and cycling, returns for his fifth consecutive race.
Two-time SavageMan 70.0 victor, women’s course-record holder, and the only U.S. Olympic triathlon medalist ever, Susan Williams, returns to ensure solid competition in the 70.0 women’s event. In a March 2010 Triathlete magazine article, SavageMan 70.0 earned the “Editor’s Choice” distinction of “No. 1 Hardest Race on Earth.”
A multitude of viewing areas are available in Deep Creek Lake State Park and over Garrett and Allegany counties and volunteers can sign up at www.savagemantri.org/volunteers.html. Course maps and daily activities are available at www.savagemantri.org.
The 2010 race raised nearly $100,000 in donations by athlete/fundraisers. This year’s sponsors include Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Railey Mountain Lake Vacations and Railey Realty. The SavageMan 70.0 “signature” event features a 1.2-mile swim in Deep Creek Lake, followed by bicycling nearly 5,800 feet of vertical climbing and ending in twice tackling the 6.5-mile loop run course along the shores of Deep Creek Lake and State Park Road.
The SavageMan Triathlon courses are the result of course founder and architect Kyle Yost’s passion for triathlon. “First of all, SavageMan is the toughest of the tough,” said Yost. “SavageMan was created simply because the venue, and in particular the roads and severe climbs for the bike course, were simply too wonderful for an event to not exist there.”
Many triathletes recognize the famous vertical challenge — the “Westernport Wall.” Those successful and able to complete the race are memorialized with a personally engraved name “brick in the wall.” Following the 2010 race, 252 “savages” now find their names memorialized in the legendary pavement of Westernport, along with only nine “legacy” bricks for successful climbers of all four previous races.
Besides the renowned 70.0-mile event, the festival features the SavageMan 30.0 Olympic-distance triathlon to complement race offerings and fundraising opportunities for everyone.
More here.
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