A few years away and some changes to the course didn't hinder Kirsten Sass in her return to the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon. The first female competitor across the finish line even got unseasonably cool temperatures as a welcome-back bonus when the race started Sunday morning.
Sass was among the hundreds of triathletes who plunged into the Tennessee River for a 1.5-kilometer (0.93-mile) swim that was followed by a 42-kilometer (26.1-mile) bike ride and a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) run. She completed the intermediate main race in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 30 seconds to finish 14th overall, with 23-year-old Seth Ruhling from Apison, Tenn., first in 1:55:00.
The reason the 38-year-old Sass, who's from McKenzie, Tenn., hadn't made recent editions of the event was that her busy race schedule had national events that conflicted with coming to the Scenic City. And she is both busy and successful.
In April, Sass was named USA Triathlon's Age-Group Female Triathlete of the Year for the second straight time. Last month, she served as a guide for Amy Dixon - a visually impaired, world-ranked paratriathlete - in a fourth-place finish at the ITU Yokohama World Paratriathlon Series in Japan, then won the Memphis in May Triathlon just a week later.
So a few adjustments was nothing Sass couldn't handle Sunday.
"I was very, very happy with the race," she said. "The new course was fantastic, and the weather was great. Team Magic and the City of Chattanooga do an awesome job putting on this event."
Construction on Highway 27 pushed the cycling portion of the race over to Amnicola Highway, and the running portion moved away from the hilly, stair-filled section of the Tennessee Riverwalk in the museum district to the less demanding Southside section that reaches towards St. Elmo. The swim, which starts at the rowing barge near Scrappy Moore Field, was the only leg to remain unchanged.
Competitors crossed the finish line at Ross's Landing with good things to say about the new terrain.
"Bike is my favorite part, and this new course is right up my alley," Sass said. "I'm really good at not going up mountains, so having a flatter course with just the rolling hills is nice. The bike course also felt really safe, so it was good to be able to focus just on the race without having to worry about obstacles."
Sass said starting with a downstream swim was also nice, and she was glad to be back at the event.
"I live in Tennessee, so anytime I get to race in Tennessee, it feels like a hometown race," she said. "I know a lot of the competitors, and my dad is here with me. Those are the things that make these races special - the people you share it with."
Chattanooga's Sara Gibson, 33, was the second female finisher and 25th overall with a time of 2:06:36, with Emily Rollins, 40, of Franklin, Tenn., third among females in 2:10:51.
The runner-up to Ruhling, a former Lee University runner, was 36-year-old Jonathan Feddock of Lexington, Ky., who finished in 1:55:53. Third overall was Matt Shechtman, 33, of Brookhaven, Ga., in 1:56:15.
In the shorter sprint race, 27-year-old David Carpenter of Murfreesboro, Tenn., was first, completing the quarter-mile swim, 10.5-mile bike ride and 3-mile run in 53:40. Behind him were Ooltewah's Andrew Clark, 25, in 56:31 and Knoxville's Nicholas Morgan, 38, in 57:25.
The first female finisher was 15-year-old Makena Gates of Canton, Ga., with a time of 1:01:22 that was good for 11th overall. Hannah Martin, 23, of Woodstock, Ga., was the second-place female at 1:05:24, with Sarah Burnette, 12, of Dalton, Ga., third in 1:06:53.