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Local Sports

Local sports in the Panhandle are not just a game, they are a lifestyle. Our community eats, sleeps and breathes cheering on our local athletes.
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News13’s Stephen Gunter is committed to giving you stories of the Panhandle’s top athletes, intriguing match-ups and unusual sports you may not even know exist.
sgunter@wmbb.com

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Gulf Coast Triathlon

UPDATE: Overall men’s winner and defending Gulf Coast Triathlon champion Mike Neill received a two-minute penalty for improperly raking his bike.  But it wasn’t till late Saturday night that Neill found out about the penalty.

The time adjustment dropped Neill to second allowing Daniel Moss (Atlanta, Ga.) to become the overall winner.  Moss finished with a time of 4:07:52.  Neill finished at 4:08:14 with the penalty.

PANAMA CITY BEACH - This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Gulf Coast Triathlon.  Athletes swim, bike and run a combined 70 miles.

It all started at 6:00 a.m. Saturday with 1,700 people plunging into the Gulf of Mexico just behind Boardwalk Beach Resort.  The water was a warm 75 degrees for the 1.2 mile swim.

Next, it was a 56 mile bike ride.  The athletes rode from Front Beach Road to Highway 79 then to Highway 388 and back to Boardwalk.

The race ended with a 13.2 mile run east on Thomas Drive and cut through several neighborhoods.

The first athlete to cross the finish line was Mike Neill (British Columbia, Canada), 35, in 4:06:20. 

The water was a bit rougher than usual,” Neill said.  “There’s some chop out there, but I just got on my wife’s feet.  My wife was out there racing as well.

“I got on Rachel’s feet and just sat there.  She pulled me through a lot of it.”

The first woman was Carole Sharpless (Atlanta, Ga.), 36, in 4:39:40.

“[The win] was very sentimental, but bittersweet,” Sharpless said.  “Andrea [Fisher] had a mechanical, and that obvious worthy of mention she would of had this race.  She had a flat on the course, so it’s really not fair.  That’s how the day goes.  You just roll with it.”

Helen Libby, 30, was the first local athlete to cross the finish line.  Libby is a Rutherford High School teacher, from Panama City Beach.

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