The MTC Team was in Des Moines this past weekend, and they ran in the annual Flatland Triathlon. Many of the athletes had personal bests, but none bigger than Blake Harris capturing the podium with a 1st place finish! Blake finished with a time of 31:49 and battled through the heat. He tells his story below:
“I swam decent but not as well as I did in Wisconsin. In Wisconsin I was 4th our of the water and in Des Moines I was 10th. So had to battle my way back up. I gained back about 3 spots in the long run into transition, and got on the bike just behind the lead pack. 1km in I caught the lead pack, but the pack wasn’t moving very quickly, and the chase pack was gaining on us. Just into the second lap I made the decision to break away. I attacked up a gradual hill on the course and broke away with no one following. Over the rest of the bike I continued to gain on the pack until I was 10 seconds up going into transition.I finished it off with the 3rd fastest run split. The run was very hot making it difficult to keep a fast pace. I finished 1st and came in 21 seconds ahead of the second place athlete.”
“Going into the race I knew I had a chance at winning because I finished 2nd in Pleasant Prairie a month prior. I have also always competed well in hot conditions. I thought I was in a really bad spot coming out of the water but soon regained hope after catching the lead pack. Once I broke away on the bike I thought it may be my first win, but was still scared of being caught. On the run Gary told me I was 10 seconds up, and then I was able to settle into the run, but still looking back after every corner to check my lead. I really knew I was going to win about 3/4 the way in when Gary told me I was 20 seconds ahead. At this point point I became more relaxed. Now that it’s over I’m glad I got a youth elite win before aging up to junior. I’m really proud of the progress I made on the youth elite USAT circuit. I raced in pleasant prairie when I was 13 (the youngest allowed to race youth) and I finished 55th and now to win a race on the same circuit was huge.”
Well done Blake and everyone else who participated in Des Moines. The group is now preparing for Western Canada Summer Games where they look to take home some more hardware!
