7th Annual Bath Triathlon A Great Success

Warm Springs, VA – The 7th Annual Bath County Triathlon welcomed around 300 athletes to Lake Moomaw last Saturday. It was a beautiful day and another successful race. That’s due to the hard work of volunteers, the Warm Springs Ranger District and the Bath County Chamber of Commerce. It’s also due to all the athletes who come each year to compete.

Dawn Coulson is with the Warm Springs Ranger District. She describes the triathlon as a fun, family oriented activity. It’s a fundraiser for the Bath Chamber of Commerce and sixty volunteers were helping at the triathlon on Saturday. Keeping track of all the racers in this “sprint” triathlon behind the scenes can be a daunting task. Coulson says parking is another issue, one that they actually run practice scenarios for the day before the event.

The Bath County Triathlon consists of a half mile swim, a 12 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. The men’s overall winner was Ryan Day of Christiansburg Virginia with a time of 1 hour, 5 minutes and 58 seconds. Shannon Summerlin of Roanoke was the women’s overall winner with a time of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 23 seconds.

“The whole thing is just fun” says Coulson. “It’s kind of a rush to see all the swimmers take off, and then the bikers – the first year we were just awestruck at how fast they went. Actually when the first guy crossed the finish line, it just almost put tears in my eyes, just to see that kind of energy level.”