Copper Spike Triathlon
Photo courtesy of Matthew Shidner
Hannah Rowland - CRR Staff
Hosted by Currant Ridge Cabins, the Copper Spike Triathlon is a sprint triathlon in McCarthy. The event begins at Long Lake and ends by the Roadside Potatohead Restaurant (a.k.a. The Potato) in town. Racers start by completing about a 500 meter swim in the lake.
The next leg is a bike ride to Currant Ridge Cabins; it is about 18 kilometers (11 miles) down the gravel road. At Currant Ridge Cabins, the racers have a safe place to drop their bikes and run about 5 kilometers to the Potato. Six people competed in the competition this year on Saturday, July 30.
“All of the swims were under 30 minutes and nobody needed a boogie board floaty, so we count it as a win for everyone!” said Currant Ridge Manager Matthew Shidner. “The water temperature was probably in the low 60’s.”
Due to a few speedy trucks on the dry road, the bike ride was filled with dust and caution was needed to have a safe ride.
Runners started by going down the large S curves into McCarthy, then running across the footbridge and up a slight incline to the Potato.
Kaden Cullen won with a time of 1 hour, 22 minutes and 59 seconds. Kaden’s swim time was just under 11 minutes. Matthew Shidner came in second with a time of 1 hour, 27 minutes and 20 seconds. While most swimmers chose to swim the traditional freestyle stroke, Matthew chose to swim on his back while only kicking to propel himself through the water.
With a torn ligament in her foot, Mallory Conger could swim and bike, but not run. She crossed the line with her bike in a time of 1 hour, 13 minutes and 12 seconds. If you add a time of about 20-30 minutes in for the run, she still had enough of a lead to get an official third place.
Owen Mozen was the next finisher with a time of 1 hour, 48 minutes and 21 seconds, putting him in fourth place despite being last after the swim. Owen finished in style, running with a blue polo and khaki pants on.
The last two finishers were neck and neck with each other on the footbridge.
“Jaden Dement and Sarah Brugger almost had a photo finish, with times of 1:52:00 and 1:52:52 respectively,” reported Shidner.
Sarah had been the third one to finish her swim and Jaden was fifth in completing his swim length.
Currant Ridge would like to thank all the volunteers who helped in the support of the race: Torey Tanner, Andy Shidner, Rob Miller, and Jack Dalton. These volunteers helped with timing and monitoring of the race. The Tschappat family also helped with the swim portion by providing the safety boat and the Collins family contributed with the use of their dock. Currant Ridge Cabins provided a staging area and prizes after the finish.
This is the third triathlon Currant Ridge has hosted in McCarthy. The first two were in 2017 and 2018. Next year Currant Ridge hopes to host the race on July 15. Race admission has been free. If you are interested in learning more about this competition for next year, please call (907)-554-2126.
Photo courtesy of Matthew Shidner