Redmond’s Chris Tremonte swam, biked and ran his way to back-to-back Seafair Benaroya Research Institute Triathlon titles last Sunday at Seward Park in Seattle after finishing the course in 58 minutes and 57 seconds, 12 seconds better than his winning time last year of 59:09.
The event featured a half-mile swim across Lake Washington, a 12-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run, while attracting nearly 2,200 participants this year, a new Seafair record.
Tremonte, 28, has had his fair share of hardships while competing in triathlons recently. Earlier this year in Austin he suffered a flat tire, and had the misfortune of stepping on a piece of glass during the prestigious Wildflower half-ironman in California which caused him to withdraw.
“I had a little bit of mechanical difficulty with the bike, I broke a spoke halfway through,” recalled Tremonte on the cycling portion of his Seafair race. “It had been a rough year, so when I felt it break I thought, ‘Is this really happening?’
“It was kind of a relief when I got back without breaking more or falling on my face and having to get off and abandon.”
Tremonte felt light and fast on the run, however, and cruised to a more than 30-second victory over his nearest opponent, Ranier Leuschke of Shoreline, who finished second in 59:29.
Tremonte, who earned $500 for his efforts, admitted that he wished a former champion was able to run the race with him.
“I hoped to (win again), but it would have been more intense to have a showdown with my friend Ben (Collins) who won in ’07,” said Tremonte, who works at Microsoft as a program manager for HealthVault. “He’s got a stress reaction in his hip right now.”
The Elite-licensed triathlon athlete, who has competed all over the world, from Seoul to Mazatlan and across the United States, does most of his training in Redmond.
He works out 15-20 hours a week to keep himself in top form, swims at the Pro Sports Club and in Lake Sammamish, and runs with local track clubs Eastside Runners and Club Northwest as well as at Bridle Trails State Park.
“I race bikes sometimes with the Recycled Cycles team out of Seattle, and during the winter with the weather the way it is here I ride on the Computrainer in my garage,” Tremonte said. “It’s kind of dreary sometimes, but you have to train no matter what the weather’s like.”
Nearly 350 children also ran their own short triathlon, and each kid received a medal, t-shirt and gift card from PCC Natural Markets.
