1999 Cajunman Triathlon Commentary
By: Jerry Richard
September 17, 1999

Well the weather finally cooperated this year. Although we thought it would be a bit cooler I believe everyone that did the race, about 350, was satisfied. Race number eight for the Grand Prix Series with only Gatorman left. This season has gone by fast. Those who did the race if you look at your shirt the two bikers are John and Tammy Deshotel. Tammy ran for a team and this is her first race since her liver transplant in April. Remarkable. The runner is Mark Reynolds. Mark was a friend to all Lafayette triathletes, a competitive triathlete and always fun to be around. He was also instrumental in getting support teams for the past Cajunman races. Mark died this year. We dedicated the 1999 Cajunman to Mark and all the memories he left us with. I for one will miss him.

The swim this year was 800 meters and if you've never done Cajunman before it is in a man made lake that was once a gravel pit. The water was, can you believe this, cool. What a difference. It was also very clear. This race has such a wide open start for the swim, which is a triangular course, that you don't get too beat up by other swimmers. It is a straight shot to the first turn buoy of about 350 meters so there is lots of room and distance to thin out the swimmers. Lars Jorgensen was here for the race. He turned at the first marker buoy instead of the turn buoy, was told he was off course and still was third out of the water. The two turn buoys were anchored to the lake bottom and submerged about ten feet under the water after the race. Next year the course should be the same distance
within a few feet. If we can locate the buoys that is.  The bike course was changed last year to 20 miles but due to flooding
from hurricane Francis was cut short. This year we were able to utilize the 20 mile course. The course was the same as previous years except there was a right hand turn around the five mile mark that looped to the St. Martinville highway. This highway is very smooth and slightly hilly. From the St. Martinville highway the course reconnects with Bayou Tortue Road about were the original turn around for the out and back course of '96 and '97 was. The new course was very fast. Next year Garber Road is to be
resurfaced from the Texaco station to the right hand turn that connects it to Bayou Tortue. This should make it even faster.
The 5K course was much improved from the last three years. There wasn't a problem of runner/biker traffic and lots of turns. We were able to run on the perimeter access road on the airport grounds. This kept bikers on one side and runners on the other with lots of open road. The run was out and back following the fence between the airport and the lake and near the end of one of the runways. It was smooth and fast with only a couple of slight climbs that weren't too noticeable. It is a wide open space without shade but the nice weather made the heat tolerable. There were two water stations that really helped out too. We were very fortunate to be able to do the run on the airport grounds. If you are in the airport in the near future please thank them for letting us use the access road and by all means fly Lafayette.
The race was won by three time defending champion Chris Eschbach with a time of 1:16:56. He was followed closely by Joseph Curro with a time of 1:17:46. Joseph ran the 5K in 16:22 after a hard bike. The first Lousiana male was Patrick, I didn't flat this time, Marr with a time of 1:19 flat. John Deshotel was fourth overall and second Louisiana with a time of 1:19:39. John is also a codirector and spent a better part of Friday and all day Saturday setting up. The female top three were all Louisiana and were all thankful Julie Ricketts wasn't around. First was Kathleen Scully from Shreveport with a time of 1:28:41. Kathleen had a 51:01 bike split.
Second was Lafayette's own Liz Boudreaux, whose husband Al by the way was his usual obnoxious self as MC, with a time of 1:32:16. We love you Al. Third was Lafayette's Jennifer, "High Kick", Braswell with a time of 1:33:30. Jennifer did a 20:15 5K run. The high kicking is paying off.
The post race party is a Cajunfest. There was lots of beverages, fruit, pasta and some Good Ole Cajun Cookin'. John Deshotel made the gumbo just to be sure there would be enough. There was also a Cajun Band. There isn't much shade at the airport lake but there were tents and an airtent just in front of the band. The weather had most people out in the open anyway.  I would like to personally thank all that did the race, sponsored the race, the race support teams, all the local Triathletes that helped setting up and taking down and the spectators. We were expecting 300+ participants. But we were still having to put up more bike racks just before the race. It was very orderly and the spectators didn't hamper the racers. We feel we have a very competitive and organized race. As all of you who put on these races know it's not an easy task and the day before the race can be very trying. You don't sleep much. All in all there were
600+ people there and I don't think we were short on food, that's Cajuns for you. The only one I know that didn't get to eat was me. What was set up needed to taken down and there were lots of people I wanted to thank personally. I did get a watermelon and two bags of bagles however. Eight down and one to go. All that need the Grand Prix points need to get their butts to Lake Charles Gatorman. There will be a special ceremony for our fallen Friend, Cyclist and Triathlete Ken Wall. I'll be doing the National Age Group Championship in St. Joseph Missouri on the Saturday but I'll fly back that afternoon to do Gatorman the next day. So any of you that thought you'd have it easy because I wouldn't be there to push you on the bike course, think again. Right Kenny Dunaway.
Jerry Richard

*The opinions expressed on this page are solely those of Jerry Richard.