Cajunman Triathlon
September 9, 2001
Guest D.J. reporting  

Well, you know what they say…”It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature”…but we sure did!!  I kept singing to myself “rain rain go away….little Johnny wants to play”.  With very gloomy skies above, and many fingers crossed, the 6th Annual Cajunman Triathlon started off around 7:30 a.m. with the National Anthem being sung by all participants while the Elite wave treaded in the water. 

Once the first siren started, “Was that our indication to go?”, the wave splits were a mere 2 minutes apart.   15 year old Jordan Perret zoomed through the ½ mile swim in a very fast 7:09 to have the fastest swim split of all competitors.  So fast that the women & relay wave had not even gotten into the water yet!  All swimmers swam to shore safely…say that one five times fast!  

On to the bike course…due to heavy rains over the past couple of weeks, Bayou Tortue Road , at its lowest part, was flooded over.  So you improvise and shorten the course from 20 to 14ish miles.  As I worked the packet pick-up the day before, I can tell you there were mixed emotions about having a shorter course.  Carl “Squeaky” Dupre from Des Allemands, LA was one that loves longer bike courses and was disappointed but it made him push even harder and he finished with an impressive 33:54.  John Deshotel had the fastest bike split of the day with a 32:26. Not too far behind John was one of the fastest woman cyclists in Louisiana …Kathleen Wiener of Shreveport 33:15.  

And then the run…and the rain…but, oh, how runners love the rain!  The 3.1 mile out and back run course is on the airport service road and offers one of the fastest run courses available …no turns and perfect smooth roads…. Also how cool to be eye to eye with airplanes taking off and landing.  Joseph Curro of Clinton, MS ran swift & fast with a time of 17:18 and right on his heels was Dan Vollmer of Lafayette 17:27…WHEW!  You’d think that they hadn’t swam and biked first.  Nicola Appleton topped the women’s running in a time of 19:55 .  

After all the many, many competitors wrapped up their races, the top three overall winners were [see complete results on website]: www.lafayettefitness.org

Patrick Marr/Shreveport             1:01:26
Neil Rowland/ Lake Charles         1:02:00
John Deshotel/Maurice                1:02:15

Nicola Appleton/Vinton               1:09:22
Sharon Good/Tampa,FL              1:09:32
Kathleen Weiner/Shreveport        1:11:42  

There were many seasoned triathletes that race almost every weekend (Neil “Tampa Terror” Robicheaux and Jerry “old man” Richard) to those that come out only for the Cajunman Triathlon (Mike Guidroz) to many first timers (Pam Neef and Johnny “JJ” Johnson).  We thank each of the participants and appreciate your support of this fine race.  

After the competitors finished, they were treated to pasta by Semolina’s Restaurant.  Also gumbo, red beans/rice, and jambalaya cooked and served by the Deshotel family, Roy Provost and his son, Charlie.  Plenty of beer and Powerade was to be had and ice cream too!  The zydeco band, Corey & the Hot Peppers, kept the music going until the last person left the awards presentation.  Where else can you go and have ALL of this before 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning??!!!  

You know, this was the first time I ever did the announcing for any race and I had a blast.  But I also learned that there is sooooo much work done behind the scenes to make the race safe and fun for everyone.  The many volunteers that help out are numerous and I’d like to extend my thanks to many of them….Scott Brillhart, Paul Rome, Eddie Granados, Monte & Alana Ebersole, Ann Lowry, Mike Kohler, Axel Vasquez, Mary Ann Mahtook, Carl Menard, Ray Johnson, Cajun Cyclist Club for keeping the bike course safe, Mark & Chantelle for patrolling the bike course on their motorcycles, the many volunteers that worked in the water to make sure everyone made it out o.k. (and kept the alligators away!), the entire Cajunman Triathlon Race Committee and to those that helped “tear” down after the race.  

A huge thanks to all of our sponsors… you hear this at every race but it is so true…without sponsors there is no race.   

Last but certainly not least…I would like to give a personal thank you to Russell Bex and his wonderful wife Darcee.  Without them, Cajunman Triathlon would not exist.  They truly work very hard to make this a top- notch event….and it has paid off as Cajunman was the site of the Louisiana State Championship this year!  Their sons, Logan & Ryan, are great packet stuffers too!  

Until next September, this is your Guest D.J. signing off…..all work and no play is no fun at all!!

Tammy Deshotel