Fisher wins Goldsbooro YMCA sprint triathlon
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on August 4, 2012 11:02 PM
Sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted 62 competitors on Saturday morning at the 27th annual Goldsboro YMCA Sprint Triathlon held at Walnut Creek.
The warm weather did not seem to slow down the athletes who took part in the half-mile swim, 20-mile bicycle ride and a three-mile run.
Greenville's Frank Fisher finished the event in one hour and 29 minutes to claim first place. Fisher had finished in contention numerous times in the past but had never won until Saturday.
"I've done this a million times," Fisher said. "It's really nice doing a course that you know and having a bunch of friends out there to do it with and race with. I went as hard as I could the whole time."
Fisher completed the bicycle portion of the triathlon with a slight lead over Carl Bonner, who finished in second place, and Fisher maintained that lead throughout the three-mile run. Bonner completed the triathlon in 131:17.
"Always for me the run is the hardest part," Fisher said. "That's my weakest link. I've got a couple of good buddies who are always a couple of minutes faster than me on the run I'm always running scared from them. I've been third here three times and second two times so it's nice to finish first."
Phillip Rowan, last year's winner, finished third in 131:19. David Garrison was in fourth place in 132:20. Jeff Dukay was the highest finisher from Goldsboro with a 10th place finish and a time of 138:14.
Joan Perry, of Kinston, was the women's overall winner with a time of 145:31, just ahead of Emily Price, who had a time of 145.32. Team Speed claimed the team portion of the triathlon and finished in 136.23.
The event, which has been hosted by the village of Walnut Creek the past nine years, has become a favorite of runners in eastern North Carolina.
Computerized scoring for the event was provided by Run The East. All of the proceeds from the event go to the Goldsboro YMCA scholarship fund.