Margaret Valair (photo by Francois Brault)
Francois Brault
Margaret Valair, SaddleBrooke winter resident, age 67, competed in La Quinta 70.3 on Dec. 7. A Half Iron-Man event (commonly referred to as a 70.3) consists of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride, and a 13.1-mile run (total distance of 70.3 miles). The event must be finished in 8-1/2 hours, with various cut-offs along the way.
More than 2,500 registered athletes were set to compete. Athletes were shuttled by bus in the dark in the early morning hours of Dec. 7 to the swim start area. The swim was in Lake Cahuilla. The lake, at 58 degrees, is considered a colder swim. All athletes had to wear wet suits. Athletes self-seed for the swim and take off three to four at a time. Their race starts when they have gone over the timing mats at the lake edge. After a completed swim around a set course in the lake, athletes remove their wet suits and don their bike gear and head off for the 56-mile bike ride through spectacular Southern California Coachella Valley scenery. The bike ride included a lap around the Thermal Raceway. The athletes returned to La Quinta where the run was hosted by the SilverRock resort. Two laps of the run course on the golf cart paths around SilverRock completed the final section of this triathlon. The temperature was perfect for this event. Margaret happily finished and even got a podium for her efforts in her age group. Congratulations!