Valley Of The Sun Triathlon:

Not Burning As Bright

By Scott Sandsberry - Yakima Herald-Republic

Numbers, not enthusiasm, down for Valley’s oldest triathlon

Things are not bright in the Valley of the Sun. The Yakima Valley's most enduring triathlon - indeed, at 22 years and counting, older even than the venerable Gap2Gap Relay - is having what might be described as non-growing pains.

Oh, Sunday's event will still be the same challenging race it has been for more than two decades, and the camaraderie of triathletes in all of that shared agony and accomplishment has not dwindled.

But the enrollment has.

"The numbers are way down," race manager Candie Turner said on Tuesday morning, "We've got 83 right now, and last year at this time We had over 100 - and last year was a bad year,"

In the three years prior to the 2003 race, the Valley of the Sun averaged about 170 individual entrants, plus enough two- or three-person teams to mean another 20 to 30 race participants.

"I'm not sure what's going on this weekend in terms of other races siphoning off people," Turner said. "We are getting a lot of new people that we haven't seen before, and that's I good, I just wish we could give them a better race as far as competition is concerned."

Injuries have depleted the top of the men's field. Defending champion Kelsey Backen, 25, an East Valley grad now residing in Idaho, had entered only to come down with a leg injury that would prevent him from competing in the running and cycling stages. (He's still hoping to compete on a team as a swimmer - the one event he can do - to support the race.)

Also out as the result of injury is 2000 champion Chip Cooper of Tacoma, who e-mailed Turner on Tuesday to say he had just broken his collarbone and obviously would be unable to race.

When told about Cooper's situation on Tuesday, Liz Jones of Bellevue - the 2001 Whisky Dick champion and a perennial contender at triathlons and Ironman events around the Pacific Northwest - empathized not only for Cooper but for Turner.

"She's probably thinking, 'broken record,'" said Jones, who had had to pull out of one Valley of the Sun race a few years ago with a broken collarbone suffered while training.

"My husband (cyclist Glenn Bunselmeyer) and his relay team were still going to go, and I wasn't about to stay home," Jones recalled. "So we got to Yakima and checked in with Candie, and we didn't know where we were going to stay or anything.

"But Candie was so sweet, she was so concerned about how I was doing. She was like, 'Let's get you to a motel right now,' and took us to a motel and got us checked in and everything. She took care of me. Race directors don't do that, they're busy enough. Let's just say I am a big fan of Candie's. She should be honored for what she does to make this race successful."

For Jones herself to be successful in Sunday's race, she'll have to contend with Moxee standout Cary Steinman, who was women's runner-up in last year's Valley of the Sun and in both of the last two Whisky Dick triathlons.

"This will be fabulous to race with her," Jones said. "It seemed like every race I did last year, she was there. She and I went head-to-head in a bunch of races. I might have passed her a couple of times on the bike, and then she'd come back at me on the run. She's such a great tactician; I think she knows what she has to do to secure a victory. I really respect that about her.

"To watch her run, she's just - aaah, it's like nothing can stop her. She's got this really determined pace. I don't mind telling you, it's intimidating."

The guy to beat in the men's race might well be Michael Bergquist, an Air Force staff sergeant who has been a member of the all-military Team USA triathlon squad. 1992 champion Kendall Thompson is also entered.

Bergquist, 31, finished third last year but had been battling Cooper for the lead during the bike stage when they both took a wrong turn that cost them probably four or five minutes.