Culpeper Sprint triathlon draws over 500

Jason Simcoe / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: August 5, 2007

Ann Richardson had something to prove Sunday. She wanted to show herself she was back.

Just a year after a serious injury, the former CCHS field hockey player fulfilled a personal goal by finishing the Culpeper Sprint triathlon at Mountain Run Lake Park.

"Last Aug. 9 I had to have knee surgery," she said. "Then my physical therapist was like 'you could do this', and I thought maybe by next year. So my goal was to get it (in a year) and it's Aug. 5, so obviously I made it."

Richardson was one of 541 racers who competed in the third-annual race, sponsored by Setup Events. The event combined a 750-meter swim, 15-mile bike ride and three-mile run into a single race.

The competition up front was short-lived.

Eric Bean of Chapel Hill, N.C. was third after the swimming leg, but dominated the bike race to take the overall title. He finished the course in one hour, six minutes, 45 seconds, beating runner-up Andrew Hodges (1:09:33) by almost three minutes.

For Bean, the Culpeper race was a step towards his goal of rejoining the ranks of professional triathlons.

The former University of Virginia student raced professionally until 2003 when balancing medical school and racing became too difficult. Now a medical student at the University of Wisconsin, Bean has gotten the itch to race competitively again.

"This is the only summer we have off, so I figure this is sort of my last hurrah," he said. "I'm running this race to get my pro card back."

Becca Moore of Richmond fought off fatigue and took home the women's elite title, finishing in 1:23:33. She finished second in 2005.

"It honestly didn't feel that great," she said. "I didn't taper down for the race — I just kind of trained through it."

2007 was the first year that Setup Events hosted two races at Mountain Run Lake Park. The Little Pepper Triathlon in June had almost 400 competitors. Proceeds from both races benefited the CCHS field hockey team and the Organization for Autism Research.

Race director Greg Hawkins said earlier this week that the response has been so good that he anticipates continuing to host two races in the future.

"People just like Culpeper," he said earlier this week.
Culpeper's Helen Hagan-Ritz has competed in triathlons for 25 years. She said that Mountain Run Lake Park and Culpeper provide the perfect setting for racers. The town, she said, is a great central location and the course is challenging. She admits that the races are challenging, but says that when it starts to hurt she focuses on the sense of accomplishment she feels at the end.

"You just keep thinking about that finish line and that you're doing a lot more than what most people are doing on a Sunday morning," she said.

Jason Simcoe can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 166 or