Gile Flowage Triathlon held Sunday

By RICHARD JENKINS

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GILE, Wis. - Even with warm weather and a wind from the south stirring up waves on the flowage, a small group gathered at Gile Park Sunday to participate in the annual Gile Flowage Triathlon.

Organizer Neal Schroeter said the event has been held for the past eight to 10 years, usually on the last Sunday in September or first Sunday in October.

While traditional triathlons feature a swimming portion of the race, Sunday's event involved kayaking instead.

"We kayak two miles, come back to the park ... then we bicycle around the flowage 15 miles and then we have about a 3.5 mile run through Gile," Schroeter said.

While it may have started as a group of friends getting together; he said the race is open to anyone.

The flowage provides a nice back drop for the event, Schroeter said.

"The colors are usually really nice, although it's a little bit early this year," he said. "It's always been a really nice setting (for the triathlon)."

While the event is largely untimed, he said there was a rough time being kept this year for a special award to the fastest time of anyone who happened to compete in both the Bridges and Bluffs half-marathon Saturday and the triathlon Sunday - although shortly before the beginning of the event it didn't appear any of the eight competitors would qualify for the award.

The weather was somewhat of an obstacle this year, Schroeter said, as some would-be competitors were scared off by the prospect of fighting the waves on the flowage and others shied away from participating due to the heat.