Cactus Man Triathlon 2026

This was the last Cactus Man in Tempe, and it was a hard race for me. I was traveling the week before, probably went out too hard on a taper ride the day before, and we had stiff winds (10+ mph) that made the bike ride tough and made the first half of the run a real slog (I did better on the second half, especially once I had the wind at my back). I'm in a very robust age cohort, 10 people had signed up to race in 70-74, and 8 did show and finished.

I thought I'd be right in the middle of the group, but officially came in 6 out of 8. Two weird things about the results. First, the finisher right ahead of me reportedly did a sub-50-minute 10K, at age 70. I think that has to be wrong, he only did one lap or something. If so, I did get 5/7 again this year.

But even if someone who was 11 minutes slower in the swim, 7 minutes slower on the bike, and 2 minutes slower in transitions somehow did a 49:41 10K, I have to be pleased with my result because I finished 0.8 seconds faster than the guy in 7th place. He's got to be really pissed.

Swim 35:51.8 (wetsuit)
T1 5:45.2
Bike 1:10:25.3
T2 3:25.6
Run 1:21:10.5
Overall 3:16:38.6
Division 6/8, gender 178/188, overall 232/250

Results are online but no photos yet (and maybe never).

Arizona Road Racers Spring Cleaning 5K

I'm in a very stout cohort for this ARR race. In the 65-69 age group, there was only 1 runner, and in 75-79 there were 2, but in 70-74, there were 7 of us, just as there were the last time I did this race in 2023, when I was in 65-69 and finished 5/7. Same thing this year, 5/7; 4 minutes slower but still the same distance off the podium. Which is fine; the podium was leftover medals from past ARR races.

So it goes, but so much for aging up into a better category when these 4 other faster guys (and by at least 3-6 minutes for 5K) age up with me. Time 33:13, 5/7 division, 45/63 gender, 67/109 overall. No pictures this year.

In Memoriam for Two Unique (and Useful) Men

It's always upsetting when someone you know has passed, more upsetting if they're your age or younger, and even more upsetting if they meant a lot to this community. Please read about Bob Grossfeld and Jon Talton.