As the sun rose over Inkwell Beach Sunday morning, a man in a wetsuit crossed the sand, waded into the ocean up to his knees and dunked his cap and goggles under the sparkling water. There were about 15 minutes until the start of the fourth annual Vineyard triathlon and athletes were scattered about Dennis Alley Park (formerly Waban Park) pulling on wet suits, stretching and eating last-minute bananas.
They had numbers on their arms, both in black Sharpie and as temporary tattoos, red trackers around their left ankles and bright yellow and green swim caps.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” said one woman, standing by her bike shivering slightly.
The Vineyard Triathlon was founded by Jen Passafiume four years ago. Ms. Passafiume lives in Oak Bluffs and completed her own first triathlon on the Vineyard. When she heard the race was no longer going to be held, she decided to do something about it.
“I decided it was too amazing of a venue not to have a triathlon, so four years ago developed my own,” she said. The Vineyard Triathlon is technically a half-triathlon. On Sunday, 90 competitors swam 1.2 miles far out off of Pay Beach, biked 56 miles around the Island and ran 13 miles. There were also relay teams, Aquabike (just swimming and biking) and a shorter sprint triathlon. In total, approximately 400 competitors signed up for some from of the activities of the day. This year, Ms. Passafiume put on the triathlon with Bill Burnett of Streamline Events, and the help of sponsors, volunteers and safety personnel.
Mr. Burnett, who is from Cohasset, said the event has more than doubled since it was founded. He has been organizing triathlons for more than 10 years, including one on Nantucket.
“Bringing this to the Island is a thrill,” he said.
A brief pre-race meeting with all the athletes in the park included a rendition of God Bless America with a few lines forgotten. Standing in the crowd, Daniel Powell and Aaron Wishnick discussed nerves. “My stomach is . . .” Mr. Powell paused, trying to find the right word for how he was feeling. “Not turning,” he finished.
Mr. Burnett encouraged the athletes about to embark on the daunting task ahead, reminding them: “This is an Island, you won’t get off course.”
Down on the beach, swimmers started in a staggered fashion, dashing into the water in pairs of two every five seconds. Before long, the swimmers had disappeared, their splashes barely discernible from the whitecaps in the choppy sea.
Mike Emmons, 36, was the first out of the water with a swim time of 46:46. He never paused, running up the beach, stripping his wet suit as he jogged toward his bike. Within minutes, Mr. Emmons had set out on the 56-mile ride. He finished second overall.
William Hafferty, 30, from Somerville, finished the half triathlon first, with a time of 4:48:23. Susannah Ford, 29, also from Somerville, won the women’s division with a time of 5:32:42.5.
For the half triathlon relay, Team Craven Snow Greathouse (Leslie Craven, Jason Snow, Lee Greathouse) finished first with a time of 4:39:03.7 and Team HHB Hammers (Rene Da Silva, Gil Silva, Hudson Maynard) from Vineyard Haven finished with a time of 4:47:01.7.
Mike Hagdorn won the half Aquabike with a time of 4:00:08.6, and Marilyn Bradford won the women’s division with a time of 4:50:05.4.
Jonathon Govednik finished first in the sprint triathlon (1/3 mile swim, 13.1-mile bike, 3.1 mile run) with a time of 1:06:09.6. Leah Jacques won the women’s division with a time of 1:14:56.3.
The sprint relay was won by Snails Pace (Sarah Nahabedian, Chris Coccaro, Ken Coccaro) with a time of 1:24:38.7 Seal Team 6 (Hugh Sease, Michael Sullivan, Lisa Cottrell) won the men’s division with a time of 1:42:59.5.
To see a full list of results, visit the website allsportsevents.com.
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