Swimming, Biking & Running for a Cause

On the weekend of September 11th, Pacific Grove was taken over by the intense excitement of the Tri-California Triathlon. A few California State University Monterey Bay students and organizations gathered to help the brave souls as they made their transitions from each section of the races a lot easier to handle.

Up and early, racers and volunteers started to gather at 6:15 in the morning while the participants to prepare for the day. Each group of people volunteering their time was sent to different sections throughout the course. Many groups were sent to handle the transitional stages for the triathlon racers (this could be from the swimming stage to the biking stage, then on to the running stage).

On Saturday, September 10th, California State University Monterey Bay student, Michael Kwasny Junior Liberal Studies major, was one of the many members of the Team in Training with the Leukemia and Lymphoma society who participated in the triathlon. This was Kwasny’s first year participating in the triathlon. Once he attended one team training session, he was automatically hooked by both the rush of the training and the devotion for the cause.

This organization has gained nearly half a million people who have devoted their time to running, biking swimming and evening walking to help accumulate over $1 billion towards Leukemia and Lymphoma research nation-wide.

On Sunday morning, the participants and volunteers stood up and had a moment of silence to remember the 10th anniversary of the September 11th, attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York City then enjoyed the sounds of the Star Spangled Banner being sung. Once the crowd was ready to go, a group of runners participated in the “5k Fun Run” where they could get their juices flowing while being helped by the volunteers who provided them with water and snacks, if they needed it.

Fifteen minutes into the “Fun Run,” the first wave of the “Sprint Triathlon” racers began by diving into the ocean for a quarter mile. Once they were out of the water they, with the help of some volunteers, would have a few seconds to prepare themselves to hop on their bikes to ride a 12.4 mile bike course and then finally top off the race with a two mile run towards the finish line.

The day before, Saturday September 10th, the racers participated in challenging Olympic-styled Triathlon. These racers went through 1.5 kilometers (.93 miles) of chilly ocean water, 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) of an intense Olympic-styled bicycle course, and, finally, topped off the day with a 10 kilometer (6.2 miles) running course to the finish line. On the second day, the racers did a “Sprint Triathlon” where they raced or relayed half of an Olympic-styled triathlon.

To be able to complete these races with excellent times, these participants had to go through months worth of intense training to be able to cross that finish line. That meant eating right, daily exercises and a lot of mental preparation for this event. Though many of the racers were in this to score high and make an impact, many came to race to be a part of the rich and diverse community that would come out and support them, even if they came in last place.

These people made a huge impact on the volunteers that helped out with this annual event. Even CSUMB’s very own Science, Media Arts and Technology Senator, James Dunn, (Junior, Biology-Pre Med major), couldn’t help but to feel the excitement that was running through the racers’ veins. “I just got so excited watching and cheering on the racers going through the finish line that I just wanted to get out there and run with them!”

Having students from CSUMB helping out at this event really shows how much they want to help out within the community and especially to help out at a huge event like this really shows their commitment.