Deltona triathlete wins first ultra-distance race

CLERMONT— Immediately after crossing the finish line with a victory at Saturday’s 22nd annual Great Floridian Triathlon, Deltona’s Eric Graveling twice pumpedhis fists into the air.

“The closest I have been to being this emotional was when I finished my first marathon [the Walt Disney World Marathon in January 2012],” said Graveling, 32, who had a time of 10 hours, 23 minutes, 28 seconds. “This is the first [ultra-] distance triathlon I have done and to win is pretty exciting. I have done well over the last year in smaller races, Olympic distance events, so I was confident coming into the race.”

The race, which had about 160 competitors, is a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle and 26.2-mile run filled with challenging hills, complicated by one of the warmest days in the history of the event. Temperatures were in the upper- 80s through the race.

Jenny Albrecht, 37, a firefighter from Mobile, Ala., won the women’s championship with a time of 11:38:24, more than four hours faster than the 15:48 she ran in last year’s race while fighting through dehydration and nutrition issues.

“I had to come back and redeem myself after last year,” said Albrecht, who captured her second ultradistance triathlon title this year. “I was cramping so bad last year, it took me seven hours to do the run.”

This year it took her just over four hours for the run.

She finished eighth overall, just behind training partner Sean Hylton, 42.

Graveling led most of the way, but his day wasn’t without challenges.

After being first out of the water following the swim, he was led off course by the lead car for about 6 minutes during the bicycle leg. He eventually got back on course and raced his way back into second place before suffering a flat tire. He got the flat fixed and regained the lead entering the run. Thenhewasbrought to a stop two miles into the run with leg cramps before fighting his way to the finish line.

Despite his problems, he still won with a 35-minute cushion.

Norbert Hostermann, 46, of Drensteinfurt, Germany, finished second in a time of 10:58:40.