38th annual Mightymite scheduled for Saturday
The Mightymite Triathlon will run for the 38th time on Saturday and for the second straight year, the race will be utilizing an altered course.
As of Tuesday, 118 participants had entered this year's race which limited the participation numbers to 150, to stay within the Covid pandemic restrictions for at least another year, even though the state has started to relax most restrictions for events such as the Mightymite, which are trying to return to a more normal schedule.
While the second and third legs of the Mightymite have been altered due to the effects of last year's Covid pandemic, the start of the annual three-stage race remains unchanged and begins at 8 a.m.
Village Creek State Park's, Lake Dunn remains as the starting point for the triathlon and as the first leg of the 1/3 mile swim course. The looped swim course begins and finishes from the boat ramps at the swim/bike transition. Following the swim, the swimmers will begin the 13-mile bike leg portion of the race beginning with a walk to the bike mount area where they start the bike portion with a downhill ride.
Bikers will turn onto Highway 284/Newcastle Road, travelling south on Highway 284 to East Arkansas Community College, the transition point from the bike ride to the final leg, the run, which transitions through a portion of the college to a left hand turn onto Highway 284/Newcastle Rd.
The in and out and back course on Highway 284/Newcastle Road will ultimately bring the runners back to the finish line, located at the south parking lot, in front of the Fine Arts Center at the college.
Last year, 62 of the 64 participants completed the race. Of that group, 47 were male finishers while 15 were female participants.
Last year's Mightymite was also significant for several other reasons.
First and foremost, the race was able to shake off what looked to be complete cancellation of the race in mid-June, as the Start2Finish event team took time to figure out a Covid 19 strategy to hold the race in an abbreviated form, keeping within the pandemic restrictions set in place for such events, limiting the field to just 75 participants, tweaking the swim start and modifying the finishing three-mile run.
Those efforts were extremely successful, considering it was only the second triathlon race to be held last year.
Last year's Mightymite race was also significant for the first time in nine years, dating back to the 2011 Mightymite, the overall men's division crowned a new champion when Phillip Young won the race for the first time.
Young, from Memphis, who finished third in the 2019 race, took advantage of his heightened opportunity to win the race, when nine-time men's defending champion Jeff Fejfar, now living in Florida, was unable to participate in the race.
That race significance spilled over into the women's division as well, when Collierville's Lesley Brainard, won her third consecutive women's title and her eighth overall title, allowing her to move one win ahead of seven-time Mightymite women champion Marda Kaiser Rehnelt. Brainard won her first Mightymite title in 2000.
Brainard's eighth win on Saturday leaves her as the only woman with that many Mightymite titles and just one overall title behind Fejfar.
While Young was the overall race winner, finishing in a time of 1:05:12.9, Brainard was the ninth overall winner in just under one hour, 11 minutes, but was the first participant to cross the finish line, using a borrowed bike for the second leg of the race, after breaking the frame of her bike three days before the race.
Wynne's Sam Wilson finished 33 overall, while North Little Rock's David Wonn, also a race veteran, finished 44th overall. Forrest City's Austin Easley was unable to finish the race, exiting after the bike portion and not being able to complete the run.
This year's field will be dotted with 30 plus in state participants, with five each from Forrest City and Jonesboro. Other in state participants are from Hot Springs, Benton, Walnut Ridge, Mayflower, Maumelle, Marianna, Fayetteville, Marion, Wynne, Searcy and Little Rock.