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NORWALK, Conn. Ridgefield women swept the top prizes Sunday in the inaugural Trifitness triathlon and duathlon at Shady Beach in Norwalk. The all-womens event attracted more than 200 contestants, most of them from Fairfield County.
Morgan Cotter, 40, ran to an easy victory in the triathlon in 53:11. Her training partner in Ridgefield, Sue Fleming, 42, won the duathlon.
The triathlon included a half-mile swim, 11-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run. The duathlon featured a 1.5-mile run, 11-mile ride and 3.1-mile run.
The race was scheduled to be held last year, but was canceled due to Hurricane Irene. The race is the first women-only event in Fairfield County. All-womens races are frequently held in New York City.
Its a beautiful course, I think (race director) Pascale (Butcher) did a great job, Cotter said. I liked the fact that it was local. I didnt have to fly my bike any place.
Allison Yoho finished second in 1:01:09, followed by New Canaan's Keri Harden in 1:01:35. Greenwichs Karen Newman took fourth in 1:02:05 and Fairfields Lydia Heilmann was fifth in 1:02:13. Newman and Heilmann both had high finishes in their age group at last week's USA Triathlon Sprint distance national championship.
Fleming finished the duathlon in 1:01:04.2, followed by Ellie Downs in 1:09:09 and Lorrie Beck in 1:02:56.7.
I had some good competition, Fleming said. Its nice to see so many women out there racing. And it was not to have those intimidating men out there.
Butcher was happy with the race turnout, which included many first-time contestants. This is what I had in mind when I had the idea, Butcher said. There are always things you can do to improve the experience. But for the first year, I thought it went pretty well.
Complete results are available online.
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