30th Running of Superfrog Triathlon
The Superfrog Triathlon, the original and longest running half-iron distance triathlon in the world, took place for the 30th consecutive year in sunny Coronado, California Sunday. Joining Superfrog and the original 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, and 13-mile beach run was the inaugural Superseal, an International-distance race complete with the challenge of cold water and a mixture of dirt and pavement running.
What started out as the brainchild of retired US Navy SEAL Moki Martin as a training event to prepare SEALs to compete at Ironman Hawaii, has blossomed into a grassroots event for military and civilian racers alike to compete on the same training grounds used to prepare the elite warrior class of SEALs.
This must-do event for triathletes looking for a taste of the early days of the sport takes racers through the Pacific Ocean in the same rough waters that legendary Ironman champion Paula Newby-Fraser used as a final training test before Kona and along the beaches Scott Tinley and Heather Fuhr raced in past editions. Not to mention Tom Warren, winner of the third Hawaiian Ironman and subject of the famous Sports Illustrated magazine article that put racing triathlons on the sporting map, who religiously used Superfrog as a shootout before Kona.
And, if running in the footsteps of legends just doesn’t do it for your taste, take note of the fit gentlemen volunteering their time at course aid stations handing out water and bananas. They are Basic Underwater Demolition – or BUD/S – trainees hoping to earn the distinction of becoming SEALs.
Change was the order of the day for the Superfrog race as co-race directors Martin and Eric Rehberg teamed up with San Diego race directing juggernaut Koz Enterprises for the 2008 events. The move saw the event shift away from the traditional September race date to early April, relocation of the race site from the Naval Amphibious Base to the more spacious Silver Strand State Park and the opportunity for more racers to experience a taste of the rigors of SEAL training conditions.
The men’s race crowned a new winner in the absence of three-time consecutive champion, Mitch Hall. Hall, and his SEAL team were recently deployed to fight the War on Terror in a classified location. Philippe Krebs, an amateur racer from Switzerland, beat a tough men’s field in 4:18:07 and Emily Finanger, a professional from Boulder, Colorado, successfully defended her 2007 victory over a small women’s field in 4:37:41.
Nearly 200 racers started Superfrog under crisp early morning conditions with tapered wave starts sending athletes charging into the fast breaking Pacific surf. A cookie-cutter course director relying on glassy water conditions would think twice about the Superfrog’s two-loop, 1.2-mile swim in the 58-degree water, but the thought of canceling or shortening the swim would never cross Martin’s mind.
After exiting the rough water swim, athletes raced on the pancake flat 56-mile bike course, comprised of four-loops of 13.5-miles each loop, along the Strand Highway between Imperial Beach and the Naval Amphibious Base.
Despite the race course moving further south than in previous years, the signature 13.1-mile remained a grueling test as racers completed two-loops of sand running along the Pacific Ocean shoreline with only a brief two-mile pavement reprieve on each loop.
With race organizers opting for multiple wave starts in the men’s competition, picking a clear-cut winner was a difficult task for spectators and racers alike. For Krebs, the meticulous immunology and genetic researcher from the La Jolla-based Scripps Research Institute, the game plan was to race against himself and not worry about where his fellow competitors were out on the course.
“Many of my friends at my triathlon club told me before the race I could finish in good position if I had a decent race,” explained the Swiss native.
“Entering T2 my wife told me a rider who passed me on the bike course was from a relay team, so I knew I was at least first in my age group. But, there were still two fast racers ahead of me who started in the first wave (males 29 & under) and I saw they were slowing down and that my speed was increasing on the second run lap,” continued Krebs.
The Swiss native who completed his first triathlon in 1997 in Lake Geneva in Switzerland’s French-speaking region, and finished the 2005 Ironman Hawaii world championships in 9:37, was shocked when he heard he had the day’s fastest time Sunday.
“A victory at Superfrog is simply different. Being first is very amazing and highly satisfying,” said Krebs.
For Krebs, the victory was made all the more sweet as overall race winners were presented with a homemade rafting paddle as their token trophy.
“I have been admiring it a lot since after the race and I have to confess I am proud of it. I would like to thank the organizers for such a nice and friendly race,” blushed Krebs.
Somebody forgot to tell Krebs that those words are rarely used in the same sentence in SEAL vocabulary.
Take Martin for instance, who served seven combat tours while a SEAL during the Vietnam War.
As for preserving the longest-running half-iron distance event in triathlon, Martin expects it to continue on at least another thirty years.
“All who have done Superfrog rave about these Spartan-like ingredients of a rough ocean swim with surf passages and sand running as well as racing with the Navy SEALs in their backyard,” stated the very calm and even-mannered Martin.
Special reader’s note: The Superfrog and Superseal triathlons are hosted by Naval Special Warfare and the bulk of its support comes from the Naval Special Warfare Center and the volunteer SEALs, Frogmen and their families and friends of the UDT-SEAL Association. The race beneficiary is the Naval Special Warfare Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports US Navy SEALs and their families in times of need. For more information on NSWF, please visit: http://nswfoundation.org.
