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“I was super motivated so I just stayed in the red”
Gunnison resident Brian Smith cracked the top 10 at the 2011 ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships held in Jämijärvi, Finland on March 26.
It was Smith’s fifth trip to the event. His top result until this year was 12th, the highest place for a U.S. man in the event’s history.
Two of the four previous times he flirted with a top-10 finish, only to crash in one race and lose several other places another year due to equipment issues.
This year, he was focused on reaching into an elite-level finish.
“I wanted top-10,” says Smith.
The race opens with a six-kilometer run on hard snow and ice. From the start it was game on, as the leaders took off at a blistering pace, but Smith held them in his sights.
“It was really fast,” says Smith. “The lead group was just cranking.”
Smith covered the six-kilometer course in a time of 19 minutes and 53 seconds and came into the first transition in ninth place, just 30 seconds off the leaders.
From there, competitors jumped on their bikes for an 11.4-kilometer bike ride on a similar snowy surface. Questions about Smith’s equipment came into place then as he jumped on a bike he borrowed from Brian Reipe. The only other time Smith had ridden the bike was 30 minutes back in November. Ultimately, it worked out great.
“I was a little worried but it ended up being a perfect bike,” says Smith.
Turning 29-inch wheels in the snow turned out to work in Smith’s favor as he passed several riders bogged down in the softening conditions on their 26-inch wheels. Smith posted the fourth-fastest bike split with a time of 26 minutes, 13 seconds, moving into fifth place with a 10-kilometer ski between him and the finish line.
“I made up a lot of ground,” says Smith.
The ski section is where several of the European racers make their move and Smith was determined to hold off as many racers as he could on the final ski.
“I just kept drilling the whole time,” says Smith. “I knew I had to give it everything.”
Smith drove through the hills, admittedly dry-heaving on one climb, covering the 10 kilometers in a time of 24 minutes, two seconds. When he crossed the finish line, he couldn’t believe what he heard.
“When I crossed the finish they said seventh place and I was super psyched about that,” says Smith.
Furthermore, after years of finishing five minutes or more behind the winner, he finished less than two minutes behind the winner, and 40 seconds out of the money.
“To be that close was pretty exciting,” says Smith. “I don’t think I’ve ever been inside of five minutes of the winner. That’s what I’m most proud of. I was super motivated so I just stayed in the red. My body was just wrecked after the race.”
The effort has Smith determined to return next winter with his sights set even higher.
“If I get a chance to go back again my skiing is only going to get stronger,” says Smith. “I could definitely see a top-five.”
Smith is now switching from winter triathlon to the summer Xterra off-road triathlon season. He starts it off with the Xterra West Championships in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 10. Two weeks later he’s off to Spain to compete in the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships in Spain.
“It’s a quick gear shift from winter to summer,” says Smith. “We’ll see how my fitness is.”
Smith admits that even with the two big triathlon events on the near horizon, he’s focused on one major event in particular—the Original Growler on May 29.
“I’ve missed the last couple so I want to bring the title back to Gunnison,” says Smith.
