Atlanta resident Christopher Douglas enjoyed his first triathlon experience in Chattanooga last year so much that the Georgia Tech graduate student returned this weekend to defend his Waterfront Triathlon title.
The 24-year-old speedster captured the intermediate distance title for the second year in a row with a time of 2:01:06. After a sun-scorched Sunday morning race, he's looking forward to defending his title again in 2017.
Siena McClarty plays with a bell while waiting for her father to pass by during the Waterfront Triathlon Sunday, June 26, 2016.
Medals hang near the finish line of the Waterfront Triathlon Sunday, June 26, 2016.
Cara Cassaway, left, hugs athlete Jennie McClellan after McClellan completes the Waterfront Triathlon Sunday, June 26, 2016.The triathlon brought thousands of competitors, spectators and volunteers to the downtown riverfront for another showcase of the city's ability to host high-caliber endurance sports events.
"The city really does a great job with this race," Douglas said. "With a lot of races there's traffic and stuff like that. You can tell the city really respects the sport of triathlon very much with the way they close the roads. They take this very seriously. The Chattanooga Track Club is extremely supportive, and it's awesome to see the community come together and put on an awesome race like this."
Local athlete Sara Gibson won the women's intermediate distance title with a time of 2:22:09, finishing more than seven minutes ahead of her closest challenger.
As she caught her breath in the moments following her finish, she thanked the approximately 300 volunteers, many of whom held the vitally important task of handing out water to keep 1,100-plus competitors hydrated throughout the day.
The hills near the beginning and end of the bike course, which took competitors north on U.S. 27 to the Highway 153 intersection, presented the course's toughest challenge for Gibson, who finished the 1.5K swim in a blazing 20 minutes.
"It makes it hard to settle into a groove riding up and down the hills," she said.
Douglas said the conditions were tougher this year than in 2015, when he finished in under two hours.
"There were definitely some times out there where it got real hot and you just had to push through it," he said. "It was a lot more mentally challenging than last year. Last year it had rained a lot and was a nice temperature."
Knoxville's Alan Horton finished second overall, in 2:03:15, while Southern Adventist University student Seth Ruhling finished third.
This year's Waterfront Triathlon also featured a sprint division for the first time. That race was roughly half the standard intermediate distance division and included a 0.25-mile swim, a 10-mile bike ride and a three-mile run.
A 16-year-old Nashville resident, Matthew Rigsby, took the sprint title with a time of 52:25.
"A lot of respect to all the first-timers," added Douglas, who also is planning to compete in the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championships, which will be held in Chattanooga. "I know they had a beginner wave and a lot of people who are new to the sport out here today, and it's awesome to see new people doing it."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.