Triathlete reaches new heights at Pacific Crest

After swimming more than a mile and biking 58 miles, Lisa Wourms still had plenty of energy. So the half marathon didn’t require extraordinary effort.

Still, the June 28 result was surprising to the Camas woman when she earned the Northwest Tri Long Course Distance masters championship.

Wourms, 45, completed the Pacific Crest Long Course Triathlon — half the distance of an Ironman — in 5 hours, 34 minutes and 14 seconds. The race was the designated long-course championship by Tri Northwest, which ranks triathletes from the Pacific Northwest states. She was the eighth woman overall and the 76th overall finisher.

The championship was nice — Wourms was the second fastest woman 40 and older in the field behind a 44-year-old from California who was not eligible for the Tri Northwest competition. Wourms finished atop the 45-49 age group for women. But she was particularly excited that her time was almost 30 minutes faster than her previous race at this distance.

The event started with a 1.2-mile swim in Wickiup Reservoir, which Wourms finished in 36 minutes and 50 seconds. Next came a a 58-mile bike ride around Mount Bachelor to Sunriver resort that took her 3 hours and 18 seconds to complete. Last came the 13.1-mile run on the bike paths of the Sunriver Resort, which she finished in 1:50:22.

“I couldn’t believe that I took that much time off my previous best” for the long-course triathlon distance, she said.

The secret was a smooth bike ride where she didn’t push herself to the limit, Wourms said.

“The key is to not let all the crazy out on the bike,” she said. “I was able to run it like a normal half-marathon,” she said.

Wourms was not alone at the annual multi-sport competition.

From Camas, Matt LeGrand finished in 4:50:34, good for 22nd overall and sixth place among men 35-39. Brad Jefferson (4:59:22) was the 10th man over 40 to finish. Scott McGeachy (5:15:26), finished 13th among men 35-39 and 47th overall. Phillip Attebery (5:28:11) was 16th among men 35-39, 68th overall. And CJ Crider (6:05:57), finished fourth among Clydesdale athletes 39 and younger. The Clydesdale is a triathlon division for men who weigh more than 200 pounds.

Athletes from Vancouver who placed in the Pacific Crest Long Course Triathlon were Jessie Rubalcava (5:51:31), 17th among men 45-49, 103rd overall; David Blair (5:55:00), 18th among men 45-49, 109th overall; Bryan Floyd (6:45:27), 23rd among men 55-59, 198th overall; and Cindy Shrum (8:21:43), second among women 50-55, 287th overall.

Wourms, LeGrand, McGeachy, Crider, and Rubalcava train together at LaCamas Swim and Sport in Camas. McGeachy and Crider are training for their first Ironman triathlon and plan to race this month in Whistler, British Columbia. Wourms, LeGrand, and Rubalcava are scheduled to compete in the Ironman 70.3 at Lake Stevens in August.

Wourms said the Lake Stevens race will tell her if she has gotten that much stronger, or if the ideal conditions in Central Oregon helped her improve her half-Ironman time so significantly.