Runner Up at Fairfax Government Center Race
A week before the sprint TRI Worlds qualifier in New Orleans, Louisiana, bike safety lawyer Doug Landau had wanted to ride his borrowed bike before the 5K at the Fairfax County Government Center in order to get some more “saddle time” on the terrific UCI draft-legal Kestral electronic shifting bike Doug Baumgartner found for him, since his Triathlon bike would not be permitted at this USAT supplementary qualifying race. Because the 2017 ITU Sprint Triathlon World Championships are “Draft Legal,” aero bars are not permitted, for safety reasons, to extend beyond the bike’s handlebars. So Herndon injury lawyer Landau has been training and racing over the last fortnight with a “legal”Kestral bike rented from SportFit Lab in Herndon, VA.
However, as there were too many people waiting for packet pick up, Landau had ride after the race. As Coach Beth Baumgarten advises, sometimes you just have to “go with the flow.” So lawyer Landau ran Shalene’s 5K for postpartum depression, then jumped on the BikeFit Kestrel for 3 more laps, and after a quick “T-2” finally ran a wee bit more!. Landau managed runner-up overall in 21:12 and enjoyed watching the kids in play on the: moon bounce, rock wall, pumpkin and face painting stations.
The race was a very family friendly event, with walkers and strollers welcome. This USATF sanctioned event had plenty of police protection and the course around the Government Center has very little vehicular traffic on early weekend mornings. Shelane’s Run was a fund raiser and raised awareness for postpartum depression disorders. Representatives from various postpartum support organizations had booths set up at the event.
It was a lovely day for a brick and biking on the closed loop course while the orange comes and cops were still out made for safe cycling. Lawyer Landau was surprised to be in contention the entire race, and was pleased with the effort, if not the time. Click here for full results. Leaving for “the Big Easy” Thursday, he has a few hard workouts before a 72-hour mini-taper. Landau cannot afford a slow swim, as was the case in Omaha, Nebraska at the National Championships, if he wants to race against the best in the world. Stay tuned !