Local race attracting statewide attention

By BETH FOLEY
The Palestine Herald

Palestine September 09, 2006 10:15 pm

— Dana Lyons finished the fourth annual Dogwood Duathlon in 45 minutes, 37 seconds to win the male overall title Saturday, and a state championship to boot.
Lyons, 48, of The Woodlands, and women’s overall winner Darlene Jones, 38, of Plano, won state duathlon titles Saturday morning at the combination bicycle race-foot race held at Story Elementary School. Jones finished in 52:50 to win the overall women’s race title.
Race director Judi Summerville said she was pleased with the increased turnout for the event, which challenged competitors with a 2-mile run, followed by a 10-mile ride and concluding with a two-mile run.
“I think it went pretty good,” Summerville said. “We went from 25 registered last year to 74 racers today. So this race can only grow, and they’re all coming back.”
Lyons, who said that he competes nationally and occasionally internationally, said he enjoyed the course setup.
“A short course is always interesting, very hard, very fast,” Lyons said. “It was a small field but some good people came in for the state championship. The bike course was challenging. It was a good course. It was nice coming back in on U.S. 79.”
Zane Lybrand of Bryan, who chose the Dogwood event as his first duathlon, said he enjoyed the challenge presented by the course’s hills.
“It was fun,” Lybrand said. “It was very hilly. I didn’t expect all the hills. I feel I did well.”
Lybrand wasn’t the only first time participant in the field.
Palestine YMCA President Brandon Seat and Judge Pam Foster Fletcher decided to compete after listening to Seat’s brother-in-law, Marc Salitore of Tyler, talk about doing triathlons. Seat, Fletcher, Salitore and Salitore’s wife, Brooke, all took part as a group Seat jokingly dubbed “Team Fajita” in reference to his ties with Little Mexico Restaurant.
“I called Pam and she was gung-ho,” Seat said. “We just started training five weeks ago.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise once Saturday’s race began was the quickness of the pace, Seat said.
“It was much faster,” Seat said. “The level of athletes that participated was much higher. There were some incredible athletes. It was mostly an over-40 crowd and they were in incredible shape. It was a very humbling experience.”
He and Fletcher were hoping to finish in 1 hour, 30 minutes, he said, but they “exceeded our expectations” thanks to the pace. Seat completed the course in 1:11.57 and Fletcher finished in 1:22.30.
“It was a lot of fun,” Seat said. “I would encourage more people in Palestine to come out.”
Despite finishing several minutes off the leaders’ pace, the crowd still cheered loudly for them, Seat noted.
“It was very encouraging,” Seat said. “People you don’t even know tell you ‘go, go, go!’”
Marc Salitore echoed that sentiment.
“One of the greatest things about this sport is people who come in last get cheered the loudest,” Salitore said.
Proceeds from the Dogwood Duathlon benefit The Sanctuary House’s Fresh Start Project, a local effort to help homeless women get back on their feet. Sanctuary House director Pam Alford thanked competitors for their help through participation, calling the event “the best we’ve had so far.”
“We certainly do appreciate the local people coming out and being supportive,” Alford said later. “We hope to see more next year.”
Summerville said that members of the Westwood High School Interact Club, the Texas Top Guns, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, the Palestine Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, local emergency medical technicians and area motorcycle enthusiasts pitched in to keep competitors safe during the event.
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Beth Foley may be contacted via email at bfoley@palestineherald.com

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