Boulder – When Mary Beth Ellis did the Boulder Peak Triathlon a year ago as a recreational “age-grouper,” it was her first such competition.
In her second Boulder Peak, which took place Sunday, she lived the fantasy of every age-grouper in the race, competing in a loaded professional field and finishing second to former world champion Leanda Cave of Wales.
Cave completed the ordeal – a 1.5-kilometer swim, 42K ride and 10K run – in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 45 seconds. Ellis, in her fourth race since turning pro this year, finished in 2:15:39. Australian Craig Alexander, who trains in Boulder, won the men’s pro race in 1:56:18.
“There’s some great athletes here,” said Ellis, 29, a resident of Boulder. “Leanda was a world champion. A bunch of the other girls are going to world championships.”
Ellis worked full time until a few weeks ago, when she went part time to devote more time to training. Her coach is former world champion Siri Lindley, who is known for training pros and age-groupers side-by-side so they can inspire one another.
“With Siri’s training and her great group, I’ve moved along quicker than I probably would have somewhere else,” Ellis said. “She’s very inspiring and motivating, and we have a great group that’s very dedicated, working hard together.”
Ellis was a swimmer and runner at Northwestern and tried to pursue marathoning at the elite level after college. She got her personal best down to 2 hours, 41 minutes – good enough to qualify for the Olympic marathon trials – but her body kept breaking down under the strain of 100-mile weeks. Ellis also developed early arthritis in a hip.
“I thought marathons were out, unless I wanted to destroy my body,” Ellis said.
As a triathlete, she can train at an elite level while running only 40 miles a week.
“Some people have a lot of talent, which is nice, but it’s been amazing to see how much work she’s been putting into it since she decided to really go for it and work part time,” said her boyfriend, Jeff Cloutier of Denver. “This opportunity comes along once in a lifetime. She was smart enough to say, ‘I’m going to go for it and go all out, make sacrifices and chase my dream.”‘
Lori Garcia-Meredith of Victoria, British Columbia, did the race in honor of her father, Howard, who died of a heart attack during last year’s race. Her time of 3:11:33 included about 12 minutes lost to a flat tire. It was her first triathlon.
“I was so disappointed because I was doing really good, passing people, I felt like I was really strong, and then you hear this horrible p-s-s-s-s-s sound,” she said. “I was going to finish this race no matter what. I started fixing the flat and then some angel named Rob came and helped me because I was shaking so much.”
Garcia-Meredith managed to keep her emotions in check until the end of the race.
“I didn’t completely fall apart until I got to the finish line, or approaching the finish line,” she said. “I felt really good and kind of horrible at the same time.”
BOULDER PEAK TRIATHLON
Professional results
Women
Leanda Cave, Wales, 2:12:45
Mary Beth Ellis, Boulder, 2:15:39
Anna Hamilton, New Zealand, 2:16:46
Amanda Lovato, Boulder, 2:17:11
Jessica Jones, Colorado Springs, 2:18:00
Julianna Batizy-Morley, Centennial, 2:18:43
Sandra Soldan, Boulder, 2:19:35
Sunny Gilbert, Boulder, 2:19:52
Amanda Stevens, Oklahoma City, 2:20:29
Karen Melliar-Smith, Denver, 2:22:52
Men
Craig Alexander, Australia, 1:56:18
Brian Fleischmann, Colorado Springs, 1:56:35
Stephen Hackett, Boulder, 1:57:13
Tim DeBoom, Lyons, 1:57:45
Michael Lovato, Boulder, 1:59:16
Cameron Widoff, Boulder, 1:59:41
Jonathan Salerno, Colorado Springs, 2:00:31
Greg Krause, Littleton, 2:00:57
Nathan Kortuem, Colorado Springs, 2:01:37
Branden Rakita, Manitou Springs, 2:02:02
