Bob Witanek

You did the Hightstown tri?  Good job!  I was going to do Hightstown but then Team Echelon found a brave cyclist to do 56 miles in the rain at 19 mph no less!  Ian Heffernan (race director) did a great job with jerseyman - Spruce run is a good location with a beautiful course. Ian had to deal with several difficulties on race day beyond his control - aside from weather about 60 volunteers never showed. Some grumbled about the delayed starts but since the tragedy at NJ State the EMS extra added safety precautions are perfectly understandable. My perspective on jerseyman is a bit skewed since it was part of a 2-man relay. I felt ashamed on the run when other athletes would say 'good pace' or 'you look pretty fresh for this late in the game'  they obviously did not know I got a 3-hour break between my swim and run. The swim just seemed longer maybe because the lake was low or I took the wrong line.  The run only had one challenging hill.  I did a preview of the bike course on a dry day in August and enjoyed it.  So yeah if you feel up to it definitely Go 4 it! Given the grueling difficulty of Half-Iron I don't understand why more relays did not sign-up.  Oh well their loss was our gain! Anyway it really was unfortunate that Hightstown was the same day - I would have loved to do that too since it was so close and I know people involved with it. O

Good Luck Bob! I just completed my first half-marathon as part of a half-ironman relay (Jerseyman) with team echelon.  Check out my WDYDT for Sunday, September 28, 2008 for more details. Sorry I am already committed to ride Carpe Diem with echelon on the 5th.  But again good luck to you, and hope to see you in the races in the future, Sky O