These young triathletes sprinted into Prospect Lake on Saturday at the Rocky Mountain State Games triathlon.

PHOTOS
Rocky Mountain State Games Sprint Triathlon, Gallery 1
Rocky Mountain State Games Sprint Triathlon, Gallery 2

VIDEO
Michelle Blessing talks about return to triathlon racing

RESULTS

Michelle Blessing ran cross the finish line of the Rocky Mountain State Games sprint triathlon on Saturday at Memorial Park with a smile on her face.

 

She's on the comeback trail and it felt good to have another competition in the bank.

"That was good," she said to well-wishers at the finish. "It hurt, but it was good."

Blessing (left), 48, of Colorado Springs, is no stranger to triathlon. She was the coach for the USA men's and women's teams at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. She competed as a professional triathlete and qualified for the prestigious Hawaiian Ironman.

Now she has returned to triathlon racing after a 15-year hiatus. The inactive life was not for her.

"I got really ... fat and out of shape," Blessing said. "Then I saw my friend Susan Dallam was racing and I was like, I need to do that again. She looks so good and she is healthy. So about three years ago is when I decided to start racing again. It's been fun."

Blessing crossed the finish line in first place in the 45-49 age group, but was penalized two minutes and moved to second. Blessing's good friend Ingrid Fatianow-Hibbits (below left) was credited with the win with a time of 1 hour, 20 minutes, 30 seconds. With the penalty added, Blessing's time was 1:21:55.

But Blessing had one goal in mind. She wanted to prove something on the 20K bike leg.

"My goal today was that I really wanted to go hard on the bike," Blessing said. "It was nice and technical, so I flew through the corners. I have a cycling back ground, so I wanted to have the fastest bike split by a woman."

She pulled that off. Blessing clocked 34:19:35 on the bike, a time that not even women's overall race winner Anastasia Meadows (35:07:90) could match.

Blessing and Fatianow-Hibbits have known each other for 20 years. They had a fun competition going. And that really is what the Rocky Mountain State Games are all about.

"We haven't raced against each other for a long time," Blessing said. "I like racing against my friends."

Fatianow-Hibbits, the mother two young children, beat Blessing handily in the 750-meter swim leg, but lost her lead on the bike.

"Yeah, I had her and she caught and passed me on the last lap of the bike," Fatianow-Hibbits said.

James Bales, 32, of Monument, was the fastest of all. He finished in 1:02: 46. Philip Meyer (17, Colorado Springs) was second in 1:05:54 followed by Michael Hagen (49, Colorado Springs) in 1:06:48.

In the women's race, Meadows (30, Colorado Springs) won in 1:15:17. Camilla Wade-West (21, Denver) was second in 1:16:43. Beth O'Brien (31, Colorado Springs) clocked 1:18:38 for third place.