Small potatoes or not, give the C-Bad Triathlon a thumbs-up

Random thoughts the day after witnessing my initial triathlon...

- We should toss out a few "attaboys" to the City of Carlsbad. Probably working on a shoestring budget and with over 200 volunteers the City Fathers pulled off an event that promotes a healthy lifestyle and what else can you ask for from your city leaders?

- Someone pointed out to me that this event, in the world of triathlons, is just "small potatoes."  Well, it turns out they are right. I asked the second-place women's finisher Sierra Snyder if this was a small triathlon. "This is the shortest distance," she admitted. "There are four triathlons - the small one (1K swim; 25K bike; 5K run), the Olympic distance, the half-Ironman and the full-Ironman." Small potatoes or not anyone who completed the course gets my applause.

- Snyder, BTW, is the mom of 11-month-old Kaleb, she has a degree in biomedical engineering from UCSD and is an ER physician in Austin, Texas. How's that for a full-plate?

- Women's winner Michellie Jones, who finished the event in 1:15:15, made it an 8-peat for herself in her hometown. "It's lots of fun," she said, "I get to run right past my house." The 42-year-old Jones admitted triathlons are her life. When asked what she did for a living, she said, "This."  Well, she makes a little cash competing, she gets some sponsors money and she also coaches. "We have a team called Giddy Up! that I coach and we have seven members on the team," she said.

And, oh, Jones, originally from Australia, is an Olympic silver medalist from the 2000 Games. Not bad for a "small potatoes" triathlon...