Seymour, Burr pick up victories in Sprint Triathalon

By Mike Tymn
Special to The Advertiser

Chad Seymour kept looking over his shoulder during the final mile of the Sprint Triathlon at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i, Kane'ohe Bay, yesterday morning.

"I knew he was a good runner and was probably closing on me," Seymour said after winning the event.

He was referring to Chris Larson, who had moved from 55th place at the end of the 500-meter swim, to third place off the 11.1-mile bike segment, to second on the 3.5-mile run.

Seymour, a 20-year-old bike shop sales clerk, finished the event in 58 minutes, 58 seconds, 16 seconds ahead of the fast-closing Larson, 28. Sean Maroney, 27, was third, another 31 seconds back.

Finishing 22nd overall, Susan Burr, a 32-year-old biologist, captured the women's race in 1:03:01. Tina Eakin, 31, took second in 1:06:38, while early leader Samantha Khoo finished third.

With 339 entries, the event got underway at 7:30. Seymour, a former University of Wyoming swimmer, finished the swim in 5:43, a second in front of Maroney, who recently moved here from Australia. Larson, a Hawai'i Pacific University junior, surfaced in 8:06.

Seymour and Maroney dismounted their bikes to begin the run with a lead of about a minute and a half on Larson, the winner of last month's Wahiawa Pineapple Run. Seymour started inching away from Maroney on the second mile as Larson continued to narrow the gap.

"I guess I'll have to work on my swimming," said Larson.

Khoo was first in the swim for the women, 20 seconds ahead of Burr and more than three minutes ahead of Eakin.

"I caught her when she dropped her chain about halfway into the bike," said Burr. "I felt pretty good all the way."

Khoo said she lost about a minute because of the chain problem and was sure that Burr would have eventually overtaken her. Eakin passed Khoo on the second mile of the run.