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Farrell takes Tinman title on home course

TUPPER LAKE – When it comes to shining on a big-time stage in the triathlon world, Amy Farrell’s accomplishments are quite impressive. Two years ago, she won her age group at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, and last summer, Farrell won the overall women’s title racing in the Ironman Lake Placid.

So it’s pretty hard to believe that the Tupper Lake resident who travels across the country for all kinds of endurance events had never claimed a 70.3 title in the race that has been held every summer in her hometown since 1983.

Competing with a familiar smile on her face Saturday, Farrell was finally able to capture that crown, topping the women’s field in the Toughman Tupper Lake Tinman Triathlon. Racing on the same swim, bike and run courses where she has trained for years to prepare for other events, Farrell was the first woman to reach the Tinman finish line, winning in 4 hours, 41 minutes and 29 seconds.

“It’s been 15 years since I’ve done the full Tinman. I’ve always done the sprint,” Farrell said. “The last couple of years have been kind of high pressure for me and I haven’t been able to fit this 70.3 in. This year, I don’t really have any big, big races on my schedule, and that’s why I was able to be out here today. I’ve been planning to do the Tinman for a while but I didn’t sign up until a week ago. I wanted to win this, and I’m so happy that I did.”

Competing in the 35-39 age group, Farrell turned in the fourth-fastest swim time in the women’s field, and then blew away the competition on the bike and run. She finished 11th overall among the 307 participants taking on the Tinman’s 70.3-mile distance, and crossed the line with almost 28 minutes to spare over Liverpool’s Kerzia Marchant, who was the women’s overall runner-up in 5:08:13.4.

“I only started my open-water training in May,” Farrell said. “I’m really happy with my swim time, and this was my first big race on a new bike, and I think that was the fastest I’ve ever been on the course. It was a great day.”

After notching the first 70.3-mile triathlon win of his career a year ago in Tupper Lake, Matt Migonis came back Saturday to defend his title and got the job done. And although the finish time for the Newton, Massachusetts resident was nearly two minutes off his pace from a year ago, he broke the tape well ahead of his next closest competitor, Old Forge’s Dave Burger.

Migonis won the race in 4:15:51, with Burger finishing runner-up in 4:26:17. Another Boston area triathlete and a teammate of Migonis, Mike Espejo, placed third in 4:30:16.

Migonis, a 35-39 age group competitor, has literally been on fire after capturing his first 70.3 title in Tupper Lake a year ago. Two weeks after that race, he won the sprint and half-Ironman distance titles in Geneva at the annual Musselman Triathlons on back-to-back days, and just last week, the coach and founder of Migonis Multisport topped a field of more than 800 competitors while setting the course record at the Patriot Half in East Freetown, Massachusetts.

On Saturday, he turned in the third-fastest swim time and then pulled away by putting down the fastest bike and run legs of the race.

“Last year, it was all about getting my first 70.3 win, and that was a huge relief,” Migonis said. “I really fed off that win when I went into the Musselman. This time, I came here with eight teammates, and it was really more about helping motivate them.

“It was the bike again that did it for me,” Migonis added. “I’m really happy I stretched out a lead on the bike because I started having problems on the run. About three miles in I think I started to feel the effects of racing last week. Today, it was all about survival.”

St. Lawrence University was well represented at the top of the Tinman pack, as Farrell and Migonis were both standouts on the Saints track and field teams.

Burger has competed in the Tinman several times and Saturday’s second-place result was his top finish in Tupper Lake to date.

“I’ve been the top three, top four many times,” Burger said. “This is the first time I’ve been second, so I’m climbing up.

“I really love this race,” Burger continued. “It’s a good honest bike course that pushes you, and on the run, you have some nice woods and loops. The atmosphere, the people – they are great. It’s just a little more low key than other 70.3 races.”

A 45-49 age group competitor, Burger is a veteran triathlete who used Saturday’s race as a training day in preparation for the Ironman Lake Placid, which takes place on July 24. And after swimming 1.2 miles, racing his bike another 56 miles and following that with a 13.1-mile run, Burger wasn’t done. After crossing the finish line, catching his breath and having some lunch, Burger hopped back on his bike and pedaled home 70 miles to Old Forge in the sweltering heat.

“The next two weeks will be huge in terms of piling on the miles,” said Burger, who has been in the past five Ironman Lake Placid triathlons and placed third overall there a year ago. “Last year there weren’t any pros in Lake Placid and I had the lead with 18 miles left in the run. Maybe I can get it done this time around.”

Sean Davis, a 24-year-old from Lake Placid, was the top Tri-Lakes Tinman finisher Saturday, placing 10th in 4:41:08. Davis is preparing for his first Ironman race in his hometown. Jay Niederbuhl, of Bloomingdale, also had a strong showing, finishing 25th overall in 5:00:47.

In addition to the 70.3 race, the Tinman had four other competitions, including the inaugural Olympic distance featuring a swim leg of just under a mile, a 26-mile bike ride and a 6.2-mile run. Lake Placid’s Elizabeth Izzo grabbed the top overall women’s spot in that event, finishing in 2:34:11.9, which was also good enough for fourth overall among a field of 56 competitors. Jude Cooney of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania won the men’s Olympic race in 2:22:24.7.

Malone’s Ryan Tober won the sprint in 1:13:55.4 and Audrey Friedrichsen took the women’s sprint in 1:22.24.7. Seventy triathletes participated in the sprint, which included a half-mile swim, a 12.6-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run.

There were 14 teams in the relay, which saw Team Loco from Albany take first place in 4:40:58.1. Jonathan Brault of Quebec won the aquabike title in 3:06:47.7, and Rhinebeck’s Molly Guess took the women’s win in 3:38:21.9.

This year’s Toughman Tupper Lake Tinman Triathlon had 464 entries in the five events.

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