For the first time since 2009 when one co-worker asked another (approximately),

“Hey do you wanna go and run and bike at Green Lakes? A handful of people are doing this thing…”  – coworker1

“um, sure!” – coworker2

“We’re going to run around the lakes, then go for a bike ride, then run around the lakes again” – coworker1

“really? you’re just going to leave your bike at the park.. while you run, what if someone steals it??” – coworker2

Fast forward 7 years:

Saturday, May 14th, 2016 Matt Migonis (coworker1) and Randy Hadzor (coworker2)  did the Du the Lakes together again.

The run started off nice and smooth, chasing Sam Morse of the Syracuse Track Club.

Matt, Randy and one other competitor all went through t1 at roughly the same time, Migonis and the competitor with variations of the triathlon-shoe-on-the-bike-thing, getting over the transition mat first but fiddling with their shoes a bit, Randy ran through and took off with a cyclocross style remount.. only to have slight difficulties getting the chain on the big ring on the way out of the park, the chain falling off to the outside and luckily he was  able to shift down to replace it and eventually get it situated on the properly large chainring .. only after  Migonis took over the lead..

Once out on the roads Migonis and Hadzor were hammering along at roughly the same pace, which was fun;  though they had to resort to riding a very awkwardly-wide-side-by-side orientation to be sure there was no drafting advantage, this went on for one lap until Migonis took the lead… lap two, Hadzor spent chasing the bright orange shorts in the distance, eventually getting back to the park and arriving at the dismount line at about the same instant, apparently Migonis had been riding a flat rear tire for the final 2 miles of the bike leg, apparently he accidentally hit a jagged 3inch rock “totally my fault” he exclaims, somewhat bashfully.. t2 was exciting as the race organizers took bets on who would return from the run first, the coach or the athlete, the teacher or the student!

Out on the run Hadzor took it out in a bit of an optimistic 5:20 minute per mile pace, only to be slightly slowed by a four across family out for a stroll, after just a small bit of confusion and polite exchanges of apologies.

Migonis and Hadzor ran together for 2 of the 3 final running miles, chatting about finishing together though Hadzor insisted he prefer to put up a chase, and so Migonis effortlessly took the lead, or perhaps he just had to pee really bad; since he took off, finished in record time, setting a new course record, and ran straight to the potty.. Randy finished up just about 30 to 40 seconds later, claiming 2nd place for Team Migonis and putting Mello Velo racing on a multisport  podium for the second weekend in a row.

It was a great day, with lots of familiar faces out at the races. A great showing of friendly competition and wonderful weather. Duathlons are the best and nothing beats the local multisport community coming together to run, ride bikes, compete, and have fun; all while raising a little bit of money for a great cause.