Students race to finish line in annual triathlon

Fruit at the Finish, an annual triathlon organized and hosted by the OLC, graced the St. John’s campus last Saturday morning. Students swam, biked and ran their way through Collegeville, finishing at the Palaestra.

The event, themed “Squeeze the Day,” marked the 26th triathlon hosted by the OLC and the second after taking a hiatus during COVID. Attended by upward of 50 students, the triathlon proved to be an attraction for students looking to spend a fun and active morning with friends and provided an opportunity to try new sports in a welcoming environment. Gen Woods and Ella Madson planned the triathlon as per OLC tradition, which delegates the task to its junior student employees. Woods and Madson deemed the event successful, noting among other achievements that everyone left and returned in one piece.

The two began planning about a month before the event, determining the route, recruiting participants and volunteers and communicating with the school on safety aspects. They noted some unexpected road bumps during planning and expressed how many small details are involved in organizing a safe and thorough event.

“There was a lot of little things that went behind the triathlon that we didn’t even know about until Life Safety asked ‘Do you have barricades? Did you notify the prep school and highway patrol? Did you get a permit?’” Woods and Madson said.

They were excited by the number of participants, which doubled from last year. In fact, more students signed up than even hoped for.

“We had hefty goals. We wanted to be as good as we possible could and get a ton of people. And then we got a ton of people and we realized, ‘Wow, this is a lot of work. This is a lot of people,’” Woods said.

One draw to participation was the option to complete the triathlon as a team, with each member taking one leg of the race. This opened the door for students who felt unsure about swimming, biking and running but still wanted to participate. A large number of participants came from the CSB and SJU swim teams, who decided to do it as team event of sorts. Molly Johanson, the overall female winner, was part of this group. Johanson participated in the triathlon last year and was excited to come back again with many of her friends from the team. The 800-meter swim was a breeze for the MIAC competitor, and she has taken up running out of season, so the 5k run did not pose too great a challenge. The biking involved a straight shot into the wind for nearly half of the 10 mile loop, but there was a sense of comradery knowing that everyone was struggling, which helped her and others power through. The atmosphere of the race also contributed to the fun and the success of the event.

“It was a really good atmosphere, and everyone was super happy and excited,” Johanson said.

Woods and Madson are excited to see how the event keeps growing and are excited to be participants next year rather than coordinators. Despite the hard work of planning the triathlon, it was also a good bonding experience for the two, something that will help them as they become co-managers of the OLC next year. Each step of the event, from seeing the shirts arrive, to watching the participant list grow, to setting up on race day was a moment of pride for Madson and Woods.

“It was cool to see it all come together.” Madson and Woods said. “Seeing the participants cross the finish line we looked at each other and were like, ‘Wow, we actually did it.’”