The Robert J. Aaron Memorial Mighty Montauk Triathlon and the Montauk Mile are to be contested in that hamlet this weekend.
It’s the 42nd year for the Olympic-distance triathlon, which, at the behest of some older triathletes, has added a sprint-distance race this year, and the seventh for the Old Montauk Athletic Club’s Montauk Mile, whose proceeds are to underwrite an East Hampton High School boys and girls cross-country team trip to a competitive regional invitational meet in the fall.
Saturday’s triathlon is to begin with a one-mile swim in Lake Montauk, near the West Lake Drive transition area, at 7:30 a.m. The Montauk Mile’s women’s race is to begin near the old railroad station at 10:30 Sunday, with the men’s race to follow at 11.
Last year’s winners, William Huffman, 28, in the triathlon’s case, and Ryan Fowkes, a George Washington University senior, in the Montauk Mile’s, are expected to defend their titles.
Huffman, a member of New York City’s Full Throttle Endurance triathlon team based at Chelsea Piers, is expected, the triathlon’s director, Merle McDonald-Aaron, said, to bring a lot of his teammates with him, including last year’s runner-up, Dixon McDonald, whom the winner bested by about 12 minutes on his way to a record-setting time of 1 hour and 46.3 minutes.
Huffman emerged from the one-mile swim in 20:04 minutes, trailing Chris Nuess, who had exited in 19:39 — the only swimmer to go under 20 that day — but Huffman took over from there, covering the 20-mile bike course in 49:25, and running the rolling 10K in 34:29. Though Chuck Sperazza, in 2003, and Greg Sautner, in 2004, had logged somewhat faster times, McDonald-Aaron said, “the course was somewhat different then, so I’m treating Huffman’s time as a course record.”
Tim Steiskal of Brookhaven, the triathlon’s winner in 2018 and the third-place finisher last year, and William Kelly, who placed seventh last year in 2:05.22.8 at the age of 59, are also expected to return, as is Nadine Crane of Sayville, last year’s third-place finisher among the women.
McDonald-Aaron said by phone last Thursday that she had yet to hear from 2022’s women’s winner, Jillian Jacinth of Babylon, or from the runner-up, Caitlin Kappel of East Hampton. Magdalena Stovickova, 48, of Island Park, a multiple winner of this event in the past, has also signed up.
The sprint triathlon involves, McDonald-Aaron said, a half-mile swim, a 14-mile bike, and a 3.8-mile run. She added that she expects a field of 300 or so, up from last year’s turnout of around 200. In the past, the race, which is to begin at the Star Island Causeway’s intersection with West Lake Drive, has attracted as many as 700.
Among this year’s entrants with local connections, according to start2finish.com, are Neil Falkenhan, Doug Milano, Thomas Brierley, Heather Caputo-Fabiszak, Craig Brierley, Bob Bottini, Mike Bottini, Walter Cook, and Peter Hodkinson.
According to the website, there were 60 spots left as of Friday morning. The fee is $160, and registration closes tomorrow at 10 p.m.
The Montauk Mile is contested over a slightly uphill grade along Edgemere Road, beginning near the railroad station and ending at Lions Field. Fowkes won it last year in a record-setting 4 minutes and 26.77 seconds. Recently, he ran a 3:44 in finishing second in the Eastern College Athletic Conference/IC4A championship meet’s 1,500-meter race, a time that’s equivalent to a 4:01.92 mile. He holds George Washington records in the outdoor 800 and 1,500.
The races drew 140 competitors in 2022, a record turnout. Dylan Cashin, an East Hampton High School junior, was the women’s winner in 5:46.78. Those wanting to sign up for this year’s races can do so through elitefeats.com. The fee is $30, or $35 on race day. For entrants under 21 it’s $15. No dogs are allowed on the course.