On Saturday, the Robert J. Aaron Memorial Mighty Montauk Triathlon celebrated its 45th anniversary, with a field of 374 athletes and a familiar face crossing the finish line first. William Huffman, 33, finished the Olympic distance — a one-mile swim, 20-mile bike, and 6.2-mile run — in 1:53:38.30, winning the race for the fifth year in a row.
“It’s a delight to come back here and kick off the summer. It feels like home coming here,” Huffman said. “I always say it’s the start of a good summer when I get out there on the race course. Everyone feels like family here, and a lot of thanks to Merle for keeping this alive.”
Merle McDonald-Aaron, the race director, has kept this triathlon going in honor of her husband, Robert, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2002. She was delighted to see Huffman take the lead and win once again.
“Oh my gosh, I was ecstatic! Fifth consecutive win. I like that!” she said. “For me, it’s in memory of my husband. He was a triathlete as well. He started this back in 1982, so by doing this I keep his memory alive, for one thing. And second, for me, it’s seeing the same guys every year, and now it’s more special, because I have generational runners. Their dads did it and now the kids are doing it. That makes it really special. I told somebody, ‘It’s not a triathlon, it’s a tradition.’ ”
Natalie Obando, 30, won the women’s Olympic distance in 2:01:48.47. Obando and Huffman are both part of Full Throttle Endurance, an elite amateur triathlon team based at Chelsea Piers in New York City. The team led the field, claiming most of the top 20 spots.
Robert Lynch, 58, won the sprint distance — a half-mile swim, 14-mile bike, and 3.88-mile run — in 1:21:08.17. Milena Alberti, 53, won the women’s sprint distance in 1:35:57.15. They are also members of the Full Throttle Endurance team.
“It’s an amazing group,” Huffman said. “Everyone gets along so well and we push each other. It’s a great support team, and everyone shows up and gets the most out of each other on the race course.”
Thomas Brierley, 30, of East Hampton, was the first local finisher. An assistant swim and track coach at East Hampton High School, he finished 28th in 2:17:17.42. As he crossed the finish, Brierley joked that all he wanted to do was beat Robert Reich and Erik Engstrom, which he did by just 30 seconds. Reich, 42, of Montauk, finished 29th in 2:17:47.25. Engstrom, 28, of Amagansett, rounded out the trio of top local male finishers in the Olympic distance, finishing 33rd, in 2:19:58.84.
Alyssa Bahel, 29, who lives in Sag Harbor, was the first local female finisher, completing the Olympic distance in 2:19:14.04. She won the 25-29 age group, and was the fourth female finisher. Bahel and her father, Mike Bahel, 60, are training for the Ironman in Lake Placid on July 19. He finished the Olympic distance in 2:22:27.13, which put him in 41st place.
Just 10 athletes participated in the aquabike — a one-mile swim and 20-mile bike. Trevor Katz, 30, finished first in 1:29:40.56. Belen Barrios, 29, the only female participant, finished in 2:06:17.24.
Peter Schellbach, 58, was the top fund-raiser, donating $10,000. The race raises money for the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.
Smiling in the hot sun on Saturday, McDonald-Aaron was finally able to celebrate both the runners and all the hard work she put into the race. It’s an event she starts planning in November, taking nearly eight months to pull together. Then it’s up to the weather gods and the community to cooperate.
“This is the best weather we’ve had in the last five years. There were some mornings we had on winter jackets, so no jacket this morning. That was good,” she said. Looking out at the crowd, she added, “A lot of triathlons, everybody’s worried about their times. This is a small-town triathlon. This is old school. That’s what I love.”
