GREENFIELD — JoEllen Reino had to travel a bit further than the .31-mile swim, 15.14-mile bike and 3.09-mile run to make history Sunday morning during the 34th annual Greenfield Lightlife Triathlon at the Green River Swimming & Recreation Area. The South Deerfield resident also had a 3½-hour drive.
On Thursday, Reino decided that she would drive back to Franklin County during the middle of her Maine vacation to compete in the event and the three-time champ and two-time defending champion made history as she tied the record for most all-time wins with her fourth title. Reino won the women’s Sprint competition by 1 hour, 18 minutes, 8.4 seconds to tie Don Dwight with four all-time wins. Dwight captured four consecutive men’s International Division crowns from 1994 through 1997. The overall women’s winner was competing in the 50-54 division.
Reino was joined in the record books by Hatfield’s Madeline Nagy, who also picked up her fourth all-time victory with her women’s International competition victory. Nagy finished the .63-mile swim, 30.28-mile bike and 7.19-mile run in 2 hours, 42 minutes, 56.5 seconds.
Reino was one of three, two-time defending champions competing on a picturesque Sunday morning. Greenfield’s Dan Bensen looked to defend his two-time crown in the men’s Sprint, while Northampton’s Carson Poe was back to defend his two-time title in the men’s International. Bensen also had a chance to tie Dwight’s record of four all-time wins but both he and Poe came up short as each man finished third in his respective race.
No woman had ever won three consecutive races prior to Reino’s victory on Sunday. Reino was not even sure she was going to compete in this year’s event due to an extended vacation. She drove home on Saturday to compete on Sunday and was scheduled to drive back to Maine later Sunday afternoon.
“I waited until Thursday to sign up because I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it, but part of me wanted to try to win that fourth one,” Reino said. “Even if I didn’t win, I just wanted to do this. I just love the atmosphere. The whole event is just so lovely.”
Reino was 15th in the 89-person women’s field after the swimming portion of the race with a time of 9:35, but she blazed on the bike, besting the rest of the field by well over a minute at 43:45. Her time of 22:41 in the run (fifth best among women) was enough to give her a nearly two-minute victory over Northampton’s Tara Strassburg (1:19:51). Kathryn Flodquist of Terryville, Conn., finished third in 1:21:03.4.
“I’m pretty excited and really happy,” Reino said. “I always enjoy this event. There are so many local people to cheer for and cheering you on.”
Nagy previously won in 2001, 2013 and 2015. She missed last year’s event due to an injury but worked her way back this year as one of 24 women competing in the International field. Nagy was the top female swimmer with a time of 16:22 (over one minute faster than second place), and was 5½ minutes faster than any other woman on the bike with a time of 1:28:03. She was fifth fastest among runners with a time of 56:48.
“Last year I was injured. I had surgery in the fall, so it’s been kind of a long road back, but I love this race and I’m psyched to be here this year,” Nagy said. “It’s an extra thrill to win, but I’m just happy to be here this year. Running is what I really had to be careful with, because that’s what aggravates the injury if I do too much, but I did enough to hold on.”
Bensen was attempting to become the third four-time champion on Sunday and also win his third consecutive Sprint title. The Greenfield native and Bement School teacher exited the swim in 13th place (9:58), and despite having the second-fastest time on the bike (38:22) and fifth-quickest run (20:06), had to settle for third place overall in 1:10:39.2.
Conway’s Jay Gump was competing in the event for the first time since he won it in 2007. Gump, an elite cyclist, said he decided to return to the event after suffering a back injury in October. Rehabbing the injury meant spending time in the pool and in order to motivate himself to swim — something he admitted that he doesn’t really enjoy all that much — he decided to sign up for the triathlon.
Gump finished second in the swim in 7:24, and then separated himself from the field with a time of 35:59 on the bike, 2:23 quicker than Bensen, who was second. Gump then turned in the third-quickest time in the run to cruise to the men’s Sprint title with a time of 1:04:52.1.
“I felt my swim was good and I was more interested in that than anything else,” Gump said. “I think this is a fantastic event. I think a lot of people come because it’s local and friendly. People come for fun first, and competitive next. A lot of other events are less beginner friendly. It’s a nice neighborhood feel.”
Poe entered Sunday on a two-year winning streak but was not 100 percent. He flew back from Sri Lanka last weekend and was dealing with a cold from the long trip home.
Eric Kirouac, of Williamsburg, a 21-year-old who just finished his junior season on the triathlon team at Queens University of Charlotte, won the men’s International in 2:18:33.3. He was over three minutes ahead of Easthampton’s Matthew Musiak. Kirouac was the second-quickest swimmer (15:26), top cyclist (1:17:40) and first in the run (44:30).
Musiak finished second in 2:21:28.3, while Poe was third in 2:29:18.3.