By Jeff Dennis
The South Carolina Triathlon Series hosts events from the Upstate to the Coast, and their 2022 tournament trail came to a thrilling finish at Edisto Beach on Saturday, October 29. The Edisto Triathlon began with a 1.2-mile swim in the ocean, followed by a 56-mile bike route and a 13.1-mile half-marathon run, ending at Bay Creek Park. Race fans and Edisto residents lined the race routes all morning to watch the action unfold. Finishing in first place with a time of 4-hours and 5-minutes was Aaron Kolk, who came to compete from Wilmington, North Carolina.
Kolk wore the #13 and was happy to claim the top spot in this 70.3-mile course. “The swim this morning was comfortable for me, not too rough in the ocean,” said Kolk. “The bike course was sneaky hard because of its eight U-turns, which causes you to think things through more than if you’re on an oval course. Some of the bike lane was not usable where debris from trees had blown down in the wind overnight, but I felt safe the whole time regarding the auto traffic on the island. Same with the run portion, no issues at all, and I’d call this a good course.”
Finishing in second place with a time of 4-hours and 14-minutes was George Moreno of Hardeeville, South Carolina. “This was my first time to Edisto, and I will definitely be back,” said Moreno. “I was the first swimmer out of the water this morning, and I continued to lead the race through about Mile 50 of the bike portion. The windy conditions did affect me on the bike some today, but this area is beautiful and the sight-seeing was great. I was in a good position to challenge the leader, but I have to give him credit because he outran me to the finish.” Moreno shared that he has been to Walterboro before to bike in the Criterium race.
Finishing in third place with a time of 4-hours and 28-minutes was Michael Mauhar from Greenville, South Carolina. This was Mauhar’s first trip to Edisto, and he was glad to compete in the Lowcountry. Finishing in fourth place was Jacob Driggers of Daniel Island with a time of 4-hours and 31-minutes. Driggers had his family in tow for support and they waited by the finish line to cheer him on, including wife Isabel Driggers from Coastal Kids Dental in Walterboro. As more and more competitors crossed the finish line it was neat to see how many of them want to visit with others and compare notes about how their race experience at Edisto.
S.C. Triathlon staffer Abby Russell was on station at the finish line and shared that the race will return to Edisto Beach next year on Saturday, October 29. “We had 200 registered for Edisto, but only 176 showed up at packet puck-up,” said Russell. “We have a category called the Aqua Bike for people that only want to compete in the swim and bike competition, and we had 16 people in this category. We also had 22 relay teams in the triathlon category, which is when three different people complete one leg apiece for their team.”
“Each entrant is issued a timing chip and Kelly Page is our timing coordinator,” said Russell. “Their race number is assigned to their chip and the chip is attached using an ankle strap we give out. At the beginning of each leg there is a mat that detects the chip and begins recording the time, and there is a mat at the end of each leg that records those times as well. At the end all of the times are added up for their overall event time. When a competitor crosses the finish line they turn in their timing chip and we give them a finishers medal at the same time.”
