WB Triathlon labor of love for director

LEHMAN TWP. – The work is hard. The hours are long. The pay is non-existent.

And Joanne Gensel loves every minute of it.

Gensel and an army of hundreds of volunteers have been busy preparing for the 28th annual Wilkes-Barre Triathlon, which takes place Sunday. The three-sport competition features a 0.9-mile swim, a 24.8-mile bike race through the Back Mountain and 6.8-mile run to the finish line at the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus.

“I do it out of sheer love,” said Gensel, who has been race director for the past 19 years. “It’s such an exciting event. It’s a positive thing for the community.”

This year’s race will feature approximately 430 competitors. The total includes approximately 250 individuals and 60 three-member relay teams. The number of athletes is down a little from last year’s total of 560.

The event is being held on the same weekend as the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 NASCAR race at Pocono International Speedway in Long Pond. That means many triathletes, who come from all over the country, have trouble finding hotel rooms.

“Most of the hotels want a two-night minimum stay and a lot of them charge almost double for the weekend of the NASCAR race,” said Gensel, who began volunteering at the event in 1983. “I’m not really disappointed in the numbers. I’m a little disappointed with the number of relay teams. Last year, we had 82. I heard a lot of teams are having trouble finding either a swimmer, a biker, or a runner.

Last year, Gensel said she hoped the 2009 triathlon would be held the week following the NASCAR race. That wasn’t possible for Lin-Mark, which is the official timer of the event.

“I feel very comfortable with them,” she said. “They do a great job. I’m hoping we can have the race a week later next year.”

The event started in 1982 and has been the stepping stone for some of the sport’s biggest races. In addition to being an International Triathlon Union World Cup race, the Wilkes-Barre Triathlon also served as a qualifier for the World Championships and the Gatorade Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.

A safety issue came into focus last year with the deaths of eight athletes at triathlons in other parts of the country. All of the athletes died during the swim portion of the race, from accidental drowning and other factors.

Like last year, the Wilkes-Barre Triathlon is expected to have approximately 75 lifeguards at Harveys Lake for the swim portion of the race, along with more than a dozen kayaks and canoes in the water. There will also be members of Back Mountain ambulance companies, as well as members of the Luzerne County Sherriff’s Search and Rescue team.

Another safety concern involves the use of wetsuits by the athletes. The suits can give the athletes a little buoyancy, allowing them to glide a little easier through the water. But they can also be dangerous when worn in warm water.

If the water temperature is between 78 and 82 degrees, athletes are highly encouraged not to wear a wetsuit. If they do, their time will not be compiled and they will not be ranked either overall or in their respective age group division. If the water temperature is more than 82 degrees, wetsuits are forbidden.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem at all,” she said. “With the weather we’ve been having, I’d be very surprised if wetsuits weren’t allowed.”

Last year, 19-year-old Andrew Yoder of Columbia, Pa. captured the overall championship for the second consecutive year, completing the course in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 55 seconds.

Yoder finished 11 minutes ahead of second-place finisher David Slavinski of Point Pleasant, N.J. Sean Robbins was the first local resident to cross the finish line. The Shavertown man finished third overall.

Shavertown resident Kelly Ochreiter also repeated as champion, winning the female division in 2:24.10. The attorney finished seven minutes ahead of second-place finisher Leah Roberts of Philadelphia.