Bob Guzenski
Teresa Kalinay photo | Special to the Times Leader
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Bob Guzenski is a working class triathlete.
He doesn’t really go in for group rides or group runs or even swimming with a buddy. He just likes to go out and grind on the steep roads in the Back Mountain and get the work done.
Bob enjoys suffering, which is the hallmark of most good triathletes. Bob comes to the sport of triathlon by way of wrestling, so that makes sense.
He brings to multisport that same work ethic that brought him success on the mat at Lake-Lehman High School, and even afterwards in AAU tournaments.
Bob graduated from Lake-Lehmanin 1986. While in school, he wrestled between 126 and 132 pounds, and he was also on the track and field team. He was a utility athlete, someone who could complete in a variety of events, including the long jump, 100-meter dash, the 4×100 relay and even occasionally the brutal 400-meter hurdles.
After graduation when Bob started to put on some weight eating Tastycake pies, he decided to do the triathlon as a challenge. His good friend Rob Kuschkie did it with him. He borrowed equipment from his former wrestling coach, Ed Ladaumaus. Luckily the helmet and shoes fit.
Keeping with the gladiator mentality, Guzenski didn’t even have goggles or a wetsuit. Those are just extras. Back in the old days there was no online registration. He just showed up the day before at Misericordia and signed up in person with cash. His only goal was to survive and beat his two friends. His brother, Dave, has also competed in triathlons, but Bob is quick to point out that he was faster.
Like many triathletes, Bob eventually caught the bug.
In between time spent with his wife of 14 years, Wendy Guzenski, and their St. Bernard, Oscar, he managed to train for two full Ironmans, about five 70.3 races and a variety of marathons, half marathons, 10Ks, 5Ks and every other distance you can find.
His first year doing Ironman Mt. Tremblant, Bob cramped up terribly on the swim. It was so bad that this well-conditioned athlete, who could easily swim 4,000 yards on any Sunday at Harveys Lake, had trouble treading water. He had to hold onto a kayak before he could start up again.
The cramps got even worse on the 112 mile bike leg, and Bob struggled to finish that day. So what did he do? He immediately signed up for next year, because that’s the kind of stubbornness that takes you far in this sport.
The following year, Bob finished the challenging Ironman Mt. Trembland course in 12 hours, 1 minute, a very respectable time. He even ran a 4:38 marathon off the bike. He spent a lot of time in the 12 months before his next race researching nutrition, and he finally figured out what caused the issues the first time around.
Now Guzenski trains with a supplement that includes magnesium. Since magnesium plays a role in neuromuscular transmission and muscle contraction, many nutrition experts believe that magnesium deficiency can cause muscle cramping. Magnesium is often recommended to prevent cramping and for Guzenski it has seemed to work.
Bob did his first of five Wilkes-Barre Triathlons in 1988 (if you have been reading this column you will recall that was the year that Lance Armstrong competed at the Wilkes-Barre Triathlon too). His proudest moment at Wilkes-Barre was in 2015 when he won the 45-49 age group in the Sprint distance event with a 1:42:45 finish time.
The overall highlight of Guzenski’s racing and training career came at the Ironman 70.3 Poconos race in 2012. Bob came off the bike and settled into a comfortable run pace. He wasn’t even looking at his watch for the first few miles. When he looked down he saw that he was running 8 minute miles, but he didn’t feel like he was putting any effort into it. He finished that day with a 1:52 run for the half marathon distance off the bike. That’s what sports psychologists call being in a mental state known as “the flow.”
Bob and his wife, Wendy, live in Wyoming and are both very involved in the local racing community. Most weekends you can find them at a variety of distances from 5K all the way up to marathon and triathlon. When asked to help bring back the triathlon to the Back Mountain, they were both among the first to get involved. Wendy is currently the Volunteer Coordinator, and Bob is actually building new bike racks for the race.
When the race committee found out the cost to rent or purchase new bike racks, Bob was quick to raise his hand and say, “I can build them.” And he did. Wendy was instrumental in bringing back the Mile Race Series at Misericordia, and plans to run the New York City marathon again this year in November.
Bob recognizes and admires toughness in other athletes too. When training for his first Ironman, Bob used to occasionally run, bike and swim with Mary Stella. On one ride scheduled to be 100 miles or so, Mary Stella crashed coming down Bunker Hill entering the curve onto North Street in Luzerne. When she didn’t catch up with him at the next stop sign, Guzenski rode back to look for his friend. He found her sitting on the curb with her damaged bike and other gear strewn about the roadway.
She was pretty sure she had broken her collarbone, but Guzenski looked at her and all those years of being around wrestlers and hockey players crept into his mind. He said, “if you broke it you would be crying.” And since she wasn’t crying he told her to get back on her Cervelo and finish the ride. They ended up riding 8 more miles, almost all of it uphill into the Back Mountain to Bob’s house on Bodle Road. Later that day Stella went to the hospital where they confirmed what she had suspected – a broken clavicle that required surgery.
In addition to running and triathlon, Guzenski stays in shape these days playing winter league hockey with the Old Time Hockey Club (OTHC). His team has won the coveted Kielbasa Cup twice, and this year fell just shy of a third title when they squandered an early lead and lost in the second sudden death overtime period. Better luck next year, Hammer.
When I asked Guzenski what he loves about racing and competing he had this to say, “Sometimes it takes somebody else to push you to realize what you’ve got in the tank and to find out just how strong you really are.”
He is looking forward to the return of triathlon in the Back Mountain, but he won’t miss the old bike course from the Wilkes-Barre race. Guzenski hated riding on Lake Catalpa Road and climbing the hills between miles 14 and 16. Some of his sage advice for budding young triathletes is as follows: Lube up the areas that can chafe and eat plenty of Beef Jerky and Gatorade the night before your big race.