Published August 26, 2011 06:48PM
On Sunday, Haskins will go after her consecutive Life Time Chicago Triathlon pro title.
Sarah Haskins has won the Chicago Triathlon in both extremes of our August weather. On Sunday, she will try to win her third consecutive Life Time Chicago Triathlon pro title. And she’s making a family affair of it.
‘‘The Chicago course suits me for a couple of reasons,’’ Haskins said in an e-mail interview. ‘‘The race is a non-drafting race, which is a strength for me since cycling is one of my stronger disciplines. With the long, false, flat uphill on the first part of the bike course and the typical wind, it makes for a true- strength bike course, which is a benefit for me. I also like the swim with the water usually being a bit choppy, which is my favorite swim conditions.’’
The course is the same as recent years: a 1.5-kilometer swim in Monroe Harbor, a 40-kilometer bike ride in laps north and back on Lake Shore Drive and a 10-kilometer run along the lakefront and around the Museum Campus with the finish on Columbus Drive.
‘‘I love the swim because it is so unique in that it is a point-to-point swim,’’ she said. ‘‘This allows the spectators to watch us the entire length of the 1,500. It is so cool to see people cheering you on while you swim, as this normally never happens in an open-water race. My least favorite is the chance of high temps in late August; that makes competing grueling [like last year].’’
Last year, she won in brutal heat.
‘‘Yes, I don’t think we will have to deal with mid-90s,’’ she said. ‘‘The year before [in 2009], it was 68 degrees, so the two years could not have been more opposite in terms of temperature. This year will be closer to normal, not too hot and definitely not cold!’’
Read more: Chicago Sun Times