SAN CLEMENTE TRIATHLON : Robinson Overcomes Obstacles to Win

Harold Robinson should have been distracted enough not to win the San Clemente triathlon Sunday. After all, he had to fight uneven, strong surf on the first leg of the competition, and then headwinds on the bicycling leg. He didn’t even have his own hotel room the night before the event.

But, Robinson, 27, overcame all the obstacles to capture the triathlon and move into second place in the U.S. Triathlon Series standings. Mike Pigg, who did not compete Sunday, is the point leader, with 1,168 points, in the city-to-city national championship event series. Robinson has 1,125.

Sunday, Robinson, who lives in Santa Rosa, finished in 1 hour 57 minutes 47 seconds to win his first USTS triathlon of the year. Brett Rose of Tempe, Ariz., who lives in Laguna Beach, was second in 1:58.58. He was followed by Andrew Carlson of Laguna Niguel in 1:59.23 and Greg Welch of San Diego in 2:00.21. Robinson was awarded $1,000 for first place.

The San Clemente triathlon, the seventh in a series of 11, included a 1.5-kilometer swim around the San Clemente pier, a 40K bike ride and a 10K run.

It was the swim that gave the more than 1,800 triathletes the most problems. Rose came out of the water first with a 33-second lead over Carlson and with Robinson 1:14 back.

“I had a really good start and hit the first buoy well,” said Rose, a four-time All-American swimmer at Arizona State. “But I swallowed a lot of water and couldn’t get any rhythm with those waves.”

Said Robinson: “I couldn’t really feel the current, but the waves were massive. It was a really hard course and with the ocean waves, you couldn’t see behind you.

“And it was only on the last five miles of the biking course that I could relax and get on pace.”

Rose came into the running transition area with a 1:18 lead over Carlson and Robinson. Of the three, Carlson, 23, who is in his second year of competing on the professional circuit, is considered the better runner. But not Sunday.

Robinson, who competed in track and field and cross-country at Cornell, caught Carlson at 2.75 miles along the 6.2-mile route. Although Robinson had a 600-yard lead with less than a mile left, he wasn’t satisfied it was enough.

“I made a deal with myself to not look back until Mile 5,” Robinson said. “I looked back and my lead didn’t look like much distance.

“At the top of the last hill, I wasn’t looking back, instead, I was pushing it as hard as I could. I knew if someone was coming from behind, that I couldn’t go any faster.”

Robinson placed sixth at last year’s San Clemente triathlon, although he wandered off course in the bicycling segment. This year, Robinson encountered problems before the triathlon. He couldn’t get a hotel room and ended up sleeping on the floor of fellow triathlete Steve Fitch’s room.

“I told Steve last night that I was a world-class sleeper,” Robinson said. “I slept great. I didn’t mind because I was used to sleeping on floors when I didn’t have any money in college.”

In the women’s event, Joy Hansen of Newtown Square, Pa., passed defending champion Paula Newby-Fraser of Encinitas in the run to increase her lead in the standings. Entering the triathlon, Hansen held a 9.5 point lead over last year’s USTS overall champion, Colleen Cannon of Nederland, Colo., who placed third Sunday. Hansen finished in 2:12.45. Newby-Fraser was second in 2:15.03.

Newby-Fraser, who competed last month in an Ironman triathlon in Osaka, Japan, was feeling the effects of hard training and was conserving for the run.

“I felt pretty strong, but I felt like on the run that I haven’t gotten as much rest as I need,” said Newby-Fraser, who plans to compete in another Ironman in British Columbia next week. “My legs felt strong, but a little fatigued.”

Said Hansen: “I felt confident, but I know (Newby-Fraser) is a strong runner. She was sitting back on the bike the last 10 miles and I didn’t know if she was tired or just biding her time.”

The USTS series ends Oct. 20 at the national championship in Las Vegas, where a prize purse of $175,000 will be awarded to the top 10 men and women in the point standings.