Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407070101
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
He did. Sometimes the competitors didn't.
Jim Wright made a splash in 1986 when he masterminded the first Quadrathlon, which is like a triathlon except it has four events instead of three.
Most triathlons are endurance races composed of three legs: swimming, running and bicycling. To this trio, Wright added canoeing.
Many fine athletes have entered the Quadrathlon, also known as the "Pedal, Paddle, Splash and Dash." Many of them could cut through water like a fish, pedal briskly through the countryside and run swiftly along the roads of Radford.
Many of them had not a clue how to canoe.
The first years of the Quadrathlon usually ended with otherwise fine triathletes spinning aimlessly down the New River toward the finish line. One year, a top finisher crossed the line while floating sideways.
Even the more experienced canoers have had their difficulties negotiating the river's currents, which are often at the mercy of the Claytor Lake dam.
"One of the funniest finishes we had was one year when both finishers were out of their canoes," Wright said. "One was pulling his canoe across; the other was pushing his because the river was so low. I can't remember which one won."
Another year, the river was fast and carried the boaters as far as a half-mile past the finish line before they could reach the banks.
"Finally, we started throwing out lines with buoys to rescue them," Wright said. "If we missed, we'd catch 'em down river."
Now in its ninth year, the Radford Quadrathlon takes place Saturday beginning at 7:30 a.m. in Radford's Bisset Park. The race isn't as comic as it was in those early years, but it is still rare.
"We said in 1986 that we were the first quadrathlon in Virginia," Wright said. "No one's ever contested it. We still say it. We're definitely unique. We may be one of a kind."
Wright said he has heard of a few other four-sport events, most of them peculiar races. He once read of a winter four-sport race that included cross country skiing, downhill skiing, trail biking and a snowshoe race.
No ice-canoeing though. Radford may be the only place around that can host an event like the Quadrathlon because it has the perfect facilities. For that, the city can thank geography and the recreation department.
The recreation department put its 50-meter pool in Bisset Park, where the race begins. After more than 20 miles on asphalt and through water, the Quadrathlon ends in the New River just short of Memorial Bridge, about 100 yards away from where it began.
"This is an excellent location to have this race," Wright said. "You can stake out locations and watch a long chunk of the canoe race. It's actually a nice spectator sport."
These days, any rescue missions on the river are handled by the fire department, which provides a rescue boat. The police department, rescue squad and an amateur radio club also help with emergency services. The race's director is Patti Bittner.
The race opens with a half-mile swim, followed by the 13.5-mile cycling leg, which heads down Norwood Street and U.S. 11, then wraps around the city along Rock Road to First Street and back to Bisset Park. There the competitors double back in a 5.3-mile foot race to Riverview Park to board the canoes for the 2-mile trip down river to the finish line.
"This is sort of the 'fun run' of multisport endurance events," Wright said. "It's challenging, but a lot of people can do it. You don't have to be an iron man to finish it."
One of the guys who certainly will finish is Wright, who will be competing on a four-person team with his sons Jamie,16, and Matt, 11, and his brother David, a former high school track coach. Jim will do the biking and team with Matt in the canoeing. Jamie will run and David will swim.
Jim and David are lifelong running and fitness enthusiasts who have competed in numerous endurance races over the years. Jim Wright grew up in Blacksburg, went to Virginia Tech and worked at the YMCA in Roanoke before coming to Radford in 1986 to help develop the hospital's Wellness Center.
In the mid-1970s, Wright was one of the chief creators of the Star City Striders, a running club in Roanoke that still thrives. While with the Striders, Wright helped organize the first triathlon held in Virginia and had a hand in creating another three-sport event that included canoeing, running and biking (the "Huff-n-Puff, Paddle and Pedal," Wright called it), which was a precursor to Radford's "Pedal, Paddle, Splash and Dash."
Nearly 50 athletes from Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia will compete in Saturday's Quadrathlon. Alan Burnett of Hillsville won the men's title last year and probably will be challenged by three-time champ Robert Carter of Kingsport, Tenn. Katherine Williamson, a former Blacksburg resident who now lives in Northern Virginia, will be one of the women's favorites.
by CNB