Competitors enjoy the challenge

It was the first triathlon competition for many of the entrants.
& lt;a href=mailto:bassetti@vindy.com & gt;By JOHN BASSETTI & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BAZETTA -- Jon Crays was on the parking lot pavement stretching as he warmed up with almost 70 other entrants prior to the Mosquito Creek Triathlon early Sunday.
The 33-year-old Warren man was about to engage in a grueling two hours of swimming, biking and running.
"I push myself," he said. "That's what I'm looking for."
It was the first such competition for the 1988 graduate of LaBrae High, who found out about the event by word of mouth.
"I joined the Warren YWCA and started swimming. Before this, I just ran in local 5k races," he said.
Crays, who played baseball at YSU, said he was looking to keep himself competitive.
Wanted the experience
"I wanted to experience it," said the manager in the building materials department at Lowe's in Warren. "I'm not trying to set any records, but I want to finish. I want to get one under my belt."
A 750-meter swim in Mosquito Lake's 76-degree water was Crays' first dip outdoors this summer.
Others about to take the plunge were Cormac McCarthy and his fianc & eacute;, Renee Forkin, both of Lakewood.
"We both swim competitively, but we wanted a challenge," said McCarthy, who turned 30 on Sunday. "Actually, she made a bet that we couldn't do it."
The couple was prepared to do another triathlon at Cleveland's Edgewater Park on Aug. 10, but it was canceled.
"Since we trained for three months, we had to find another one," said Forkin, 26.
Cormac and Forkin, originally from Pittsburgh, are scheduled to be married on Oct. 6.
Student triathletes
Two triathletes not showing any signs of nervousness were Hudson High students Elizabeth Haber and Sarah Daniels.
Both are cross country runners and Haber is also on the school's swim team.
"We love to swim, slash, bike, slash, run," the teens said. The triathlon was the first for Daniels and the second for Haber.
Humor didn't take a holiday for Jim Messenheimer, even though he was 2/3 of the way through his day. As the 51-year-old left the transition area to began the run segment, he was passed by a younger runner.
"How old are you? Eighteen? You ought to be ashamed of yourself," he quipped.
Later, Messenheimer said that he made a two-hour drive from Avon Lake.
"Us crazy people do this stuff," he said.
Member of families of triathletes had their comments, too.
A little girl running to keep up with her mother who was strolling another child as they both tried to follow their father/husband had this observation: "Daddy doesn't do two laps."
The father was one of the sprint division entrants whose required swim distance was the shorter 750 meters. Some others chose the 1,500-meter length.