MacLean is mentally ready to defend triathlon title

• MacLean, a 2002 Cornell graduate and former champion rower, won CLT titles in 2012 and ’14
• Yvette de Boer won last year’s women’s Intermediate race title, her third CLT championship
• Sponsor Ithaca Beer Co. will pour a beer or a soda for each athlete and volunteer at Sunday’s event
• Athlete photos will be available for free download, courtesy of sponsor Cayuga Medical Center

ITHACA – Cornell University graduate Doug MacLean looks forward to competing every summer in his “hometown” Cayuga Lake Triathlon, which starts and finishes at Taughannock Falls State Park.

But that doesn’t mean the 35-year-old Vestal native, a professional triathlete since 2011 who lives in Ithaca, builds his whole workout and race schedule around the annual event, now in its 13th year. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

“Mentally, yes; physically, no,” MacLean said of his level of focus on the CLT, scheduled for Sunday morning. “I love it and it’s my home race and all those kinds of things. But in terms of my actual overall season, there are bigger fish to fry.

“Last year,” he said, “this race was my last really hard workout before Challenge Penticton (in Ontario). This year, the race is going to be my last really hard workout before Ironman Mont-Tremblant (in Quebec).”

MacLean is the defending champion of the CLT’s Intermediate race, the longest of the three events. It begins with a 1,500-meter swim in Cayuga Lake, followed by a 24.3-mile bike ride up Route 89 to Sheldrake and back, and ends with a 6.2-mile run through the park.

There will also be a Sprint race, approximately half the distances of the Intermediate, and a much shorter Youth race.

Long-time Ithaca endurance athlete Yvette de Boer, who surprised herself by winning the women’s Intermediate race last year in her first competition since recovering from a serious hamstring injury, is also expected to defend her title on Sunday. She said Friday that while still not completely recovered from the injury, she’s feeling “much better” than she did last year.

Last year’s Sprint winners were David Zimmet of Rochester for the men and Ericka Hachmeister of Corning for the women. Youth winners were Tommy Christen and Zoe Wilkie Tomasik, both of Ithaca.

MacLean, who in 2002 won a national title in pairs rowing as a Cornell senior, said he’s excited about returning to Ithaca and defending his title. He also won the event in 2012, but didn’t compete here in ’13.

“I love it, I love being the champion at Cayuga Lake, it’s my favorite race,” he said. “I want to hold onto it (the title) as long as I can.”

But he’s balancing that excitement with the realization that his professional schedule has him in Canada for an Ironman on Aug. 16, then in Tennessee for Ironman Chattanooga in late September. An Ironman triathlon features a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a full marathon run of 26.2 miles.

“I’ll show up on Sunday and mentally, I’ll be 100 percent focused,” MacLean said, “but I’ll certainly be carrying a little bit of physical fatigue into it as I’m sort of peaking and tapering for a race a couple of weeks down the road.”

The former high school basketball player said he thinks he’s in pretty good shape at this point, but won’t know for sure till about mid-morning on Sunday.

“I think I’ll know a lot more after the race,” he said. “Tentatively, I want to say that I’m in really good shape right now, but it’s one of things — you never really know if you’re in shape until you get out there and kind of give it 100 percent and check what’s under the hood.”

MacLean — who’s on Twitter at @dmactri — last competed at the Ironman Coeur d’Alene on June 28 in Idaho, where he placed 26th overall, 13th in the Pro division. He went to Lake Placid last weekend for the Ironman event held there, but mainly to cheer on the nearly two dozen Ithaca-area athletes who competed.

Kleinerman, who along with Shawn Toffolo are in their third year at the helm since taking over for co-founder Jane Miller, said there are only a couple of changes for this year’s CLT. Both should be received very favorably by the approximately 800 competitors, who filled all available race spots months ago.

Ithaca Beer Co. has signed on as a sponsor, and is offering a free beer or soda to all competitors and volunteers. There is a catch, though: Beer cannot be served until after noon, but soda will be available all day.

And Cayuga Medical Center has upped its ante as the event’s premier sponsor, parterning with Ken Shelton Photography to offer free downloads of all athlete photos taken at the race. Go to www.backprint.com/kenshelton/132147; competitors can also request an email notification when their photos are ready.

Sunday’s weather forecast calls for sun and a high temperature of 84 degrees.

About the race

WHAT: The 13th annual Cayuga Lake Triathlon

WHERE: Taughannock Falls State Park, Town of Ulysses

WHEN: Sunday, 8 a.m. (intermediate race), 9 a.m. (sprint race) and 10:30 a.m. (youth race)

WHO: Approximately 800 competitors are signed up to take part in Sunday’s event. Awards will be given to the top three finishers in each race along with the top three in each age group (19 and younger, 20-24, 25-29, etc.) by gender and the top three relay teams in each race.

EVENTS: Athletes start with a swim in Cayuga Lake, then a bike ride on Route 89 along the lake and finish with a run through Taughannock Falls State Park.

DETOUR: Cyclists will be on state Route 89 from Taughannock Falls State Park to county Road 139 in Sheldrake. There will be a temporary detour on Route 89 between Gorge Road and Savercool Road from 7 a.m. to around noon during the triathlon. Please consider choosing alternate routes. Spectators and volunteers are always welcome.

INFORMATION:ithacatriathlonclub.org/cltrace/