SEBASTIAN Campos wanted to compete in the second annual Valley Bottom Rio Trio Adventure Triathlon in Alamosa as a tribute to his grandmother’s roots in the town of San Luis and the family’s cultural ties to the San Luis Valley.
His grandparents joined to watch as Campos completed the adventure-style triathlon in just over one hour, 33 minutes on a sunny and getting-hot Saturday morning.
“A chance to get on the Rio Grande, which is nothing I’ve done before, so it was super cool,” Campos said following the race. A runner but not a biker, he said the trail-biking was the most difficult of the three events for him.
“The bike trails were a little sandy, but it was fun for the most part,” he said. “There was a time there on the bike where my hands were hurting, everything was hurting, my butt hurt, but I made it up on the run.”
Dax Mortensen carried leg two – the 3-mile paddle – for Team Mortensen which was the overall top team finisher in the race. His father, Chad, led off with the bike trail ride; Dax completed the Rio Grande paddling leg; and his wife, Aleceya, anchored the team with the 5-kilometer run that circled through the picturesque Cattails Golf Course and Rio Grande trail.
2022 VALLEY BOTTOM RIO TRIO
Overall top finisher: Sebastian Campos, 1:33.03
Top solo female: Aubrey Tamietti, 1:36.01
Overall team finisher: Chad, Dax and Aleceya Mortensen, first team to finish the course.
Dax learned a lesson from last year’s race and brought a smaller boat to paddle the Rio Grande. “It was really fun. It was warm, the bugs weren’t bad, and I had a lot of fun.”
Aubrey Tamietti was the top solo female finisher, completing the triathlon course one hour, 36 minutes.
Presented by Alamosa Parks and Recreation and SLV GO!, the event gets scheduled for the second weekend of June because that’s generally a time of year in Alamosa when the weather turns warm and the winds die down. True to form, race entrants were greeted by clear blue skies and temps nearing the 70s and growing as the morning grew long.
“I think it’s excellent,” said Brian Puccerella, one of the race organizers for SLV GO!. “It’s gone great, huge turnout, hoping to just grow it year after year.”
“I think people are having fun which is the bigger part of this race,” said Alamosa Parks and Recreation Outdoor Supervisor John Reesor. “It’s a friendly race, it’s fun and people are out here to have a good time on the water and along the city trails.”
All told, 125 registered for the race.
Video produced by Angel Rodriguez:
More individual results below:
Solo Male
Sebastian Campos, 1:33.03
Marcos Lobato, 1:40.45
Kason Smith, 1:45.47
Forrest McCleary, 1:47.37
Ben Stephenson, 1:48.04
Jeff Hughes, 1:48.04
Gabriel Miranda, 1:49.30
Chris Killer, 1:50.11
Matthew Foucheaux, 1:52.14
Erich Schwiesow, 1:53.03
Joel Nystrom, 1:53.56
Jeremy Osborne, 1:54.13
Sole Female
Aubrey Tamietti, 1:36.01
Gina Mitchell, 1:49.10
Blaise Rosenberg, 1:50.29
Mandy Wilner, 1:50.43
Rosalee Reese, 1:51.10
Stephanie Riggenbach, 1:51.49
Gretchen Chamberlain, 1:51.56
Kalie Dirk, 1:52.26
Dana Dirk, 1:52.50
Julia Waechter, 1:53.03
Katy Krings, 1:55.23
Jessica Lanham, 1:56.02
Amy Maendel, 1:56.37
Lauren Ficek, 1:58.26
