Sharon Triathlon Winner Says He'll Go For Three in a Row

Craig Mitchell didn't hesitate in answering the question after Sunday's MAX Performance's Sharon Traithlon.
Yes, he does plan on coming back for an attempt at winning for three years in a row."
Got to defend," said the Worcester native with a laugh.He ended up winning the race in a time of 1:11.03, beating second place finisher Joe Rich of Hanson, who finished in a time of 1:12.09.
"I came off the bike in first place and I knew I would have a strong run," said Mitchell, "so I was pretty confident."
For Mitchell, the 2013 race was much different than he experience in winning the 2012 race.
"Last year, I was in second going into the run," said Mitchell. "I had to close a two minute gap. This I went into the run leading by a minute, so  It was a fun way to run the race. Last year, it was fun chasing and this year, it was fun having the cop with me leading the way."
This year, the only person near him was a Sharon police officer on his motorcycle."He was chatting with me and it took my mind off it," Mitchell said of his police escort. "I keep staying fast."Mitchell, a student at WPI, turned in a strong time in the half-mile swim in Lake Massapaog with a time of 11:56  and then breezed through the transition area to go on the 12.4 mile bike in 31:30 before finishing with a time of 26:15 for the 4.4, averaging a 5:58 mile pace.
"Halfway through the run there was no one on my shoulder, so I was cruising, enjoying the run. I enjoyed last half."A cross-country runner, Mitchell switched in biking in college midway.
"I found I liked it more than running," he said. 'I stopped doing cross-country."
He can still count on his running experience for the last part of the race. For Mitchell, it's been a matter of getting better in the first stage of the race."
That's the weakest part of my event," said Mitchell. "I put a lot of time working on my swimming in the winter and it worked, I guess."
Mitchell, who did 15K a week in the pool to get for the triathlon season and does about four or five traithlons a year. This was his fourth attempt at the Sharon Traithlon and it won't be the last one.
Framingham's Jennifer Scalise-Marinofsk was the top female finisher in 14th place overall at 1:17.35, edging out Boston's Claire Twark, who was 29th at 1:20.50.
Ari Schwartz was the top finisher from Sharon, finishing 28th overall in a time of 1;20.36, while Sheldon Hanau was 45th overall in 1:24, followed by Adam Carne, 50, 1:24, Noah Siegel, 82, 1:28.13, Tony Felos, 90, 1:29.26, Zachary Samuels, 92, 1:29.26, David Cunningham, 108, 1;30.31, Mike Raymus, 123, 1;31.54, Sharla Kaplan, 125, 1:31.58, Matthew Harma, 130, 1:32.30, Adam Ephraim, 132, 1:32.24, Philip Marjon,133,  1:32.33, Harley Ramelson, 149, 1:33.19, David Hack, 158, 1:34.06, Michael Levin, 177, 1:35.57, Matthew Lally, 194, 1:37.55, Brad Silver, 205, 1:38.53, Jeffrey Schwartz, 210, 1:39.05, David Ephraim, 218, 1:39.41, Joshua Weader, 219, 1:39.43, Katie Notman, 229, 1:40.43, Gary Gladysz, 241, 1:41.32, Keith Bernstein, 243, 1:41.38. Joseph Bernstein, 251, 1:42.30, Sol Lerner, 269, 1:43.39, Lauren Commons, 271, 1:43.43, Avi Traum, 274, 1:43.47, Kathleen Berney, 275, 1:43.47, Edward McGushin, 285, 1:44.37, Austin Myerson, 287, 1:44.42, Lois McCallin, 300, 1:45.57, Steven Bergel, 306, 1:46.47, Jacqueline Modiste, 307, 1:46.49, Shira Krimsky, 340, 1:49.`14, Dana Carne, 349, 1:50.29, Stephen Reid, 350, 1:50.35, Pasqualino Pannnone, 351, 1:50.36, Alon Kosowsky, 365, 1:52.10, Vincent Tsang, 393, 1:55.43, Mark Berney, 396, 1:56.21, Daniel McLoughlin, 399, 1:56.33, Brandon Gilson, 404, 1:56.43, Justin Gilson, 405, 1:56.45, Darcy Daniels, 420, 1:59.57, Sam Liao, 430, 2:01.32, Mindy Levine, 439, 2:04.36, Julie Krimsky, 442, 2:05.07, Ethan Aronson, 443, 2:05.28, Danny Silverman, 445, 2:06.11, Kyle McNeill, 446, 2:07, Lesley Engelson, 465, 2:12.34, Arnold Phillips, 474, 2:16.53, Rosella Zarkin, 479, 2:19, Al True, 488, 2;25.16, Rebecca Kinraide, 499, 2:47.09 and Mia Joiner-Moore, 2:47.15.
 For the complete results of the race, go the coolrunning.com site.