Word has slowly filtered back to Philadelphia from the backwoods of Berks County about more glory achieved by the Wanderers at the the Got the Nerve? Triathlon held on May 24. It was all good news! Wanderers grabbed a couple of first place finishes.

The Got the Nerve? Triathlon is a high performance race which attracts some of the fittest athletes in the region. The course is not long (500 yard swim, 14.8 mile bike, 5k run), but it is tough…frigid waters and lots and lots of hills. The Wanderers were more than up to the test!!

More than 700 athletes competed and here’s how we did. Sharon Schmidt…First among all women. Polly Jansen…First in her age group. Matt Mauren…Sixth in the prestigious Clydesdale division. Chris Verry…Seventh in his age group and 50th overall.

Sharon excelled at all the disciplines,swimming, biking and running to finish in a time of 1:16:21. She was 16th overall. Polly nailed a 1:25:47 time good for 76th overall place. Chris actually finished 50th overall in 1:23:12, while Matt pulled in at 1:29:34 in 134th place.

The race was started five years ago by Chris Kaag, a former U.S. marine with a degenerative nerve condition, to raise money for the Myelin Project which supports research for cures for nerve disorders. Here is his story GotTheNerve.org/about.html. It is impressive!!