Buster Britton Memorial Triathlon returns for 2023

Published 3:09 pm Monday, August 14, 2023

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By BARTON PERKINS | Staff Writer

PELHAM – The high was 97 degrees on Sunday, Aug. 13, but that didn’t stop athletes from all over the country from attending the 38th annual Buster Britton Memorial Triathlon at Oak Mountain State Park.

Buster Britton was one of the original Birmingham area triathletes back when the sport was becoming popular in Alabama. Britton has often been described as a true inspiration for triathletes and helped the sport in its early days in Alabama. Britton was an avid triathlon participant and even competed in several iron man competitions. Tragically, Buster lost his life during a fun run shortly after participating in the Hawaii Iron Man. The Buster Britton Memorial Triathlon was created to honor his contributions to the sport and his influence on many Alabama competitors.

The 38th Annual Buster Britton Memorial Triathlon began at 7 a.m. with competitors starting with either a 1,200 or 400-yard swim, followed by jumping onto their bikes for a 24 or 12-mile bike trail race and ending with a 5.5 or three-mile run to the finish line.

The Buster Britton Memorial Triathlon is one of the longest-running in the state of Alabama and is beloved by both triathlon veterans and beginners alike for its challenging, but not long, race distances. Along with the titular triathlon a variety of other races including duathlons and aqua biking also occur.

This year the following individuals won each category:

-Olympic Triathlon, men’s division was won by Anthony Federico with a time of 1:59:49.

-Olympic Triathlon, women’s division was won by Season Lake with a time of 2:25:10.

-Olympic relay was won by TEAM SKC Express with a time of 2:37:46.

-Olympic Aquabike was won by Alexander Montoya with a time of 1:35:30.

-Olympic Bike Run was won by Micheal Macgown with a time of 1:57:59.

-Sprint Triathlon, men’s division, was won by Andy Grant with a time of 58:35.

-Sprint Triathlon, women’s division, was won by Jennifer Christy with a time of 1:14:39.

-Sprint relay was won by TEAM Spooners +1 with a time of 1:02:13.

-Sprint Aquabike, men’s division, was won by Jeffrey Putt with a time of 44:58.

-Sprint Aquabike, women’s division, was won by Valeria Shows with a time of 1:26:01.

-Sprint Bike-Run, men’s division, was won by Noah Hardee with a time of 1:16:18.

-Sprint Bike-Run, women’s division, was won by Kari Tibbs with a time of 1:35:48.