Andy Mitcheltree Wins The First "Tartan Triathlon"

He began Thursday night with a five-mile foot race that climbed 1,568 feet in elevation between its start at the stoplight in Linville and the parking lot at the summit of Grandfather Mountain. On Friday morning he set off on a 65 mile bicycle tour of Avery County that included 7,000 feet of climbing including Lance Armstrong’s favorite training hill up the back side of Beech Mountain. And bright and early Saturday morning he embarked on America’s toughest marathon: a 26.2 mile course over rolling terrain with a net elevation gain of 1,000 ft. and the last 13 miles uphill.

By the end of the three days, Andy Mitcheltree, 29, of Blowing Rock had won the first Tartan Triathlon at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.

"It's awesome to have won the first outing of the Tartan Triathlon," said Mitcheltree. "I did not think I'd get so much attention for doing all of the races."

In all, four athletes accepted the challenge of competing in all three of the grueling races. Mitcheltree believes there will be many more next year once the word gets out.

"There are a lot of hard core athletes who like to do the ultra tough challenges," he says. "Triathlons are getting very popular, to the point that you have to sign up a year in advance if you even want to get into an iron man."

Mitcheltree finished 11th in The Bear, the five-mile footrace to the summit of Grandfather Mountain. With a time of 34 minutes and 52 seconds (his personal best for The Bear), Mitcheltree was only 3:13 behind race-winner Aaron Saft of Fletcher, NC.

Mitcheltree won The Grizzly, the 65 mile (100 km) bicycle race through the Avery County highlands. His time of 3 hours 10 minutes and 1 second was almost 3 hours ahead of the last of the 49 riders to finish.

“The Grizzly was brutal,” he said. “ The key to winning was the climb up the back side of Beech Mountain on a gravel road Lance Armstrong trained on. That’s where I broke away.”

Then he took 6th in the marathon with a time of 3 hours 3 minutes and 21 seconds, only 15 minutes behind marathon-winner Glen Mays of Little Rock, AK. An experienced runner, Mitcheltree finished 4th in the 2006 Grandfather Mountain Marathon, 56th in Pittsburgh and has also run in the Boston Marathon.

"I had my doubts about the marathon," he said, "but I did surprisingly well."

Mitcheltree says that a person who chooses to participate in these three races over three consecutive days is competing more against themselves than against other athletes. "It is a challenge you put on yourself," he says. "The goal is to see if you can even complete all three races, much less to win the trophy."

Mitcheltree says the most exciting moment in the three days came during The Grizzly when he began to pull away from the pack on the back side of Beech Mountain. "When I got to the top of Beech Mountain and looked back to realize that I had left the others behind, that was the best feeling. From the top of Beech Mountain all the way to Grandfather was the coolest feeling, knowing that I was going to win."

Return to E-Scape Newsletter

Print this PageShare this PageAdd to Favourites