CAMBRIDGE — As the eastern sky brightened with the rising sun, nearly 1,400 triathletes from across the world plunged into the Choptank River on Sunday morning for a 1.2-mile swim, marking the start of the annual Ironman Eagleman 70.3 triathlon.
The event, a Cambridge staple since 1997, is one of the country’s longest-running triathlon events. Family, friends and spectators lined the perimeter of Cambridge’s Gerry Boyle Park, named after the late triathlon innovator Gerry Boyle, to watch athletes battle the rigorous course. Carrying encouraging signs and ringing cowbells, fans cheered the athletes as they rounded into refueling and equipment transition stations across the 70.
3-mile course. The race consisted of a 1.2-mile swim, followed by a 56-mile bike ride and 13.
1-mile run. Despite the challenges the course presented, it has still attracted more than a thousand athletes annually to Cambridge to try their hand at completing the historic Eagleman. Scott Mingay, a seasoned triathlete hailing from New Jersey, was first to cross the finish line.
Mingay completed the course in an impressive 4 hours, 1 minute. Ezra Swell placed second with a time of 4:04, followed by third-place Drew Nesbit who finished just a few seconds behind Swell. Mingay, who has made the Eagleman a routine stop in his triathlon schedule, reflected on the feeling of finally obtaining a first-place finish at one of his favorite courses, after the top medallion was hung around his neck.
“Out of all of.
