Over 1,000 individual athletes and 111 teams successfully completed the 2006 edition of the annual Vytra-TOBAY Triathlon on Sunday morning, Aug. 20. The event, which was centered at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park in Oyster Bay, consisted of a 1 Kilometer swim in Oyster Bay harbor, a 15 kilometer bike ride heading east out of the park through Oyster Bay Cove and back, and a 5 Kilometer Run up to Planting Fields Arboretum and back to the finish up Bayside Avenue and back to the Park.

Dire weather forecasts for the big day on Sunday proved to be dead wrong, as a warm and sunny summer day greeted the athletes after some rain during the night.

As a prelude to the main event, 136 youngsters ages 8 through 13 successfully completed the 2nd annual Vytra-TOBAY Junior Triathlon on Saturday morning, August 19. The Junior Tri consisted of a 200-yard swim paralleling the beach in Roosevelt Park, a 2.5 mile bike ride and a 1 mile run, with the bike and run courses entirely within the confines of Roosevelt Park.

The top finisher overall was Ben Turnbull of Southampton in 1:02:01. Ben had previously been the first overall finisher in the Montauk Triathlon in June. The first woman to cross the finish line was Kerry Simmons of Point Lookout in 1:08:15.

A strong contingent from Farmingdale was led by 36-year-old Diane Herbert, who scored in third place honors among the women in the 35-39 age group with a time of 1:22:10. Also scoring strongly was the team of Jean Bohan (swimmer), Craig Gluf (biker), and Ed Reagan (runner) from the Farmingdale-based running and multisport specialty store The Runner's Edge, who combined to score second in the Coed 105-139 Age Division with a time of 1:09:00, and the "Old Edge" Team of Tom Meehan (swimmer), Runner's Edge proprietor Bob Cook (biker), and Brian Pearsall (runner), who earned first place honors in the Men's 140-179 Age Division in 1:09:18.

The Vytra - TOBAY Triathlon was a joint effort of the Town of Oyster Bay Parks Department and the Greater Long Island Running Club, with GLIRC's Ray Farrell and Jose Lopez serving as the Co-Directors of the event, and Recreation Supervisor Diane Blanchard serving as the Town's liaison. The title sponsor was once again Vytra Health Plans. Medical assistance was provided by the Emergency Medical Team of the Oyster Bay Fire Department, and key logistical support was provided by the Town's Department of Public Safety.

Plans are already underway for the "better than ever before" 24th annual Vytra-TOBAY Triathlon and Junior Triathlon, on Aug. 18-19, 2007.