Triathlon draws hundreds

Participants include a bridal party hours before the wedding took place SPARTA — About 375 participants from throughout the tri-state area woke before dawn to prepare for the Pass-It-Along Lake Mohawk second annual Triathlon July 30. The race began at 7 a.m. with a half-mile swim, continued with a 10-mile bike ride and finished up with a 5K run. Jason Wood, 33, of Sparta, won the race with a time of 1:06. Second place finisher was Dan Murphy, 55, of Glen Ridge and third place racer was Ryan Jacobus, 29, of Sparta. The first woman to cross the finish line was Jemila Najjarkeith, 24, of Jefferson, with a time of 1:18. "I do a few of these a year, and I'm training for the nationals in Burlington," Wood said. Several hundred volunteers and spectators lined the streets and filled the park around Lake Mohawk to cheer on the participants. Many streets in and around Lake Mohawk were closed and police were scattered around the area directing traffic. Participants included a bride-to-be Katie Bieganousky (at 4:30 p.m. at the Lake Mohawk Golf Course she was officially Katie O'Brien) and eight other women — including her bridesmaids — who went in groups of three for the three legs of the race. They were dressed in baby blue t-shirts with their wedding designation on them. Though the mother of the bride did not participate, she wore her baby blue shirt to cheer her daughter on. O'Brien opted for the running portion of the triathlon. "I chose just to run so I had the energy to get married and party later on," O'Brien laughed.