Race for Sight challenges competitors

Sunday's Race for Sight in Columbia challenged hundreds of participants, from beginners through professional triathletes, according to this Columbia Tribune article:

Jensen lost the crank and dropped the chain on her bike several times during the professional race, which required athletes to complete the course three times, a sort of triple triathlon, if that’s possible. Jensen kept racing, though, and after officials replaced the crank, she rebounded to take third place.

Pele wasn’t so lucky. A member of the Columbia Multisport Club, which accounted for most of the volunteers and roughly one-third of the entrants yesterday, Pele’s bike decided it had done enough work for the day as he made a transition from swimming to cycling.

"On the second race, I jumped on my bike, and probably with the first stroke of the pedal I broke the chain," Pele said. "Somebody gave me a new chain, and it took me forever to feed it back through."

The broken chain cost Pele nine precious minutes.

"I haven’t really been practicing fixing mechanical things quickly," Pele said.