by Jason Graziadei / I&M Senior Writer

Back for its second year, the Nantucket Triathlon grew both in size and prestige in 2010, as more than 700 racers gathered at Jetties Beach Saturday for the opening leg of the event, surrounded by posters from new sponsors, and joined by Massachusetts' two U.S. Senators, John Kerry and Scott Brown, as well as Olympic swimmer and 12 time medalist Jenny Thompson, who helped kick off the race.

The triathlon was already one of the largest and most expansive athletic events on Nantucket in recent memory when it began last year, and race organizers Jamie Ranney and Bill Burnett earned the approval of the Board of Selectmen to expand the event this year, increasing its size from the roughly 500 competitors in 2009, and gaining the support of big name sponsors like Saucony, Gillette and JetBlue.

The sprint-style competition, which included a swim off the West Jetty, a bike leg to Madaket Beach and back, followed by a 5K run around Brant Point, was won by Australian Andrew Noble, 44, who was the second person to cross the finish the line, but finished with the fastest time of 1:04:35. Last year's winner, David Dornaus, of Hingham, Mass., was the first racer to make it back to Jetties Beach after the 5K run, but he started in an earlier wave of competitors and his time of 1:06:45 couldn't match Noble's pace. The professional triathlete settled for second place.

Nantucket triathletes made a strong showing in the race, with Nantucket Conservation Foundation researcher Danielle O'Dell finishing first among all female competitors in 1:19:22, and James Congdon placing third overall with a time of 1:12:57. A number of Nantucketers and summer residents also placed among the top three finishers in their age groups, including Connor Wallace, Nathan Barber, Jason Bridges, William Driggs, Steven Kohler, Bob Kennedy, Arnie Seaquist, Eileen Korinek, Christina Barrett, Sdaughter Ayla sang the national anthem at the start of the race, finished second in the 50-to-54 age group, posting a time of 1:23:11.

In the relay division, Team Viking, which finished first in last year's event, took the top spot again with Peter, Erik and Matias Sejersen combining for a time of 1:17:26, followed by Team Flotsam & Jetsam, with Drew and Bobby Dresser and Sam Shaw finishing in 1:20:29.

For overall winner Noble, who relocated to Weymouth, Mass. from his native Australia, Saturday's hot weather was tough to deal with, but nothing the former competitive racer couldn't overcome. Noble said he had competed in many triathlons and other races before starting a family over the past few years, and now only participates in two or three triathlons per year. In fact, Noble said, he hadn't particularly trained for the sprint-style race on Nantucket over the weekend.

"It's a sprint, so you can fake it, kind of. It's short," Noble said. "The heat was tough, but it was a quick race. This was a fun location. I'd never been to Nantucket before."

O'Dell, who missed out on last year's inaugural Nantucket Triathlon because she was competing in an Ironman race in Rhode Island, said she enjoyed having a hometown event among the five to 10 races she competes in each year.

"Well, it was hot, but it was a great race and really fun to have a hometown race," O'Dell said. "It's amazing they manage to pull off a race that big, at that time of year, at that time of day. It was really fun. It was nice to see so many Nantucketers out there and to see people on the streets cheering and people spraying the racers with hoses - that was the best part of the day."

The logistics of staging such a large event at the height of the summer didn't stop Ranney and Burnett from expanding this year's triathlon, and the two former Ohio Wesleyan University classmates were running ragged around Jetties Beach with walkie talkies and bull horns, "putting out fires" as Ranney put it. Based on an informal exit survey conducted after last year's race, and the 654 individual competitors and 30 relay teams that competed this year, Ranney estimated the triathlon pumped over $1 million into the Nantucket economy over the weekend, with racers and their families spending money on lodging, transportation and food.

To accommodate the vast number of racers who took to the roads during the race, the town required Ranney and Burnett to hire more than 20 special detail police officers to direct traffic, and the organizers also dispersed nearly 50 race volunteers along the route and at Jetties Beach. For Ranney, who is a triathlete himself, it was difficult to step back and not compete in the event, but the sheer scale of the race required he and Burnett to stay on top of things at all times. They also tried to get the word out in advance about possible traffic tie ups.

"Because of the nature of the race, there's definitely choke points with a significant number of people on the road and it's difficult because our roads are narrower," Ranney continued. "We did a lot of promotion to let people know the race was coming, but obviously it was not enough. We don't want to inconvenience anyone."

Ranney said he was aware that some island residents have been critical of Nantucket hosting such a large, sprawling event during the height of the summer season when the roads are already clogged, but that there were a variety of reasons for choosing the July 10 date. Ranney said the week after the Fourth of July holiday was typically a "lull week" on Nantucket, that staging the event in the summer provided warmer water temperatures for racers with more predictable weather than in June, and that the July 10 date did not compete against other competitive races around New England, allowing for greater participation. Many triathletes have families or are professionals, Ranney added, so moving the event to September when schools are back in session would also limit the number of competitors.