Locals shine at Hayden triathlon
BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 20 hours, 47 minutes AGO
Jonathan Porter of Athol competes in the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
BILL BULEY/Press photos
Taylon Lund of Coeur d'Alene crosses the finish line of the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Arne Michalson smiles after finishing the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Ben Tran of Coeur d'Alene smiles as he heads toward the finish line.
Zach Erikson finishes first in the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Swimmers head out into Hayden Lake for the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Jared Roth of Rathdrum, right, and Rose Nistler of Helen, Mont., close in on the finish line of the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Bikers peddle away from Honeysuckle Beach in the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Sally Roberts of Coeur d'Alene races along in the Hayden triathlon.
Andrea Pizzini of Coeur d'Alene leads in the bike leg of the Hayden triathlon.
Lillie Dance of Hayden, number 804, and Brenna Kavadias of Spokane Valley, number 810, run to the finish line at Honeysuckle Beach.
Swimmers dive into Hayden Lake for the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Swimmers charge out of Hayden Lake and head for their bikes.
Peterson
Landon Rice of Harrison relaxes after finishing the Hayden triathlon.
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | July 12, 2026 1:07 AM
Chauntae Peterson got some good advice from her three redheaded nieces she calls "the gingers" before Saturday's Hayden triathlon.
"If I want to win, I have to go fast, and I have to pass the person in front of me," she said.
Peterson did just that to top the women's field in one hour, 18 minutes and 1 second over a 750-meter swim, a 13.5-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run.
The Hayden resident and Coeur d'Alene native came on strong after a slow swim in somewhat choppy waters of Hayden Lake.
"I pushed hard on the bike and then gave it my all on the run," she said.
Peterson, who was the first local female across the finish line in June's Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene, said it felt "crazy good" to win.
"I did it for my gingers," the 40-year-old said, smiling.
A record field of about 400 men and women competed in the Hayden sprint triathlon on a windy, sunny morning. The start and finish were at Honeysuckle Beach.
Zach Erikson of Orem, Utah, was the overall winner in 1:09:14. He and family members in Spokane just recently decided to register for the race.
"I just tried not to drown in the swim," he said, laughing.
The 25-year-old was third after the bike segment on a mostly flat course and claimed the lead on the run that took participants around the Hayden Lake Golf Club.
"I have a strong run so I knew if I kept it somewhat close going into the run I could win," he said.
Erikson was happy with the results.
"Anytime I can win it's always a blessing," he said.
A number of locals did well.
Landon Rice of Harrison finished in 1:21:04, good for 19th place overall and third in the 25-29 age group.
He said he has not been feeling well, woke up sick on Saturday, threw up on the swim and the bike, but managed to hold things down on the run.
"I'm feeling better now," he said.
While his time was a little slower than hoped, Rice considered it a good day.
"This is a great race," he said. "The support here is awesome."
Arne Michalson of Coeur d'Alene competed in his first race since 2022 at the request of his daughter, Renee Childress.
"She wanted me to join her for moral support," he said. "How could I say no to my daughter?"
The 62-year-old surprised himself with a finishing time of 1:19:54, 17th overall and first in his age group.
"It was just a ball," he said.
Michalson, a radiologist who has completed several Ironmans, said he was inspired by his daughter, who finished in 1:50:30, eighth in the 25-29 age group.
"As a father, it has an amazing impact on your feeling of self-esteem and happiness if your children are doing good things," he said.
Taylon Lund of Coeur d'Alene, a recent graduate of Lake City High School, was the fourth female, finishing in 1:23:49 and winning the 14-19 age group.
She said she came in feeling "unprepared," and having done little swimming beforehand, and was pleased that once she got out of the water and got rolling on the bike she felt fast and came on strong on the run.
Her only miscue on the day was after the cycling section, she forgot where left her gear among the hundreds of bikes in the transition area.
"I started panicking. I was like, 'Oh no, I don't know where my stuff is," Lund said.
She found it after about 30 seconds, much to her relief.
"I felt like today went great," she said.
Ben Tran of Coeur d'Alene finished with a big smile in 1:41:35. He's completed almost all the Hayden triathlons and helped organize the race in the early days.
Tran took it easy, as he is preparing for Ironman in Kona in October, and cheered on friends he encouraged to do the race.
"It's all about them," he said.
One of those friends, Matt Creighton of Post Falls, completed his first sprint tri in 1:27:58, beating his goal of 1:30.
"A beautiful day, great volunteers," he said. "I can't really complain. It was a lot of fun."
Taylon Lund of Coeur d'Alene crosses the finish line of the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Arne Michalson smiles after finishing the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Ben Tran of Coeur d'Alene smiles as he heads toward the finish line.
Zach Erikson finishes first in the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Swimmers head out into Hayden Lake for the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Jared Roth of Rathdrum, right, and Rose Nistler of Helena, Mont., close in on the finish line of the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Bikers peddle away from Honeysuckle Beach in the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Sally Roberts of Coeur d'Alene races along in the Hayden triathlon.
Andrea Pizzini of Coeur d'Alene leads in the bike leg of the Hayden triathlon.
Lillie Dance of Hayden, number 804, and Brenna Kavadias of Spokane Valley, number 810, run to the finish line at Honeysuckle Beach.
Swimmers dive into Hayden Lake for the Hayden triathlon on Saturday.
Swimmers charge out of Hayden Lake and head for their bikes.
Peterson
Landon Rice of Harrison relaxes after finishing the Hayden triathlon.ARTICLES BY BILL BULEY
Locals shine at Hayden triathlon
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A record field of about 400 men and women competed in the Hayden sprint triathlon on a windy, sunny morning. Zach Erikson of Orem, Utah, was the overall winner in 1:09:14. He and family members in Spokane just recently decided to register for the race.
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