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Champions Take Different Routes

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By SCOTT PURKS

Tribune correspondent

Published: April 28, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Losing five pounds isn't that big of a deal.

Is it?

"No, it's a huge deal," said St. Anthony Triathlon champion Matt Reed, who at 6-foot-5 dropped from 180 pounds to 175 this year.

Reed - who won Sunday's .9-mile swim, 24.8-mile bike and 6.2-mile run in 1 hour, 46 minutes, 34 seconds - said think about what it's like to run with five extra pounds on you.

"Now I feel like I'm in the best shape of my career," said the 33-year-old Reed, who won by 18 seconds against 32-year-old Andy Potts.

Out of the water, Reed was tied with Potts. After that it was basically a Reed runaway.

The women's champion, Sarah Haskins, was even more dominant in her division, taking the lead just yards into the water and stretching her advantage throughout the race.

When the race ended, Haskins, 27, had finished in 1:59:24, more than a minute ahead of second-place finisher Rebeccah Wassner of New York.

"I really didn't see much of any other competitor the whole time," said Haskins, who finished second at the past two St. Anthony's. "I felt good the whole way."

Reed and Haskins, who live in Colorado, each earned $10,000 for the victory.

Behind Reed and Haskins were 4,000 more stories, featuring athletes from all walks of life through the spectrum of ages (14 to 88), with different motivations, varying body types and abilities. The following are six plucked from the throngs that ran across the finish line near the waters off Vinoy Park.

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