Castlewood Waters Force Racers to Make a Turn

When Keith Timmins signed up for a race that included a 3-plus mile bike trail in Ballwin, he didn’t even own a mountain bike. Timmins said a friend talked him into the race, and despite primarily being a runner, he eventually agreed to sign up.

“I’d never trained on a mountain bike. I’d only ridden one three times,” Timmins said, smiling.

As he stood a few feet from the finish line he had crossed only minutes before, Timmins’s enjoyment showed.

“I did great,” he said. “I’m very pleased with how it went.”

Timmins, 56, said he now plans to buy the bike he has been borrowing for training.

Timmins was just one of the 158 athletes in this year’s Conquer Castlewood three-part race. The race, which began at 8 a.m. on Sunday, was slightly altered due to high water levels. Although it was scheduled to start with a 1-plus mile canoe race followed by a biking and running portion, the canoeing portion was called off after organizers decided the river level was too high.

First-time participants Nicole and Greg Meyer were disappointed with that decision.

“We were really banking on the canoeing,” Greg Meyer, 40, said as he and Nicole prepared to start.

The athletes who gathered at Castlewood State Park were comprised of a variety of ages. Some, like the Meyers, were new to the race while others have made it a tradition.

Joe Godsy, who now lives in Brooklyn, visited his home in St. Louis to participate in the Conquer Castlewood race for his third year on Sunday, along with his brothers and nephew. Godsy, 35, said he trains for a variety of races 7 or 8 months a year and enjoys mountain biking especially.

Athlete Erin Newcomer, 14, however, was new to the race. Her mother, Nancy, was there to watch her daughter on Sunday and said she was happy her daughter was participating for the first time.

“It got us both out mountain biking,” Nancy said after her daughter took off in the second heat of the race. “I’m trying to encourage lifetime fitness.”

Newcomer, who is from Wildwood, said she and her daughter cycled the course of the race to prepare Erin for the biking segment. She said the mountain biking was a new experience for both her and her daughter.

Athlete Jake Mongler, 27, was all smiles when he crossed the finish line.

“It was good,” said Mongler, who completed a Half-Iron Man this past September. “It was hard. It seemed like the first half of the bike was uphill. Same with the run.”

Mongler, who is from Edwardsville, IL, said riding his bike down the hills was the best part of the race.

“I’ll try and come back next year."