He wanted a race rich in ambience and camaraderie. Vigorito said to his audience, "if I build it, I know they'll come". September 30th, 2006 marked the third anniversary of "Chessyman". Rob Vigorito built it, and they have come.

On October 7th, 2004, Columbia Triathlon Association's Rob Vigorito addressed a captive audience of anxious triathletes and explained his reasons for christening that year's inaugural ChesapeakeMan Ultra Distance Triathlon in Cambridge Maryland. (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run). Vigorito knew the Mid Atlantic region needed an ultra distance race. His goal was to build the race - slowly - from the ground up and with all of the right key ingredients that would make it an ultra event by the athletes and for the athletes. He wanted to create an ultra race that embodied the true spirit of the "ironman". He wanted a race rich in ambience and camaraderie. Vigorito said to his audience, "if I build it, I know they'll come".

September 30th, 2006 marked the third anniversary of "Chessyman". Rob Vigorito built it, and they have come. This year saw a huge increase in registration numbers with athlete representation coming from 23 states across the country. This year, Vigorito also added 3 additional events to run concurrently with Chessyman, offering something for everyone to further cultivate the triathlon festival spirit. Joining Chessyman this year was the Chesapeake Endurance Triathlon (1.2-mile swim, 65-mile bike, 10-mile run), an Aqua Velo (2.4-mile swim and a 112-mile bike), and a 2.4-mile open water swim only.

This course is one of the most beautiful and unique courses of any race in North America. Swimmers navigate the open water nuances of the Choptank River at sunrise in a point to point swim leading to transition at Great Marsh Park. From there, the bike course winds its way through the lightly traveled scenic roads of the Black Water Wildlife Refuge where riders see more wildlife than motor vehicles. Finally, athletes embark on a three loop run course which is both athlete and spectator friendly, with a stadium finish at the local high school.

The 2006 running of ChesapeakeMan once again offered the kind of top shelf support that has become synonymous with the Columbia Triathlon Association and the Cambridge community as a whole.

Top PRO male honors went to last year's winner, 32 year old John Robertson from Friendship Texas with a time of 10:46:04 and top PRO female honors to Julie Curwin, 41, with a time of 10:08:04.

As is often the case in ultra distance racing amateur age group athletes rose to the occasion and had their own special moments of glory. The 2006 CheseapeakeMan overall amateur male award went to 25 year old Benjamin Bishop with a time of 9:47:53. Bishop, originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, made the trek to Cambridge from Alaska where he is in the U.S. Armed Forces and stationed at Eielson Air Force Base. This proved to be a truly rewarding experience for Bishop and his family, and both Cambridge and the Columbia Triathlon Association were proud to play host to this year's overall winner and are proud of his accomplishments on and off the race course.

Top amateur female honors went to local favorite Suzie McCulloch, 26, from Ellicott City, Maryland with a time of 10:58:07. McCulloch, a Howard County Maryland school teacher and veteran triathlete had an exceptional race at Ironman Florida last year. Her goal coming into CheseapeakeMan was to break 11 hours - mission accomplished.

Of additional interest, 8-time ultra distance finisher and Philadelphia native, Steve Brown finished his third ChesapeakeMan this year. This race was particularly sweet for Brown as it came 7 months after his diagnosis with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Brown underwent 4 rounds of chemotherapy earlier this year, quickly hit remission and kept focused on his goal to finish ChesapeakeMan, this time as "RemissionMan".

For complete results, click here.

Thanks to all who contributed to an outstanding weekend. Expect the ChesapeakeMan Ultra festival to continue to grow even bigger and better in 2007. Stay tuned.

Also look for details and registration info for Columbia Triathlon Association's other events including EagleMan Ironman 70.3, Columbia Triathlon, and Ryka Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon at tricolumbia.org