Winner of Vineman full triathlon turns on the jets in final leg

Andrew Drobeck, a firefighter from Missoula, Mont., saved his best for last as he captured the Vineman Full Triathlon on Saturday in Sonoma County.

The 32-year-old found himself trailing after the swimming and biking portion of the race but then blew away the competition in the running segment, setting a course record along the way.

Drobeck ran the 26.2 miles of the triathlon’s marathon portion in 2 hours, 56 minutes, 18 seconds. That was after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles.

With his strong finish, Drobeck completed the triathlon in 8:53:30 and had a 13-minute cushion over runner-up Max Biessman.

Biessman led heading into the run but was no match in the final leg. Drobeck beat him by 26 minutes at the marathon distance.

Drobeck’s time is the fastest ever for the current Vineman course. It’s been five years since an athlete completed the journey in under nine hours. John Daltz, the winner in 2011, finished in 8:56:57.

Drobeck began competing six years ago and joined the professional ranks this year.

Rounding out the top 10 were Ryan Rau (Brighton, Mich.), Matt Ison (Santa Barbara), Tony Silvertrin (Loma Linda), Chris Morgeson (Westlake Village), Van McCarty (San Luis Obispo), Timothy Mallen (Yuba City), Sarah Jarvis (Provo, Utah) and Andrew Cross (Kailua, Hawaii)

Two athletes from the Redwood Empire - Steve Behler (Santa Rosa) and Jady Palko (Windsor) - finished in the top 20. Behler’s time of 11:02:22 was good for 15th place while Palko’s clocking of 11:25:27 made him the 19th finisher.

Palko wasn’t at full strength for the race.

“I’ve had a sinus infection for the past month,” he said. “It really took its toll when I was running. The pressure just built up in my head.

“I did persevere and finish, but I sure could’ve done better had I been healthy.”

Jarvis, the first woman to finish, was clocked at 10:05:27. She completed the swim in 1:02:50, the bike ride in 5:20:39 and the run in 3:38:27. Her time is a course record.

“I had a few goals for myself and met all of them,” Jarvis said. “I left everything on the course.”

The Vineman is the oldest independent full-distance triathlon in the continental U.S.

The swim portion takes place in the Russian River at Johnson’s Beach. The bike course winds through the Russian River, Dry Creek, Alexander Valley and Chalk Hill regions, while the run ends at Windsor High.

Barb’s Race was also held on Saturday. It’s the only all-female half-distance triathlon in the world, according to race officials.

Liza Rachetto of Los Altos won that race with Santa’s Rosa’s Lisa Heisinger second.

Rachetto covered the course in 4:51:07 while Heisinger needed 4:59:21.

Heisinger swam the 1.2 miles in 33:32, the 56-mile bike ride in 2:42:06 and the 13.1-mile run in 1:39:20.

Two other Sonoma County residents finished in the top 15. Petaluma’s Charlene Hubbard was 14th in 5:50:39, while Healdsburg’s Jeanine Gugel wound up 15th in a time of 5:54:03.

The race is named for cancer survivor Barbara Recchia. She is a Vineman volunteer and race committee member.

All participants in the race were required to collect at least $250 in pledges that will be distributed to cancer-related charities. Barb’s Race has raised nearly $900,000 in its 15-year history.

“It was a great day,” said Russ Pugh, the director for both races. “The weather was perfect and that put everyone in a good state of mind.”