Longtime resident recalls long-standing triathlon beginnings
Pat Kelley and her dog in the late 1970s on the lake side of her longtime home on Shady Shores.
The long-standing triathlon continues on Barron Lake making it a fun tradition for participants as well as for those who live on the lake and enjoy it as spectators.
Pat Kelley moved to the lake in 1976 and recalls the early days of the annual event and all the years she volunteered. “The first triathlon was here, but it was on three lakes. After the first one was over, the man who was running Kugler’s Beach didn’t want to see it end so he had it at Kugler’s,” she said. She noted year three was taken over by another person and that’s when she became involved.
“There were a lot of volunteers needed—those in the boats, out on the roads to make sure people made the right turns on their bikes and when running, manning water stations for the participants and other places. My mom (Clara Kelley, who with her husband Gaile moved to the lake in 1977) also helped get volunteers. We had a lot, but we needed a lot,” she said. The Howard Township Fire Department would help at various intersections and near the fire station because that was the beginning and the end of the route, Kelley noted.
“I remember when my mom—at the age of 60—decided she wanted to be in the triathlon. She would practice swimming up and down the shore near Miars Drive,” Kelley said. “She had a 10-speed bike she practiced with and on the day of the race, it wouldn’t work. She went out and did her swim and then used her old Schwinn bike and then she ran. She was the last runner. And that year the chase vehicle was an ambulance and my mom laughed that it was like a vulture just waiting for her to drop,” Kelley said.
Soon afterward, the Niles Noon Optimist Club, a service organization, took it over and Kelley continued to help. “I remember Milano’s Pizza gave us a great deal on pizzas for the race. It was great,” she said. This was still in the 1980s and although she enjoyed her time assisting where needed, the club gave it up and she moved on to other volunteer activities.
Kelley, who recently moved off the lake, continues to assist the Barron Lake Association as the treasurer, lake association membership coordinator and oversees getting lake volunteers for the Cass County Fair. “I remember years and years ago I walked into a meeting and Bruno (Eidietis—BLA president) said, ‘here comes our new secretary.’ I did that for a while and I’ve been the treasurer. I continue doing it because there’s so many great people on the lake and I want to stay in touch,” she said.
**Editor’s note:
Pat retired from her service to the Barron Lake Association in late 2019. The association is grateful for her many years of service to the board and to the lake.
As told by Pat Kelley. Written by Jodi Marneris September 2017
