Fourth place in my age group was enough.
The USA Triathlon Draft-Legal Sprint Duathlon National Championship started early in Greenville, South Carolina. The finish arch was lit before sunrise. The course opened with a 5K run, moved to a 20K bike, and ended with a 2.5K run.
This was not a solo bike time trial. Draft-legal racing allowed packs on the bike, so the first run helped decide which group a racer could reach.
I finished in 1:02:15.
The official result listed the pieces: 17:50 for the first run, 1:15 through the first transition, 31:21 on the bike, 1:04 through the second transition, and 10:48 for the last run.
That put me fourth among twelve men ages 30 to 34. I was 55th among 202 male finishers. The category result mattered more than the larger number because Team USA places were awarded through the age groups.
Later that day, I sent a short update saying that I had placed fourth in about an hour and two minutes. I also said that the result had secured a place at the world championship. The official confirmation had not arrived yet, but the qualifying result was in the table.
Four days later, the email arrived from USA Triathlon. My placement had earned a Team USA spot for the 2019 ITU Draft-Legal Sprint Duathlon World Championship in Pontevedra, Spain.
I reserved the slot that afternoon and forwarded the message to my family. The reply from Amanda was six exclamation points after "Congrats."
The race took one hour, two minutes, and fifteen seconds. The email took four days.