Over 500 women gathered on the scenic campus of Southern Maine Community College Saturday afternoon for the first-ever Maine Tri for a Cure women’s triathlon to benefit the Maine Cancer Foundation. Portland’s Erin Brennan won the event with a time of 1:04.02. Falmouth’s Alison Vanzandbergen was second followed by Anne Wilkinson, also of Falmouth, and Allison DiMatteo of Saco placed fourth.

The event was a sprint triathlon consisting of a 1/3-mile ocean swim, a 12-mile bike ride and a three-mile run. The finish was in the shadow of the Spring Point lighthouse.

Maine’s first Tri for a Cure drew several cancer survivors to participate in the event. It was a special day for them as the event not only raised money for cancer research, but also provided a way for them to celebrate their accomplishments.

Scarborough’s Leah Temm was an athlete before she got cancer. Her fight with thyroid cancer forced her to put her athletic pursuits on the back burner for a while. The Tri for a Cure was her return to competition.

“Before I got sick a couple years ago, I was planning to do a triathlon,” said Temm. “I didn’t know which one I wanted to do, then I got sick so I couldn’t do it. Back in February I started looking online at a triathlon schedules. Then I saw this one and it was all women, so I felt better about doing it than one with men. I got on the wait list and they contacted me about being on a team. I started training in early May and here I am.”

Carrie Boudreau of Raymond was a competitive weightlifter and was training for the Olympics when she was diagnosed. Despite taking chemotherapy, she competed in the Pan-American games. But she missed out on the Olympics.

“I still wanted to compete and I worked really hard so I went to the Pam-American championship while I was taking chemo,” she said. “I didn’t make the Olympic team because I couldn’t recover in time. So I missed by a few slots.”

Last summer, Boudreau got some more tough news that actually led to her participation on Saturday.

“I got re-diagnosed last June so I had to go to chemo again,” she said. “Trying to get back into weightlifting again was really hard because I hadn’t been able to train. One of my fiends at school was doing this triathlon. I needed to get back in shape and wanted to do something new, so I started training for it and here I am.”

Boudreau said the day was a dedication to friends she has lost.

“I lost a friend to cancer and she was just a really positive person who never gave up and helped everybody,” she said. “I also lost a friend to heart disease. He used to be really involved in fund raising so this is a dedication to both of them and something to get myself back in shape.”

Temm, who has spent the past two years fighting thyroid cancer, finished the race in less than two hours. She says she wasn’t trying to break any land speed records but just wanted to finish.

“Crossing the finish line was the goal,” she said. “I didn’t put a lot of stress on myself to get a great time.”

As a member of the team of survivors, Temm was very emotional both before and during the race.

“When we were waiting to start, I was so nervous I thought I would be sick,” she said. “Then after the hearing the stories and the singing of the national anthem, I thought I was going to cry. It’s been an emotional thing for all of us, especially on the team of survivors having had different types of cancer but pulling it together and crossing the finish line.”

As a cancer survivor herself, Boudreau, is an inspiration. But she says the size of the Tri for a Cure was an inspiration to her.

“Its just been really inspiring to me to have so many people involved,” she said, “all the people I met and other survivors who are trying to get their lives back together or have been survivors for 25 years. It’s an inspiration to me that I can keep doing this for a long while.”

For Temm, simply completing the triathlon was a victory of sorts.

“It was pretty emotional,” she said. “Halfway through I thought I was going to cry. When I started to train for this, I couldn’t run a mile. I ran probably two miles of this and running across the finish line meant a lot. Having friends and family here meant a lot. It’s just overwhelming for everyone whether you are a cancer survivor or not.”

Boudreau shares that sentiment.

“It was just incredible,” she said. “I’m not really a distance athlete I’m really more of an anaerobic quick burst athlete. So this was really hard for me to sustain this long thing. I got into that chute and it was just a sprint. I just started pumping and I took myself back to high school when I used to run on that track. The people were just cheering all I could hear was cheering. I could see the end it was a really invigorating moment that filled my whole body with excitement and joy. It was a huge accomplishment.”

The event raised over $200,000 for the Maine Cancer Foundation.

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