A Moment Of Silence

Last year at St. Anthony's Triathlon the water conditions were so horrendous, they ended up pulling over 50 people out of the water. With waves well in the 4 foot range, it was probably just a couple of inches short of canceling the darn thing.

It was scary just looking at it. Combine that with the hundreds of newbie racers at this event, all of whom had to start their swim when conditions were at their worst, and you've got a recipe for disaster. My sister was in the newbie group last year and remembers seeing people pulled out of the water. Fortunately, she wasn't one of them.

This year's St. Anthony's delivered water conditions that were as flat as can be. Yet right before my sister began her swim, she noticed the safety patrol pulling one woman out of the water. We didn't know what happened but expected that, with such calm conditions, it couldn't nearly be as bad as last year.

We were wrong.

Juli Wilson Marshall, a Chicago attorney and mother of four, who had raised thousands of dollars through Team in Training to compete in St. Anthony's, has died.

We don't like to see anybody, ever lose their life in triathlon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Juli, her family and friends.