Scores start Tango; fewer finish
By EMILY WHITAKER
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It doesn’t always take two to tango.
Several athletes spent Saturday proving their individual and team strength and endurance as they ran, cycled, swam, orienteered and paddled their way throughout the Kinzua Dam and Allegheny National Forest areas during Warren County’s Second Annual Kinzua Country Tango.
Starting at 7 a.m., several of the approximately 130 participants — entered as individuals, teams of two and relay teams of up to six competitors — began their journey with a 13.1-mile run from the Warren County YMCA, up Hemlock Rd. and across the Kinzua Dam to the Kinzua Beach area.
Once at the beach, individual competitors and relay team members hopped on their bicycles for a 20-mile ride through the Allegheny National Forest which concluded at the Elijah Boat Launch.
At the launch, swimmers fought through approximately 2.2 miles of water before exiting back at the Kinzua Beach area and using their orienteering skills to negotiate their way through 6.5 miles and several checkpoints located within the National Forest area.
As the final two legs of the race, competitors laced up their running shoes, yet again, for a 4.5 run from Kinzua Beach to the tale waters of the Kinzua Dam. From the dam, a dash for the finish line was made as competitors canoed their way to The Point, or where the Allegheny River meets the Conewango River behind the Municipal Pool.
Traveling to Warren County from areas as far as Florida, Virginia, Vermont and Illinois, six individual competitors, eight teams of two and 20 relay teams persevered through over 50 miles of combined events.
At the close of the competition, Tango director Thad Turner felt the day was a success.
“I think it went really well,” he said. “We had a good competition and its incredible how many people come from all over to compete. We also gained sponsorship from Kwik Fill this year, which really helped.”
Winning the individual event and edging out the rest of the competition for the second year, Warren native Toby Angove — who was able to compete after being granted a 48-hour leave from his active Army National Guard unit located in the eastern part of Pennsylvania — said he was overwhelmed at the amount of time and effort that went into planning the event.
“Thad (Turner) puts on a phenomenal event,” he said. “There’s so much support and so much time, effort and energy that goes into this. Its been great to see the local support and to watch the event grow.”
Finishing in just under seven and a half hours, Angove said that this year’s competition provided him with some ups and downs.
“This year was a mix,” he said regarding his performance. “I had a decent first run and my biking was good, but I made an elementary mistake in the orienteering that cost me some time.”
Despite his mistake, Angove finished approximately 15 minutes ahead of the first-place relay team, comprised of students from Southwestern High School.
“The Allegheny National Forest and Warren County have so much to offer,” said Angove. “I hope people start to see what they have to offer.”
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