J. Clarkson Memorial: Part 3 of 3

The post race ceremony started with the usual awards and recognitions.  There were some really great awards this year; the staff did a good job with the bling!  After a few pictures, handshakes, and necking of medals we were ready for Janet’s parents to give their annual address to the crowd.

*Men's Podium: Bill, Dan and myself. 

Janet’s parents both had very special moments while speaking about their daughter and family.  There was a pretty cool release of yellow and white balloons to signify the end of the Janet Clarkson Triathlon’s decade of celebration and remembrance.  I hope that Janet’s parents have the satisfaction and closure that they desired when putting on the race for the first time 10 years ago.

Abbie Tumbleson of West Yellowstone News had a great article that I have pasted below to shed some light on exactly what was happening the 3rd Saturday in June 2011.

Janet Clarkson's love of racing lives on through triathlon

It can be hard saying goodbye to someone you love.  It's even more difficult when their smile and laughter is so vividly remembered, when they've touched so many hearts and their memory lives on inside you. Jack and Shigeko Clarkson decided to take the memory of their daughter, Janet, and combine it with her passion for swimming, biking and running to turn it into something very special. The Clarkson family has hosted the Janet Clarkson Memorial Triathlon for 10 years, with this year's competition being the final run for them.


Janet's battle
 Janet Clarkson grew up in West Yellowstone, attended the local high school and made many friends throughout her life across the country and around the world. Family members will happily recollect her avid love for racing events and facing every challenge that was placed in front of her with a go-getter attitude.


The Clarksons sadly lost their daughter, however, to a battle she fought hard to defeat.  Janet Clarkson passed away in 2001 at age 37 after a long battle with Ewing's Sarcoma, a bone cancer. Jack Clarkson, now 73, sat peacefully at a picnic table under a canopy, shaded from the sun last Saturday. His oxygen tank sat next to him as he described his wonderful daughter and how he too is battling cancer. "I've had it twice, once in each lung," he said.  He was sparked with energy on Saturday despite weathering health conditions throughout the last year.  The triathlon is a day he looks forward to every year.  "Our daughter was so very well liked," he said. "It's still one of my favorite days."


The Clarksons decided that this would be the final year for the triathlon because they're getting older and a decade of triathlons was a good place to end.  "My health started to fail last spring. The doctor told me to get out of all the stuff I was doing. I gave up a lot of volunteer work," he said.  A committee of dedicated volunteers now handles the whole day of events for the triathlon, except when Jack handed out trophies one last time.


Jack recalled the first year they held the triathlon at the Madison Arm Resort, which the Clarksons have ran for 32 years, and that it was both a triathlon and a memorial service for Janet.  Jack told his story slowly and sweetly at his seat in the shade, exuding the special love he had for his daughter, as a small corsage of flowers bounced against his white sweatshirt while he talked.


A white tulip was curled in the middle of his corsage and the small, blooming flower had its own story to tell. "My daughter was in a place where people go to die and she wanted to go back to Coronado Island," Jack said, referencing one of the Coronado Islands off the California coast when she knew she was passing away.


"Friends were visiting her from Massachusetts, Europe, everywhere," he said.  Both of her parents were there on the day she died. She didn't open her eyes, but she turned to her mother and said, "Mom you should see it, there are yellow and white tulips here everywhere."  The Clarksons have bouquets of yellow and white tulips and balloons to decorate the triathlon each year reflecting their daughter's description of what she saw when she was "on the other side," as Jack artfully described the process of dying.

Race day

 All of Janet's friends, both human and canine were invited to attend the 10th and final triathlon last Saturday. The sentimental series of races for swimming, biking and running are held each year at the Madison Arm Resort, tucked away on windy dirt National Forest Service roads and nestled along the south shore of Hebgen Lake. At least a handful of Janet Clarkson's friends from places like Minnesota and even locals from West Yellowstone come to attend the triathlon each year.

They gather at the starting line as swimmers, zippered tightly in their wetsuits and prepared to jump into the chilly waters of Hebgen Lake for the swimming competition, signaling the start of the races.  The dedicated audience remained in their spots along the shoreline for the final cyclists and runners to cross the finish line.



Diane Beck, formerly of Bellevue, Wash., and her 10-year-old yellow lab, Keemo, was among the crowd of people who knew Janet Clarkson, standing at the starting line. Like many, Beck had a special connection with Janet.  Janet Clarkson stayed with Beck and her family when she was receiving treatment for Ewing's Sarcoma in a hospital in Seattle.


Beck's niece, who had met Janet when they were studying at the University of Santa Barbara in California, contacted Beck and asked if she could visit Janet in the hospital. Thicker bonds eventually formed when Beck invited Clarkson's parents to stay at their home for the two years Janet was in Seattle.


"We fell in love with Janet and her family," Beck said. "Keemo is here because Janet named him. He was more her dog. She named him Keemo because chemotherapy was giving her hope." Shigeko Clarkson stood near Beck as the athletes started emerging from the lake after a 1,000-meter swim to switch over to the 13.1-mile bike portion of the triathlon, which weaves along abandoned logging roads. Shigeko explained that her daughter always wanted to have a triathlon at the campground and they've done it each year in her memory.


The monies raised from the triathlon support a scholarship that is awarded to two graduating seniors from West Yellowstone High School who have excelled in track and field. Another portion of the funds are donated to the American Cancer Society.


"Especially this year, all of Janet's friends are here. We are celebrating her life, the memory of our daughter," she said. Some people attended the triathlon to both respect the memory of Janet as well as to participate in healthy competition.


West Yellowstone resident Bret Pearson and his sister, Jody, from Idaho, competed in the full triathlon together this year. Bret Pearson competed in the bicycle portion at last year's competition and Jody completed the full triathlon several years ago. "I ride a bike and run anyway, but didn't have a chance to go swimming yet," Bret Pearson said.


Janet's sister-in-law, Christine Clarkson, used duct tape to spell out the message, "Janet would go," on the back of her wetsuit. "It's a saying we came up with after Janet died, meaning Janet would go, she would persevere," Clarkson said. Christine and her husband and Janet's brother, Steven, participated as a triathlon team, forming Team Janet one last time for the final triathlon.


Athletes demonstrated their top performances as they swam in frigid water, beginning at 10 a.m. While swimming in 53-degree water, one swimmer called out, "It's brisk enough to wake us up," as he completed his warm ups. Some competitors chose to compete in single events of the swimming, cycling or running portions, while others competed in the duathlon portion of the day by biking and running.


Locals like Randy Roberson peddled in smiling on their bicycles after completing their rides. Many people hardly stopped to take a breather or a drink of water and changed into their running shoes to set off on the last leg of the course, with a 4.1-mile run standing between them and the finish line.  Janet Clarkson's niece, Kendra Clarkson, was cheered on as she steadfastly kept her pace throughout the race.


Triathlon competitor Bryan Brosious, of Missoula, was at the top of his game for the fourth year in a row as he was the first man to cross the finish line, waving his fists high in the air, with an accomplished smile spread across his face. His long legs carried him past fans lining several rows of small bleachers at the final turn of the race.


It was another great year, with desirable weather, happy fans and competitors with the spirit of Janet thick in the air.  -Abbie Tumbleson

There is something unique about closure. In one view you have reached the end destination, and the adventure is over. The “big event” is no longer pushing you to go faster, train harder, or pull you down the path towards it. Getting out of bed to do “the things others don’t want to do” is no longer making you rise at 4:30am. This sometimes brings sadness, loneliness, or other feelings of wishing it wasn’t over.

In another view you may see the situation with the same end destination, but this view brings the sense of accomplishment, the feeling of satisfaction, and pride. When looking at it with this view it really isn’t the end. If fact, it is just the beginning. You can look back upon those years, months, and weeks of dedication and ask yourself this question. “If I did that, imagine what other things I am capable of?”

I think the determination of which perspective you take has to do with your preparation, commitment, and to a lesser extent, the outcome. Despite the largest part of my 2011 season having been “lived,” I have absolutely no feelings of sadness, loneliness, or longing to have a chance to go back and “do it better a second time.” The effects of this race haven’t worn off since the day I completed it. With that said, if I had it to do over again I would do it in a heartbeat. It has always been worth it in the end to me.

*One last hug for Jack, Janet's dad...

...and Janet's Mom, Shigeko

I have tried my best to convey, candidly, how much this race meant to me, how I felt before, during, and after it. I may have left a few things out, but some things cannot be put in to words and will forever remain in my heart and in my memories.

My friend Jess told me that she thought I brought honor to Janet’s family, Janet’s memory, and my parents through my preparations and years of JC Tri adventures. That’s really the ultimate goal of the whole thing, I did my best.

Just before leaving one of the volunteers that I had known for the four years gave me a big hug and said, “Bryan we appreciate everything you have done. You have inspired a lot of people in this town to do a lot of things. We are all going to miss you.”

I doubt that they will miss me as much as I miss all of them come the third Saturday of June next year. I remind myself of what a fantastic adventure and accomplishment it was.

I don’t know how to end, because in all actuality this race will remain with everyone regardless of the fact that the event won’t be held anymore. I will end with a quote that I heard from Deadliest Catch Captain, Sig Hansen. I was watching the show and he was talking about the end of the “derby” style of crab fishing.

“Just sitting here and thinking about the end breaks my heart…We better just (expletive) knock it off because I am about to start bawling my eyes out.”

"Man! What a day!"  Here is to where the next adventure takes me. :)