Woodland Star triathletes raise $26,000

Mara Lee Ebert, left, “somehow and shockingly” took third place in her age category at the Pacific Grove Triathlon. “I’m glad I didn’t goof off any more than I did because I beat the fourth place finisher by just two seconds,” she said. New to the sport, Ebert was one of 26 athletes raising money for Woodland Star Charter School. All agreed to raise $1,000 in pledges each, and all finished the Sept 12 competition. “We started our day by jumping into the ocean at 7:15 a.m. and swimming above a kelp bed in 52-degree water,” Ebert explained. ”We then got out of our wetsuits, put on our cycling shoes and headed out to the bicycle course along the coastline. We ended our morning with a run alongside the beach.  We attended the awards ceremony and followed that with a soak in the hotel’s hot tub.” Competing for Woodland Star: John Arntz, Shirryl Bayless, Paul Benson, Nadine Best, Jody Boyle, Amanda Brumme, Steve Chiurco, Monica Conway, Ben Dewees, Shannon Dewees, Fred Ebert, Katie Fitzgerald-Boyle, Andy French, Laela French, Kyle Merkins, Kristen Olson, Mike Reilly, Sheila Reilly, Eva-Lena Rehnmark, Robert Stewart, Kristine Toth, Mark Walden and Anastasia Waterfield-Chiurco. To donate or sponsor a member, go to wsedfund.org/node/11 or make a check to WSEF and mail to P.O. Box 53, Sonoma, 95476.