NOTE: The content of this article comes directly from Kyle Yost and via his interview on Slowtwitch.com
Kyle Yost will take credit for the fact that SavageMan exists, but not for its success; for the race has been a labor of love from many parties and a venture that a Maryland community has thoroughly embraced.
SavageMan is held at Deep Creek Lake in the Appalachian Mountains, tucked in the very western corner of Maryland. Deep Creek Lake is a popular mid-Atlantic vacation destination that’s only a couple of miles from some sick mountain climbs.
Yost conceptualized SavageMan by accident. For years, he’d been riding through the mountains of rural Appalachia and training with fellow triathletes for week-long cycling sessions; it was during one of these training weeks that everyone agreed the area was just perfect for developing a grueling triathlon in the beauty of nature.
Deciding on the name of the event was easy and unanimous. Due to the fact that the course they envisioned would involve crossing Big Savage Mountain and a ride through Savage River State Forest along the Savage River – and, says Yost, “because it would without doubt be the most savage triathlon on the planet” – the race had to be called SavageMan.
The Inaugural 0th Annual SavageMan Trial
The group decided to host a 0th (zero) Annual SavageMan trial version of the race in 2003. At the event, Yost met Greg Safko, the President of the Joanna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation. He and Safko joined forces that weekend and have worked closely together on making SavageMan every year. The Melanoma Foundation receives 100% of the proceeds from SavageMan to further its mission to fight skin cancer.
Registration fees for SavageMan are tax-deductible charitable donations, “which make an already affordable race even more so and supports the Foundation’s important education, research and advocacy initiatives,” says Yost. Participants are encouraged to fundraise and are provided with a personalized fundraising page with registration, but fundraising is not required to race.
Yost has been a triathlete since 1998 and has raced everything from pool swim sprints to international Ironman races and world championships. Yost knew that the terrain of the race combined with the difficulty of the Westernport Wall and the amazing scenery would make Savagman one of those “bucket list” types of races.
Since the race began in 2007, SavageMan has become notorious as a must-do triathlon, largely due to word-of-mouth advertising. “Every year in our post-event survey we get 98-99% of respondents saying they would return and/or recommend the race to others,” Yost says.
Big Race Attracts Big Names
A number of big names have come over the years, and the underlying reason is always because they want to challenge themselves on the worlds hardest course. Dave Scott has been involved since year one in 2007 via his sponsors, but it wasnt until 2011 that he participated in the race. In 2007, Australian Chris McDonald (multiple Ironman champion) was SavageMan’s first champion, with Canadian Tara Norton winning for the women. Since then, the race has attracted many great athletes and champions: Bjorn Andersson has won twice, Olympian Susan Williams three times, and Britains Philip Graves owns the mens course record.
Olivier Mouyau is an Ottawan who somehow heard about the inaugural SavageMan in 2007 and made the gamble of a 10-hour journey to an unproven, first-year race. Each year, he brings back a larger crowd than the last year.
SavageMan has sold out both of the last two years and is on pace for a much more rapid sellout this year. “This is too bad and I hate that people who want to race will inevitably get shut out, but the roads are narrow and the descents technical, so the field must be kept small,” Yost says.
The Infamous Westernport Wall
The Westernport Wall, located in the little bucolic town of Westernport, Md., has made the race both famous and infamous. Everyone who conquers the Westernport Wall without falling or dismounting and goes on to complete the race gets an engraved brick with their name laid into the Westernport Wall. Olivier Mouyau is one of just nine with a brick.
The Wall, with its 25% grade and 31% pitch up an uneven, poorly-paved road, is so difficult even Dave Scott didn’t clear it last year; and while he finished the race, he didn’t earn a brick.
“The irony is that so many participants think SavageMan is all about the Westernport Wall, and they don’t realize that the Wall is just the start of a ridiculous day of climbing. The vast majority of SavageMan’s 5700 feet of climbing will be coming at them in the next 25 miles. Ask any SavageMan finisher about Westernport, and they’ll quote you a sign on the course around mile 40: ‘Westernport Schmesternport. Welcome to Killer Miller’,” says Yost.
“SavageMan was created simply because the venue, particularly the roads and severe climbs for the bike course, was simply too wonderful for an event to not exist there. As a passionate triathlete, I strove to bring to triathletes that which they did not yet realize they were missing.”
Making the Race Great for All
SavageMan prides itself in its “participant experience first” mission, and Yost and others strive to put on an event that stands above all the rest. In addition to the truly unique award of a personalized brick laid in the Westernport Wall, there are free spectator buses to the Westernport Wall block party; excellent food and ice cream at the finish; extensive and useful shwag like arm warmers; a well-staffed, well-marked course; an average of over 40 race photos per athlete offered for sale well below market rates; a bike course littered with encouraging and humorous (some may say mocking) signs, such as “Who’s Making Fun of Triples Now?” on a 20% grade; themed aid stations full of costumed volunteers; a race-within-a-race with timing and prizes for the 7.1-mile ascent of Big Savage Mountain; and more.
In 2010, Triathlete Magazine ranked Savageman as the #1 hardest triathlon in the world. “And, we offer a money-back guarantee if someone feels they have participated in a more challenging race of similar distance, and no one has taken us up on that offer yet,” says Yost. “So, when it comes to course difficulty, I think its safe to say that SavageMan 70.0 ranks high on the list.”
Wonderful site im intersted with starting triathlon myself i must do a great ironman or ironman 80. 3