Sacramento , Calif. – 2009 Bassmaster Classic Champion Skeet Reese finds himself in the middle of a great race for the 2009 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title with friendly rival Kevin VanDam. But, as Bassmaster Elite Series pros find themselves in the middle of a long break in their competitive schedule, finding ways to keep the competitive edge is tantamount.

Reese typically invests the majority of his time at home in his family, his business and fitness, as opposed to being on the water; recently, he was able to combine two of those focuses into one pursuit on July 18. The reigning Classic Champion and his wife Kim entered and competed in the world's oldest triathlon; Eppie's Great Race on the American River in Sacramento .

“It started as a way to support Kim in a goal that she had set for herself,” Reese revealed. “But, if I were to be truthful, it almost didn't even start at all, because when she first asked me if I wanted to do it, I looked at her like she was crazy; but then, I decided to do it with her.”

The Eppie's Great Race, in its 36 th year, features three legs, a 5.82 mile run, a 12.5 mile cycle, and a 6.35 mile kayak, and the Reese's prepared for the race by focusing on cardio training. “I didn't really do anything other than run on a treadmill to prepare for it,” Reese revealed. “I was surprised at how well I did throughout the race, I was concerned that it would really hurt, but I did pretty well.”

As his primary objective for the race was to be a support person to Kim, Reese worked along with her, keeping the pace set by his wife; the pair finished together in 2 hours, 56 minutes and 43 seconds. “We didn't have any illusions of winning the race, or even competing,” Reese reported. “We just decided it was something we wanted to do, a goal, something we wanted to accomplish.”

In their respective divisions, Ironman 40+ and Iron woman 40+, Skeet finished 127 th out of 147, and Kim finished 46 th of 72. Being the professional athlete he is, Reese has already decided to set a specific race goal for himself for the 2010 version of the Great Race. “I want to shave 25 minutes off of my time, which will put me about in the middle of the pack.”

He figures that some of the time will be made up because they can specifically train for the event, and the fact that in the two weeks prior to the start, they weren't able to train because of a family vacation and their trip to Orlando for ICAST. “Our houseboat trip was a week where I didn't lift anything heavier than a glass and a fork, and the only time I spent in the water was floating on a lounge,” Reese said while giggling. “Then the trip to ICAST made it so we couldn't really train for the week prior, so we went into the race with a gap in out preparation; we won't do that next year.”

He said he felt a lot better after the race than he expected, saying that he only had some knotting in his left calf, and his trapezoids were sore from paddling the kayak. “I think Kim felt it a little bit more than I did,” he said. “I stayed with her as support, and that meant on the bike and kayak portions there was some time for me to coast a little, which didn't make her too happy, but we had a lot of fun with it; I'm ready to do it again next year, if my schedule allows.”