Burton kept Gust within his sight during the 3.1 mile run, and managed to stay relatively close during the 9.3 mile bike ride.
But once Burton reached the water for the 400-yard swim, though, he knew it was over. Nobody was going to catch Gust on this day.
Not even Father Time.
"Everybody up there (on the victory stand) was 40 but him," the 42-year-old Burton said with a laugh after the 26-year-old Gust won the race in 48 minutes, 13 seconds, a good 37 seconds ahead of Burton. "But he's gonna get old someday."
Just not anytime soon.
Gust took over the lead during the bike and braced himself for the swim. At each buoy he turned and looked for Burton.
"I had a decent lead, but I still knew Jack was back there," said Gust, after his first-ever triathlon win. "We swam about the same though. It was just great competition out there today."
"Coming into the water I didn't have the inspirational finish where we were neck-and-neck," added Burton, a six-time winner of the Fitness Challenge triathlon. "If it had been a half-mile and the pace was better I might have caught up. But he's very balanced. He's good at all three."
The win also gives Gust local bragging rights for the next year. The top four finishers are all from Naples, and many of them train together.
That's why winning was so important to Burton. Sure, he competes in other triathlons, but the Naples race is the biggest of the year.
"I just forgot to turn back the clock 10 years," Burton said. "I did everything else, but that's the one thing I forgot."
Gust's reign could be a long one. Just ask Sara Weaver about that. Weaver continued her dominance in the women's race, winning for the eighth straight time — though she's not quite sure about that — with a time of 54:07.
"It's just a lot of fun, they put a lot of pressure on me with the number of wins I have," said the 39-year-old Weaver, both arms and legs covered with No. 1, her race number. "I went out hard on the run. A girl passed me at the end of the bike but I beat her to the water."
And once Weaver hit the water, there was little chance she would be caught. Weaver grew up swimming, and though she barely practices anymore, the three-time Hawaii Ironman Triathlon qualifier had little trouble reaching the beach ahead of Caroline Humphreville (57:14) and Kim Vandemark (57:17).
Though Weaver cruised to yet another win, she was impressed with the performance by the 17-year-old Humphreville.
"I'm sure one year Caroline is going to take over," Weaver said.
Just not yet.
Over 400 athletes (313-individuals plus 28 three-person teams) competed in the event. While the race lures plenty of elite triathletes like Weaver and Gust, are triathlon veterans, it also appeals to people like Scott Whitcomb.
Whitcomb, 34, entered at the urging of fiancee Kim Avola. The two were engaged last week and Whitcomb was "encouraged" by his future wife to compete. Four members of the Avola family — Kim, dad Ron Sr. and brothers Ron Jr. and Rob all competed in the race.
"I think I earned my stripes today to be part of the family," said Whitcomb with a laugh. "The verdict still might be out though."
A former professional cyclist, Whitcomb said he didn't do any running or swimming in preparation for the race. Still, it didn't stop him from posting a time of 1:04:30. And now, he may be hooked.
"My plan was just to survive the run and put some effort into the bike," Whitcomb said. "Oh, and don't drown on the swim."
He didn't. And now he and Kim Avola are talking about doing another triathlon soon. The next local race is at Florida Gulf Coast University next month.
Maybe one day Whitcomb will get a chance to do what Chris and Peter Craig did on Sunday. The father-son duo teamed up to win the family team race. Chris, 13, handled the running while dad biked and swam. The Craigs finished in 1:07:31, or just about 27 seconds ahead of mom. Patty Craig flew solo and finished in 1:07:58.
"This is the first time for us," Peter Craig said. "We did the Sanibel (Triathlon) last year. We like to do it as a family. It's just a great activity for us."
Added Burton: "George (Dondanville) set the precedent for putting on a good race and (race director) Linda (Gregory) picked it right up. It's a a fun race. It's smaller so it's more intimate. And there's so many great athletes you're going to get great competition."
Fitness Challenge Triathlon
at Naples Beach Club
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Overall male: 1. Steven Gust, 48:13; 2. Jack Burton, 48:50; 3. Timothy Lyster, 49:39; 4. Marc Damon, 49:54; 5. Tim Nicholls, 50:44; 6. Joe Bonness, 51:21; 7. Larry Black, 51:30; 8. Ron Avola, 51:38; 9. Andy Hjortaas, 52:17; 10. Bob Mayo, 52:51.
Overall female: 1. Sara Weaver, 54:07; 2. Caroline Humphreville, 57:14; 3. Kim Vandemark, 57:17; 4. Susan Ward, 57:25; 5. Mary Nicholls, 57:31; 6. Erica Szilagyi-Norgart, 57:35; 7. Lisa Lee, 58:49; 8. Mary Ann Clark, 1:00:19; 9. Valerie Weiss, 1:00:44; 10. Sandra Sprude, 1:00:44.
Male 11-12: 1. Justin Soden, 1:17:07; 2. Jonathan Layton, 1:18:38; 3. Zachary Layton, 1:36:12.
Male 13-15: 1. Jordan Bohn, 55:57; 2. Casey Zientek, 1:05:48; 3. Conrad Williams, 1:25:36.
Female 16-19: 1. Andrea Johnstone, 1:04:10; 2. Stephanie Sidelko, 1:13:28.
Male 16-19: 1. Todd Weber, 1:00:17; 2. Oscar Cardenas, 1:04:17; 3. Robert Porter, 1:05:05; 4. Conrad Long, 1:06:00.
Female 20-24: 1. Nancy Crooks, 1:02:42; 2. Carolyn Johnstone, 1:06:27; 3. Jennifer Henshaw, 1:07:21; 4. Nicole Weber, 1:09:35; 5. Sarah Lammers, 1:11:23.
Male 20-24: 1. Ingmar Sprude, 55:18; 2. Francisco Gangotena, 55:39; 3. Jay Ralston, 57:50; 4. Philip Reagan, 1:01:54; 5. Lucas Kneeland, 1:04:05.
Female 25-29: 1. Cartherine Lowe, 1:05:53; 2. Jaime White, 1:11:52; 3. Molly Keirnes, 1:15:48; 4. Manuela Selk, 1:17:16.
Male 25-29: 1. Matt Seluk, 55:10, 2. Andrew Arreola, 56:19; 3. Thomas Layton, 59:10; 4. David Barney, 59:14; 5. Charlie Franck, 59:59.
Female 30-34: 1. Julie Nelson, 1:01:05; 2. Allyson Blasucci, 1:02:51; 3. Charity Secord, 1:05:29; 4. Michelle Licciardi, 1:07:33; 5. Anne Cline, 1:10:16.
Male 30-34: 1. Randy Scheid, 54:30; 2. Garrick Karns, 57:35; 3. Jeff Dami, 58:22; 4. Nicolas Dousson, 58:29; 5. Thomas Kahl, 59:06.
Female 35-39: 1. Deborah Morphy, 1:07:56; 2. Tonya Zwolenik, 1:08:16; 3. Alex Alexander, 1:08:22; 4. Normagene Dmytriw, 1:09:10; 5. Cheryl Ankenbrandt, 1:09:24.
Male 35-39: 1. Greg Shatto, 54:04; 2. Christopher Dorgan, 55:12; 3. Richard Molloy, 57:29; 4. Johann Saurbier, 57:50; 5. Stan McLemore, 1:00:09.
Female 40-44: 1. Jeanne Crews, 1:04:09; 2. Susan Timmins, 1:04:43; 3. Patricia Soden, 1:06:05; 4. Kathy Byal, 1:06:22; 5. Melanie Solis, 1:06:29.
Male 40-44: 1. Ronald Bailey Jr., 52:54; 2. David Browne, 55:55; 3. Grant Setzer, 56:17; 4. Pete Denove, 56:17; 5. Scott Henriksson, 57:23.
Female 45-49: 1. Karen Lui, 1:02:00; 2. Susan Cone, 1:03:50; 3. Cary Brickse, 1:04:32; 4. Ann Messner, 1:05:03; 5. Jackie Lowther, 1:05:47.
Male 45-49: 1. David Kroupa, 54:00; 2. Mark Farnsworth, 56:15; 3. Kent Poli, 56:18; 4. Neil Gregory, 56:58; 5. Steven Smith, 58:04.
Female 50-54: 1. Anke Stimpson, 1:11:09; 2. Rosithulia Sidelko, 1:14:01; 3. Marti Shuster, 1:23:44.
Male 50-54: 1. George Dondanville, 55:51; 2. Rick Miller, 56:26; 3. Jeff Holzinger, 56:48; 4. Larry Tomsic, 59:20; 5. Bert Soden, 1:01:07.
Female 55-59: 1. Terry Guadi, 1:06:03; 2. Barbara Langbauer, 1:11:25; 3. Peggy Martin, 1:13:41; 4. Sue Ann Miller, 1:16:55; 5. Irene Monetti, 1:24:14.
Male 55-59: 1. Doug Schumann, 57:31; 2. Glenn Guadi, 59:24; 3. Michael Kilbourn, 1:01:15; 4. Jerome Reynaert, 1:04:13; 5. Dan Dolecki, 1:05:49.
Male 60-64: 1. Lindsey Burhans, 1:01:21; 2. Mike Strayhorn, 1:01:56; 3. Arnie Lefkowitz, 1:04:45; 4. Ron Avola, 1:13:30.
Female 65-69: 1. Betty Lou Tucker, 1:13:18; 2. Marilyn Zook, 1:32:49.
Male 65-69: 1. Stuart Wahl, 1:11:46; 2. Bob Bogle, 1:28:39; 3. Roger Hill, 1:33:02.
Male 70-99: 1. Michael Collins, 1:25:24; 2. Doug Zook, 1:36:18.
Clydesdale 15-39: 1. Robert O'Dell, 53:35; 2. Doug Reynaert, 55:47; 3. Kelly Dee, 59:02; 4. Keene Curran, 59:29; 5. Michael Dill, 1:01:37.
Clydesdale 40-99: 1. Mitch Norgart, 55:48; 2. John Vechazone, 1:03:34; 3. Les Sutter, 1:05:37; 4. Bert Polacek, 1:11:27; 5. Koop Johnson, 1:11:52.
Clydesdalettes 15-79: 1. Kim Davidson, 1:14:30, 2. Donna Larson, 1:16:37.
TEAM RESULTS
Male teams: 1. Morronians (Mitch McLendon, Steve Martin, David Gray) 56:27; 2. North Naples Relay (Ramiro Manalich, David Jones, Wayne Sakanoto) 56:56; 3. Elcombinado de Pennicle (Hugo Aguilay, Andres Benavides, Ismael Galicia) 1:07:30.
Female teams: 1. Butsky/Sylvester/Sanders (Lana Butsky, Mindy Sylvester, Liz Sanders) 1:02:16; 2. The Sandbaggers (Laura Dyler, Patricia Horvath, Christine Sanchez) 1:08:16; 3. Three-some (Jennifer Picheco, Jennifer Westley, Kimberly Barrett) 1:08:45.
Corporate teams: 1. Holes Monte Inc. (Ben Nowell, Tom Murphy, Frank Feeney) 56:13; 2. Registry Resort (Ron Albeit, Roland Sellin, Kerry Mitruska) 56:21; 3. Rad Regional (Rod Bobman, Lauris Wade, Michael Carron) 56:40.
Mixed teams: 1. John Ness, Kristin Bilyeau, Kimberly Doerseln, 53:45; 2. Ashley Melton, Joseph Kundtz, Kiley Revel, 56:06; 3. Danca Emily, Joe Oxx/ Christopher Pare, 57:21.
Family teams: 1. Chris Craig, Peter Craig, 1:07:31; 2. Susan Jones, Stephanie Jones, 1:11:09; 3. Kim Scheid, Rodger Hill, Brittany Hill, 1:11:54.
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