LOWELL — Sen. Scott Brown took a break from the campaign trail in his heated bid for re-election to swim through the Merrimack River and run and bike through Tyngsboro and Lowell.
For the second year in a row, the 52-year-old Republican senator competed in the Mill City Triathlon with about 80 other athletes.
“I don’t golf. I don’t go out a lot. This is what I do for fun,” Brown said after the race.
“Fun” was a grueling race under a blazing sun and in 80-degree heat. Brown competed in the sprint triathlon, which includes a swim of one-third of a mile, a 13-mile bike ride and a four-mile run.
About 70 other athletes competed in the sprint triathlon, and about 100 competed in the international or Olympic triathlon.
Brown, who has been competing in road races, duathlons and triathlons since 1983, has in the past qualified for the U.S. team. But since being elected to the U.S. Senate in January 2010, he hasn’t had the time to train to be as competitive in the past, he said.
He came in third in his age group Sunday, exchanging high-fives with some children who were sitting on the curb along the straight-away to the finish line.
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This story first ran in the Sentinel and Enterprise on July 9, 2012.
