At 7 a.m. Saturday, Goochland Elementary School teacher Andrew Meiller got the chance to make a little bit of history for the community where he grew up.

  Meiller dove into the pool at the Goochland Family YMCA to kick off the inaugural Goochland Sprint Triathlon, a race consisting of three events: a 300-yard swim, a 12.5-mile bike ride and 5K run.

  Triathlons are somewhat extraordinary for a community known more for its traditional sports such as football, basketball and baseball. Nevertheless, it drew a lot of community support — from individual volunteers to the YMCA and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.

  Meiller, who now lives in Columbia, was happy to be the first participant in the first running of this event. Ordinarily, the fastest swimmer gets the first spot. Meiller earned the slot this time because he was first to register for the race.

  “It’s sort of a known thing that if you have No. 1, like in a pro race, you’re usually considered the defending champion or the top-ranked person,” Meiller said. “Any other circumstance I would not be No 1. So it was cool.”

  Meiller, 42, did not finish first, but he finished in a respectable 38th place out of the field of 186 participants with a time of 1:08:44.

  Cary Ayers of Richmond won with a time of 59:51 — almost a minute ahead of Brandon Hutcherson of Glen Allen, the second person to start the race and the first to cross the finish line with a time of 1:00:38. Renee Kunnen of Richmond was the fastest woman and the sixth fastest overall with a 1:01:37 finish.

  Ayers enjoyed the course, which included a running course across the J. Sargeant Reynolds campus — a far cry from triathlon courses in more urban areas.

  “The bike course was a lot of fun. A lot of ups and downs, so you had to work hard climbing those hills, but it was rewarding being able to go fast on the downhill,” Ayers said. “The run through these trails, running through the fields and around the campus here of the YMCA and the community college, that was a lot of fun, too — a lot different from a lot of the triathlons in the suburban neighborhoods where you’re just running on pavement.”

  Kunnen also enjoyed the running course.

  “It was neat to do an off-road course. I don’t do those a lot,” Kunnen said. “To run through the trails and the grass was a lot of fun. It’s not like the longer stuff on the roads. Shorter stuff on the trails hurts more, but it’s a lot of fun.”

  Several participants noted that part of the appeal of the Goochland race lay in its charitable goals, which include raising money for the Goochland Free Clinic, the March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program, and the Goochland Family YMCA.

  “You always have to race beyond yourself,” Kunnen said. “If you’re racing for yourself, it gets stale, so you’ve got to find a bigger purpose to race for.”

  Rounding out the top-five men’s finishers were David Kunnen of Richmond in third place with a time of 1:00:39, followed by Douglas Landau of Oak Hill (1:01:31) and Frankie Marcinkowski of Burke (1:01:36).

  Connie Glueck of Williamsburg finished second among women participants with a time of 1:04:59, followed by Kate Fisher of Richmond (1:10:12), Danielle Hardaway of Culpeper (1:10:29), and Sabrina Steele of Troy (1:10:35).

  Eight-year-old Jefferson Pruiett of Sandy Hook was the youngest participant overall. He finished in 179th place with a time of 1:477:49.

  The oldest participant was Mechanicville’s Gene White. The 78-year-old finished No. 143 with a time of 1:27:41 — well ahead of some people as little as one-quarter his age.

  “I feel blessed,” White said. “I have had people that allow me to run with them, that have been so supportive and keep me going.”

  Given the nice weather, White found much more to feel blessed about, such as the breakfast race organizers served the participants.

“The pancakes were excellent,” White said, but he was not through. “It’s a nice location. What, it’s Saturday morning and it’s just 9:50. We’ve got all day Saturday and Sunday — what a great way to start a weekend!”