FAIRHOPE—They came, they saw, and two conquered overall.

The Springhill Medical Center Grandman Triathlon at Fairhope Municipal Pier came and went Saturday with a record number of athletes, 624, taking part.

It was a Fairhope sweep for the overall top male and female spots.

Fairhopers Johnny Harrison (49) won the men’s overall with a 1:08:29 while Erica Hemmy (32) took the women’s crown in 1:14:49.

It was Harrison’s second-straight overall win.

It was a somewhat bitter sweet win for Hemmy who has taken part in the event before with her husband Chip Edwards who was not able to participate this year.

“He’s in Iraq,” she said. Edwards, a Warrant Officer Four for the Army, has three months left on his 15-month tour. He serves with the 3rd ESC out of Fort Knox.

“When we did this the first time, we just fell in love with the area and decided to move here,” she said.

Hemmy, a former NCAA Army swimmer at West Point, said the separation has helped motivate her to do well.

“I wish he was here. But since he couldn’t be I wanted to win it for him.”

She now teaches individual competitive swimming classes in the area.

Harrison, who lives along the course, said the home-town aspect makes the back-to-back victories even better.

“It’s always nice, fun to get the home-town win,” he said. “Winning it twice is special, too. It’s a challenging course. The competition is tough. I felt a little pressure (to repeat), but it’s really special to win the hometown race.”

The event began with a 1/3-mile swim in Mobile Bay beside the Fairhope Municipal Pier followed by a 16.4 mile bike race through Fairhope. The foot race to the finish line was a 3.1-mile run along the bay.

Race director Kemper Sarrett said the event went as well as could be expected for such a large field that combines three events into one.

“It was a record crowd and the weather was great,” he said. “We had more out of state people than ever this year. We always depend on local volunteer support and the people of Fairhope and the whole area have always come through.

“In the future, we hope to work more closely with the city for everybody’s benefit. This is the only event like this produced locally that benefits so many good causes and provides so much good family-oriented fun.”

This year the Grandman benefitted four noteworthy local organizations: Mobile Baykeeper, the Baldwin County Trailblazers, the Gulf Coast Area Triathletes and Camp Rap-A-Hope.

For results and more information visit the Grandman website at www.thegrandman.com