Photo by Ron Cassie Jenny Snuffer, 42, of Thurmont, won the first-ever Frederick YMCA women’s triathlon Sunday morning.

Snuffer, 42, a waitress and bartender at The Pub in Gettysburg, decided late this past winter to sell her two horses, the upkeep proving too expensive. To stay in shape after giving up riding, she started pedaling her bike seven miles from her home in Thurmont to swim at Mount St. Mary's several times a week.

At some point she realized she "wanted to get back into competition," and practicing two of the three disciplines with regularity, registered in July for her first triathlon, the Hagerstown Sprint.

Snuffer took a portion of the money she earned from selling her horses to buy a new, top-of-the-line Specialized Roubaix road bike -- one of those light-as-air models with a tiny seat, or "saddle," as they are called by cyclists.

To her surprise, despite having to walk during part of the 5K run, she won her age group at the Hagerstown Tri. Then in August, she repeated as an age group winner at the small Spring Ridge Sprint Triathlon in Frederick .

This Sunday morning, Snuffer turned in her best performance to date, winning the Frederick YMCA's first-ever women-only triathlon outright.

"This is the first time I didn't have to walk at all during the run," Snuffer said. "That was good."

Snuffer won the 300-yard indoor swim, 10-mile bike ride out Motter Avenue and 5K East Street run in 1 hour, 11 minutes and 29 seconds, besting second-place finisher Laura Pasch, of Purcellville, Va., by nine seconds.

"My shoe came untied during the run," Pasch told Snuffer afterward.

Snuffer had worked a late shift at The Pub the night before the YMCA triathlon.

Either way, she loves being back in the saddle and racing again.

"I love the speed," she said, proving adept at handling the turns despite the wet conditions. "They warned us to slow down at the turns, but I didn't listen."

Maria Rubeling, senior director for membership and marketing at the YMCA, organized the event and noted that 50 percent of the women were first-time triathletes and the majority -- like Snuffer -- were relative novices.

"We had 104 registered to participate and it filled up quickly," said Rubeling, who didn't compete, but is an accomplished triathlete herself. "We wanted to it to be good and keep it small as a first-time event. Next year, I'd like to see it grow bigger."

The event was staffed by volunteers with the support of the Wheelbase bike shop and the Mom's Club of Frederick , she said.

Snuffer, who had her mom, Ellen, visiting from Greensboro, and her boyfriend, Kevin Finneyfrock, on hand, said she's done for the season. She does plan to attempt some more, possibly larger and longer, races next year. Snuffer said she picked her first three small triathlons this year just because they happened to be close to home.

She admits she is competitive by nature and said she may even get more serious about improving her running.

"I don't like running," Snuffer said. "I usually only run with my Labrador, Smokey, and three miles is his limit. I wanted to run with him today, but my boyfriend told me I better not -- they might disqualify me."