Lil Pig Preview....

Tuesday, 29 May 2012 03:40

Nicknamed "Little Pig" 'cuz it has a big brother event in August i.e. Pigman Half, the iconic sprint event offers prize money, thus ensuring a deep field at the front. We're gonna look at the list of Elite registrants and make some predictions.

In alpha order, here goes:

* Claire Bootsma - Claire Bear's Lil Pig debut should result in a clear victory, the 11th of her amazing young career. Is Cathy Yndestad's 2007 CR-1:09:47 in jeopardy? Definitely.

* Barry Breffle - Barry is a devastatingly handsome guy with great hair. A good athlete, too. A Top 5 finish on Sunday is unlikely, though.

* Thomas Gerlach - Tom's a rookie pro from Wisconsin who now lives in "Bloulder South," i.e. Tucson, Arizona. He has impressive long course creds. At short distances, though, he is no match for DKT and, we suspect, Dan Hedgecock. We see Tom placing either 3rd or 4th.

* Dan Hedgecock - Dan set an amateur course record--1:01:56--here in 2011. He's kinda-sorta injured now but if he is able to start on Sunday, we predict a 2nd place overall finish behind DKT.

* Janet McCullough - The last time Janet faced Claire, she (Janet) placed 2nd. The same should happen on Sunday.

* Mike Morrison - We love Mikey. Great guy. Fine athlete. Handsome as hell with like nine kids. He's athletically enigmatic, though. Some year's he's on the podium. Other times he misses the Top 10. Yes, he's capable to slipping into, say, the 5th spot on Sunday, but we think a 7th-9th is more likely.

* Mike Nordberg - We couldn't find anything on this guy, other than some running results. Top 5? Don't think so, but it would be cool if a basically unknown guy were to surprise some of the established elites.

* Kevin O'Connor -When was the last time this seven-time Pig Sprint winner didn't place in the Top 5? Answer: 2005. Yes, we think he'll make some money on Sunday. He may even lower Brian Bich's masters record (1:02:33).

* Bryan Perrott - Our research suggests that Bryan isn't ready for a Top 5 against this assemblage. Next year maybe?

* Jenny Saylor - Jenny's 1:16 in 2011 wasn't podium-worthy. We believe that 1:12-1:13 will be necessary to crack the Top 3 this weekend.

* David Thompson - If DKT races--his preggers wife could pop at any time--we believe he will win. He does that winning thing a lot, you know.

* Chris Vander Linden - Yes, we believe a payday is in order for Chris. Here's how we think it will shake out: 1. DKT, 2. Dan Hedgecock, 3. Tom Gerlach, 4. Chris Vander Linden. 5. Kevin O'Connor.

* Daniella Williams - Daniella was 3rd here last year. She should duplicate that effort on Sunday. Our Top 4: 1. Claire Bootsma, 2. Janet McCullough, 3. Daniella Williams, 4. Jenny Saylor.