Race Coverage

A Totally Awesome New Race...

Sunday, 20 May 2012 02:30

Race Coverage - Jeff Grebner is a really, really nice guy. Tall, too. And he has a lovely wife and probably some kids and a dog.

But this stuff had noting to do with why the MTN Guys predicted that Jeff would win yesterday's Blaine Triathlon, a totally awesome first-time event.

We thought Jeff would win because he's a great athlete. AND because he's DUE.

When he came off the bike yesterday, it sure looked like his time had come. His lead was substantial.

At mile three of the 3.5-mile run, another guy who had yet to win his first multi, overtook Greb. He was running like a banshee....

That guy was Brandon Ordway, a nice guy who moved to The Cities from Madison, Wisconsin, three years ago. His 2011 race results were rather medium dazzle, thus he flew under most radar screens. tom

This year, however, a faster and more confident Brandon Ordway is making himself known, as two overall Top 5 finishes--Falls and Oakdale Dus--will tend to do. MTN congratulates him on his first career victory. We also congratulate Jeff Grebner on his great runner-up performance.

Rounding out the men's podium on that warm and very windy morning was Tom Morgan, another great guy (photo R). His wife is the lovely April Morgan, who adores Ricky Rubio and hasn't trained much since completing the diabolically difficult Ironman St. George two weeks ago. She took the photos that appear in this post. Her and Greta Simpson are buds, that's why two of the three pics are of her. The other one, of course, is of her hubby.

Greta Simpson, who is irrevocably unrelated to the felonious O.J. Simpson, posted her first tri win at New Bri back in 2009. Saturday she picked up the 5th W of here young career. Cool. She ran with her ball cap on backwards (photo above L) and it looked totally good. It appeared at one point that her margin of victory would be substantial, more than three minutes, but then the pesky Cheryl Zitur, a talented triathlete who enjoys slamming tequila-based drinkies on the family boat, ultimately finished 30-seconds behind Simpson. This was because Cheryl's wave--#9--launched 18-minutes after Greta's.

Taking 3rd for the girls was Christina Meier, who finished 2nd at Chain of Lakes two weeks ago. She likes Michael Buble's music and cooking.

Race Director Nate Monahan and his army of yellow-shirted volunteers deserve high praise for producing a truly first-class event. Nate went to college at MSU-Mankato and his wife is named Brittany.

Complete Results will be added here and on the Calendar / Results page as soon as they are available.

Blaine Triathlon