Race Coverage
As Good as it Gets...
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Tuesday, 05 June 2012 03:00
(Great TriJuice.com / Nick Morales photo - 1500 bikes)
Race Coverage - Marcus Stromberg was awesome on Sunday at the Buffalo Triathlon. So were Suzie Fox and Ben Trnka and Jennifer Imsande and Jamie Heying and Ann Snuggerud and a plethora of others who had this one important thing in common: none of them won. Not outright, that is. Other folks--Chris Legh (Olympic pro champ), Patrick Parish (Olympic amateur champ), Cathy Yndestad (Olympic women's champ) and Cindy Blackstock (Sprint women's champ) did that.
But the other mentioned folks here had every right to feel victorious. All of them had breakout performances and now demand elevated respect from their tri-peers....
Buffalo's Favorite Tri Son, Stromberg not only cracked the two-hour barrier--1:58:12!--for the first time in an Olympic distance event, he placed 2nd among amateurs and 4th overall. A great guy, Marcus likes to rent movies from Redbox and thinks that JELD-Wen windows are the best.
Fox placed 2nd in the women's Olympic race, her third consecutive runner-up effort this year. Suzie's time on Sunday was terrific, a 2:11:42, the fourth fastest amateur time in the eight-year history of the event and 6:03 improvement on her 2011 clocking here. Suzie loves dogs and Britney Spears and speaks rather slowly.
Ben Trnka placed 2nd in the sprint event just five seconds behind the winner, Andy Wiberg. Trnka, who should buy a vowel, clocked a 58:14 and demonstrated that the faith his OptumHealth coaches have had in him was totally justified. They believed in him even when he was grappling with uncertainty. Cool story. According to his Facebook page, Ben is interested in women and has been to Switzerland.
Like Trnka, Imsande placed 2nd in the Sprint, albeit in the women's competition. The former Minnesota Rookie of the Year nominee (2007) was racing for the first time after a four year hiatus wherein she was doing other stuff. This only made her 1:04:38 more remarkable. That time bettered Jenny Shaughnessy's 2010 course record by a second. The new CR, however, was set on Sunday by Cindy Blackstock (1:03:18) who loves to cook and is of Croatian descent. Imsande is a decorated writer/teacher who has a Ph.d but doesn't care if you don't call her doctor.
Buffalo's Jamie Heying is a hoot. She placed 3rd in the Sprint in a new masters record (1:04:45). Jamie likes Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and ran the Boston Marathon in either 2010 or 2011.
Ann Snuggerud is a lovely person who lives in Chaska, which is home to an inordinate number of talented triathletes. The 44-year-old cracked 2:20 for the first time on Sunday, covering Buffalo's Olympic route in 2:19:51, which landed her in 5th place overall in the women's competition. She was very happy. Ann is very pretty, kinda shy and recommends the Core Diet.
Weather on race day was ideal and several AG records fell. Also, only 5% of the 1700ish registrants were race-day no-shows. That may be unprecedented. The event was truly spectacular, as good as it gets, and was as well-attended by spectators as it was by athletes. Also, The Killer Hayseeds rocked the venue before and after the awards presentation. Ever hear them? They're dope!
Here are the new AG records that were set on Sunday. (They do not include those set in the Open Class, i.e. 20-39 divisions.)
BUFFALO OLYMPIC
- 40-44M - David Holden - 2:02:03 (Old Record: Charles Parsons - 2:07:31 - 2007)
- 65-69M - Patrick McMorrow - 2:32:24 (Old Record - Eugene Garver - 2:49:50 - 2010)
BUFFALO SPRINT
- 00-19W - Katie Oden (photo L)- 1:11:25 (Old Record - Sheala Mullaney - 1:14:08 - 2005)
- 50-54M - Craig Peterson - 1:02:41 (Old Record: Christopher North - 1:07:12 -2008_
- 60-64M - Duane Millslagle - 1:09:58 (Olde Record: Thomas Lynch - 1:13:31 - 2010)
- 60-64W - Lila Tully - 1:26:02 (Old Record - Lila Tully - 1:28:39 - 2011)
- 70-74M - David Abramson - 1:48:47 (Old Record - Unavailable)
Cool Artsy-Fartsy photo (L) of junior sprint champ Katie Oden, who happens to be the race director's daughter and looks a little bit like Mylie Cyrus.
Cool YndeCam Photo - Above R - OptumHealth coaches Cathy Yndestad, Suzie Fox and Kortney Haag swept the Olympic podium last Sunday.
